Pick My Suburb! (Elgin, Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates: buying, good schools, living in)

[ATCShane]

Here is a map of where I would prefer to live based solely off of commute time (20 minute commute with no traffic--And I work strange hours so I would rarely be driving during rush hour)...



I've visited South Elgin, Saint Charles, and Geneva, and have a pretty good idea of what those areas look like. I didn't have time to learn much about any of the other areas.

So, if you were me, which of these suburbs would you choose?
Here's a little more info to help:

Parents, both pushing 40, like to walk/hike/dine
Kids: 10 & 11, both into sports.
House: Under $360K, preferred old, but only mature trees are required.
Politically moderate, slightly left

Thanks!

[chet everett]

Pretty oddly shape "radius" that looks to be centered on roughly on the intersection of Rt 20 & Randall -- not exactly a "no-man's land" of employment, but really NOT as 'central' as stuff closer to the big facilities of AT&T, Sears, or others in Hoffman Estates and certainly nothing like the huge number of employers in Schaumburg...

I think that you will be wise to stick to Geneva if you can afford it and are comfortable that that really puts you only 20 minutes away (lots of retail centers and stop lights slow traffic on Randall...).

Budget is probably do-able, though your money won't get you a real in-town gem. The alternative of living in an area further west is that you get much more rural and then the time to get kids to activities goes up dramatically...

[chitown85]

West Dundee, Sleepy Hollow, and South Elgin are all good areas with good schools.

[ATCShane]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Pretty oddly shape "radius" that looks to be centered on roughly on the intersection of Rt 20 & Randall

Yep, that's pretty much the center... The shape is based off of roads and the speeds you can do on them... notice you can get further west than east. It was determined from Microsoft Streets and Trips.

[chet everett]

I suspected so. Nothing wrong with that, just keep in mind that once you get further west than the traditional "commuter railroad" accessible town you have a different pattern of development. Town centers if they exist are based on some long ago farm layout, tract developers still are buying the large parcels and they do not put in the mature trees. Housing that is "older" may be along what are now pretty busy thoroughfares and not the kind of grid of in-town St. Charles, Geneva, or other areas...

[thePR]

Hands Down St. Charles or Geneva. Those are the best you can get for what you want in that area and they are pretty nice.

[SJaye]

There is also a quite significant difference in lifestyle across the area inside your odd-shaped box. Some of the western parts of the box are rural, while along and east of the river is pretty uniformly suburban. It many narrow down your search to figure out what you would want out of life at this time and what you would want for your kids. None of the suburbs in the box will have an urban feel, but if you want to be in a "walkable" town than hands down St. Charles/ Geneva.

[ATCShane]

Originally Posted by thePR

Hands Down St. Charles or Geneva. Those are the best you can get for what you want in that area and they are pretty nice.

I agree that they are pretty nice. I'm sure we would be really happy there. I was just wondering if there were other areas I was not aware of. Even "funky" burbs can have some hidden gem areas in them. Thanks for your help!

[thePR]

Originally Posted by ATCShane

I agree that they are pretty nice. I'm sure we would be really happy there. I was just wondering if there were other areas I was not aware of. Even "funky" burbs can have some hidden gem areas in them. Thanks for your help!

Of course there are plenty of nice suburbs in the area that you have laid out, I just believe those two to be the best. And there are some suburbs that as a whole aren't nice but do have nice pockets, although I tend to recommend places where the whole city is nice if possible.

[bulldawg1594]

if your kids like sports, dont do elgin or streamwood. their teams suck. i think bartlett or south elgin would be a good pick.