burr ridge, hinsdale and surrounding suburbs?? pls help! (Chicago, Evanston: real estate, rent)

[brenty]

Hello Everyone,

I would like to know why everyone is so down on the North Shore? People like Evanston and Highland Park. But, no one ever recommends Winnetka, Glencoe, Glenview, and others. All I read about is how unbelievable the Western Suburbs are. Yes, the western suburbs like Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Western Springs, and La Grange are all beautiful. Those suburbs do not have the lake. The schools are also no comparison, excluding Hinsdale Central. The commute times are far longer. The western suburbs are mostly new money. The western suburbs also lack the diversity and are almost entirely new. Western Springs is not like Wilmette, Oak Park is not like Evanston, Hinsdale is not like Winnetka. If people on this forum could point out alternatives and if thread starters could be more thorough we could truly affect the appearance of Chicago and the real estate market. If someone says they are looking for good schools, nice architecture, safety, quick commute to city, etc. in the Western Suburbs, why not point out the North Shore suburbs, Northern, or Northwest suburbs.

[ahava]

Originally Posted by brenty

The schools are also no comparison, excluding Hinsdale Central.

Have you looked at the test scores for elementary and middle schools? You may be surprised...

ISAT averages of elementary schools
Oak Elem - Hinsdale - 98.5% (#4 in Chicago metro area)
Field Park Elem - Western Springs - 98.1 (#6)
Madison Elem - Hinsdale - 98.1 (#7)
Harper Elem - Wilmette - 98.1 (#8)
Avoca West Elem - Glenview - 97.4 (#11)
The Lane Elem - Hinsdale - 97.3 (#15)
Willowbrook Elem - Glenview - 97.0 (#19)
Prospect Elem - Clarendon Hills - 96.9 (#22)
Spring Ave Elem - La Grange - 96.7 (#25)
Walker Elem - Clarendon Hills - 96.6 (#28)
Lincoln Elem - Highland Park - 96.6 (#29)
Braeside Elem - Highland Park - 96.6 (#30)
Central Elem - Wilmette - 96.5 (#33)
Pleasantdale Elem - La Grange - 96.4 (#37)
Brook Forest Elem - Oak Brook - 96.4 (#40)
Crow Island Elem - Winnetka - 96.2 (#48)
John Laidlaw Elem - Western Springs - 96.2 (#49)
Ravinia Elem - Highland Park - 96.0 (#53)
West School - Glencoe - 96.0 (#54)
Greeley Elem - Winnetka - 95.9 (#57)
Willard Elem - Evanston - 95.8 (#64)
Middlefork Primary/Sunset Ridge Elem - Northfield - 95.7 (#73)
McKenzie Elem - Wilmette - 95.6 (#75)
Joseph Sears School - Kenilworth - 95.4 (#80)
Monroe Elem - Hinsdale - 95.3 (#82)
Pleasant Ridge Elem - Glenview - 95.2 (#86)
Ogden Ave Elem - La Grange - 94.6 (#105)
Glen Grove Elem - Glenview - 94.4 (#114)
Cossitt Ave Elem - La Grange - 94.2 (#123)
Indian Trail Elem - Highland Park - 94.0 (#130)
Forest Hills Elem - Western Springs - 93.6 (#145)
Hoffman Elem - Glenview - 93.4 (#156)
Highlands Elem - La Grange - 93.2 (#166)
Henry Winkelman Elem - Glenview - 93.0 (#177)
Wayne Thomas Elem - Highland Park - 92.9 (#180)
Hubbard Woods Elem - Winnetka - 92.8 (#189)
Dewey Elem - Evanston - 92.7 (#191)
Romona Elem - Wilmette - 91.7 (#233)
Red Oak Elem - Highland Park - 91.3 (#242)
Sherwood Elem - Highland Park - 91.1 (#253)
Washington Elem - Evanston - 90.4 (#281)
ML King Jr School - Evanston - 90.3 (#290)
Washington Elem - Glenview - 90.2 (#291)
Seventh Ave Elem - La Grange - 90.2 (#293)
and there are more Evanston schools farther down the list but I think we all know about the public schools in Evanston

ISAT averages of middle schools
Butler JH - Oak Brook - 98.5% (#1 in Chicago metro area)
Marie Murphy - Wilmette - 97.7 (#4)
Skokie School/Washburne School - Winnetka - 97.4 (#5)
Sunset Ridge - Northfield - 97.0 (#7)
Clarendon Hills - Clarendon Hills - 96.8 (#9)
Joseph Sears School - Kenilworth - 96.4 (#13)
Edgewood - Highland Park - 96.1 (#14)
Hinsdale - Hinsdale - 95.9 (#19)
McClure JH - Western Springs - 95.3 (#24)
Central School - Glencoe - 95.1 (#27)
Highcrest/Wilmette JH - Wilmette - 94.6 (#29)
Highlands - La Grange - 94.0 (#37)
Pleasantdale - La Grange - 92.1 (#67)
Springman - Glenview - 91.5 (#87)
Attea - Glenview - 90.7 (#102)
Haven - Evanston - 87.4 (#149)
Northwood JH - Highland Park - 85.7 (#172)
Park JH - La Grange Park - 85.7 (#173)
ML King Jr School - Evanston - 85.3 (#178)
Nichols - Evanston - 84.9 (#189)
William F Gurrie - La Grange - 81.3 (#236)
Chute - Evanston - 80.6 (#243)

