River Forest??? (Chicago, Oak Park, Forest Park: rentals, how much, home)

[luvcheetos]

We are most likely relocating to Chicago and have been focusing our preliminary search on Oak Park. But I was wondering what folks would say about River Forest. I know it's smaller than Oak Park and they share a high school. What else can you tell me about how River Forest compares to Oak Park and which you would choose??

[chitown85]

River Forest is more suburban. Although Chicagoans consider Oak Park suburban with an urban feel, most in the country would say its pretty urban. Oak Park has a large downtown for a suburb. River Forest has the leafy tree lined streets (as do parts of Oak Park). There are also not so nice areas of Oak Park. In reality, not much difference.

[pvande55]

Not as diverse as Oak Park. In between the two is Forest Park, which is "more dead than alive," as most of the village is cemeteries. Also the terminal for the CTA blue line.

[bulldawg1594]

Originally Posted by pvande55

Not as diverse as Oak Park. In between the two is Forest Park, which is "more dead than alive," as most of the village is cemeteries. Also the terminal for the CTA blue line.

forest park is not in between river forest and oak park. and forest park has a lot going on there, so i dont know what you're talking about. forest park has 1 cemetary, and it probably dosen't cover even 25% of the city.

[pvande55]

I maybe wrong about how much of it is cemetery. But I have heard the term. I don't mean the whole town is dead! But I maintain that if you drive down Madison St, you exit Oak Park, enter Forest Park, then River Forest. In my book, that places it between the two.

[oakparkdude]

River Forest has a lower percentage of rentals compared to OP, and the SFH tend to be larger and more expensive than OP. Otherwise, the two share the same business district and the same high school.

[linicx]

Oak Park Tourist - Touring, Living and Working in Oak Park, Illinois

[kindrakindra]

Lots are bigger in River Forest. Different vibe overall, probably more stay at home moms. A lot of people look in both RF and OP, and pick based on housing stock at the time.

[luvcheetos]

Thanks. We will probably look in both to see what's available in our price range at the time.

Kindrakindra, you seems to have the lowdown on the schools. Are the OP and RF elementary schools comparable? RF seems to have great test scores, but I don't believe test scores are everything (in fact, sometimes they're not worth much).

[kindrakindra]

RF schools are obviously awesome, with great parental involvement. A few annoying things. No full day kindergarten. I know a couple of families that stay in private for full day kinder or do a half day at St. Luke's and a half in public school. No spanish class in the lower grades including kindergarten. Those are usually the only negatives you hear.