And those are only the western suburbs you mentioned (except for Oak Park, where I agree with you)...there are plenty of Wheaton and Glen Ellyn schools ranking highly on the lists.

[Paige65]

Originally Posted by brenty

Hello Everyone,

I would like to know why everyone is so down on the North Shore? People like Evanston and Highland Park. But, no one ever recommends Winnetka, Glencoe, Glenview, and others. All I read about is how unbelievable the Western Suburbs are. Yes, the western suburbs like Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Western Springs, and La Grange are all beautiful. Those suburbs do not have the lake. The schools are also no comparison, excluding Hinsdale Central. The commute times are far longer. The western suburbs are mostly new money. The western suburbs also lack the diversity and are almost entirely new. Western Springs is not like Wilmette, Oak Park is not like Evanston, Hinsdale is not like Winnetka. If people on this forum could point out alternatives and if thread starters could be more thorough we could truly affect the appearance of Chicago and the real estate market. If someone says they are looking for good schools, nice architecture, safety, quick commute to city, etc. in the Western Suburbs, why not point out the North Shore suburbs, Northern, or Northwest suburbs.

I think when someone asks about the western suburbs, then it's not very helpful to start discussing the North Shore suburbs. There are some similarities between Hinsdale and Winnetka, Oak Park and Evanston. They are different, to be sure (I've lived for short periods in both Oak Park and Evanston), but they are similar in many ways and I think it's okay to point those similarities out.

I also think people aren't down on Glencoe, Winnetka, et al (to me Glenview is not the North Shore), it's just that few poster's criteria/housing limitations align with Winnetka and Glencoe. When people have $700,000 plus, and don't mind spending it on a house that doesn't necessarily have a lot of square footage or a giant yard, I'd recommend either of them in a minute. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like too many people like to go that route (smaller house/less yard for the money) so it's hard to recommend these suburbs very often. I think people talk a bit more about Highland Park because it's a little more affordable, not because they think it's any better than any of the other North Shore suburbs.

In general, I think if anyone is "down" on the North Shore suburbs, it's because they buy into the idea that everyone is a rich snob, which is a shame.

[brenty]

Why do so many choose the western suburbs over the North Shore nowadays? People on the North Shore are less snobbish than folks from Oak Brook, Burr Ridge, and Hinsdale. The North Shore is older money.

[crbcrbrgv]

Originally Posted by brenty

Hello Everyone,

I would like to know why everyone is so down on the North Shore? People like Evanston and Highland Park. But, no one ever recommends Winnetka, Glencoe, Glenview, and others. All I read about is how unbelievable the Western Suburbs are. Yes, the western suburbs like Hinsdale, Clarendon Hills, Western Springs, and La Grange are all beautiful. Those suburbs do not have the lake. The schools are also no comparison, excluding Hinsdale Central. The commute times are far longer. The western suburbs are mostly new money. The western suburbs also lack the diversity and are almost entirely new. Western Springs is not like Wilmette, Oak Park is not like Evanston, Hinsdale is not like Winnetka. If people on this forum could point out alternatives and if thread starters could be more thorough we could truly affect the appearance of Chicago and the real estate market. If someone says they are looking for good schools, nice architecture, safety, quick commute to city, etc. in the Western Suburbs, why not point out the North Shore suburbs, Northern, or Northwest suburbs.

There are a lot of misconceptions in your statement. The North Shore schools have higher test scores. So what? It kind of cracked me up when I was reading the earlier parts of this thread. A couple of you were comparing a school with a 97.4 passing rate with a 98.7 passing rate! The last I checked, the only test score that really mattered was your own child's. As for North Shore schools generally being better, the Chicago Tribune had an article about a year or two ago that showed Western Springs schools had equivalent test scores for half the money. While Wilmette and Winnetka were spending 13,000 per pupil, Western Springs was only spending about 6,600 and the scores were the same. Lyons Township has as much to offer as New Trier high school. They both have amazing facilities. The main difference between these two schools is there are actual recent immigrants and children of blue collar workers at Lyons Township while at New Trier recent immigrant means the child of the computer programmer. As for the West suburbs being new.....wha...huh???? Western Springs is 125 years old and La Grange is about 150. Many houses in both villages are well over 100 years old. And as for diversity, well let's be honest. Both areas are about as white as you can get. The only difference is more people on the North shore worship Saturday as opposed to Sunday when compared to the Western suburbs Perhaps the reason nobody mentions the North Shore in a West suburban thread is because it seems to me people from the North Shore don't know much about the West suburbs.

[Anomle]

4 years since the original post and it's really helpful to me So thank you, posters!

Buying a house for the first time and am in lust with HInsdale, but very concerned with the "keeping up with the joneses" factor. Though every Hinsdalean I met is so nice! (By nice, I mean richer than me)

Biggest issue in my house hunting is this - I'm not buying a house if there's a reasonable chance the home value will dive. I'll rent for ten years before going underwater in a home. My friend is going through this and he's practically a slave to the mortgage. I'm concerned about the suburbs east and south of Hinsdale. I want as close to zero crime as possible. Hinsdale has almost no crime. The "crime is everywhere" argument is short-sited and convenient. I have a two year old daughter. It would be ludacris of me to buy a house in Harvey and just shrug the horrid crime everywhere saying "eh, crime is everywhere"

Not meaning to threadjack here, but are these west hinsdale-ish suburbs overpriced? I mean, are they overpriced compared to incomes? How are this many people in this slow job market paying for these million dollar homes?

[chet everett]

The fact is that there is a wide diversity of income in even areas of high housing values. Many more home owners purchased long before peak prices, and even a large number of buyers who were unfortunate to buy at peak were also clever enough to be in a position to also sell a massively appreciated home at peak as well. The "stretch" for the purchase, if any, was more psychological than actual. Of course if the combination of any indebtedness and on going costs were too great to bearthe odds of some one with considerable assets not being wise enough to see this mismatch has been pretty low, which helps to explain why foreclosures rates are lower in more affluent areas.

Fact is if you have no real employable skills, no valuable connections, and no confidence in your ability earn a suitable income you would be mad to over commit yourself to a huge housing payments.

Paradoxically if you are barely in a position to get a good value on a first home in a high value area it is likely that you may have to scrap a bit, but since many more buyers will be coming in at price points far above you and the odds of them being big percentage losers compared to your nearly "sure thing" at near floor prices should make the more well healed buyers more nervous then the penny pinchers. Frankly that is one of the "equalizing" factors that is sorta nice in a town with high value homes -- those with more modest homes will often have smaller tax bills than if they were to buy in a less desirable suburb -- that can mean more disposable income for spending than if you did choose a less desirable area.

Further your kids will likely benefit more from the top tier schools than some kids whose parents are going to be on easy street as the ambition and frugality that your purchase demonstrates ought to be a motivating factor that the easy street parents will be unable to conjur up.

Yes, there are some folks in multi-million dollar homes that do make an effort to "stay hungry" and model the "art of the deal" for their kids too, but statistically the probability of children of very very high income folks going on to greater success than their parents is far less likely than the merely middlemincome parents having their kids surpass them in earnings quite young...

Finally I would caution that a terribly large number of folks that do get a "starter home" in the million dollar range tends to suffer form the "too much too fast" curse and unless they have some super natural ability to shift with changes in the economy they very well could become "flash in the pan" successes that flame out quickly.

[hokie5]

Originally Posted by ahava

There is a large Catholic presence in Western Springs, but I'm agnostic and I don't have a problem living here. Obviously if you live close to the large Catholic school there's going to be a lot of Catholics living there.

Hi! I know this is older but I have been reading this forum a lot with a likely relocation to Chicago (from Cincinnati) on the table for us and we would actually be looking for a really great Catholic school with families who are committed to the Catholic integrity of the school (vs. just sending their kids there because their public school option doesn't meet their standards but not really caring or wanting the religious identity of the school). So this particular 'debate' caught my attention for the statements regarding a particular Catholic school in southern Western Springs. From what I can tell, they might be referring to St. Cletus, St. John, or Nazareth Academy but I'd love to know which one specifically is being referenced if anyone knows for sure or can venture an opinion based on the context and their tacit knowledge??? Thanks for any effort provided!

[hokie5]

Originally Posted by Justabystander

I moved to Hinsdale from Western Springs. Several factors were involved in that decision. One is the provincialness of WS people, most of who were solidly Catholic and devoted to the parochial school in the area, at least in the southern part of town. If you were not Catholic, forget it.

This is the other quote in the 'debate' I mentioned in my previous post referencing some particular Catholic school in southern Western Springs...I don't know how to quote two posts in one (sorry!).

[pesco]

They are referring to St. John of the Cross in Western Springs, but St. Francis Xavier & St. Cletus in La Grange would also fit that description. I think the enrollment totals have gone down since this article was published, but it's a nice insight to the the culture of these schools.