Help with neighbourhood/school in Chicago or Chicago suburb

[chitown85]

With $500K as a budget, you can live in Lombard, Downers Grove, Riverside, Elmhurst, Westchester and Villa Park. That makes the commute 30 minutes. All of those suburbs have good school systems. Each school district is independent, which means that you have to ask your real estate agent about the schools in that area.

The suburbs do not have kids going to Chicago Public Schools. Some suburbs also have multiple school districts.

No reason to pay for non religious private school if you pay to live in a suburb with good schools.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by SonySegaTendo617

Do you really need to live in Maywood? Excluding Bellwood, Stone Park(dunno why, but the very few times I've ever driven through it, I just don't have a good opinion of it), and most areas of Cicero and Broadview, almost all of the surrounding communities to the north and east are better. Even Melrose Park(as hit or miss as I find it to be, and just to the north of Maywood) is better. I won't deny that because of the fact Maywood has been struggling, it has a lot of charming housing stock in certain parts that I hope are renovated before it's too late.

I would recommend any of the communities that surround Oak Park, since OP can sometimes be very expensive(and River Forest being very close behind). Don't forget to look in Elmwood Park, River Forest, Forest Park, and Berwyn as well(my fav of these four easily being Berwyn, due to its stock of historic charming bungalows, and the fact that housing values are trending upward there). Whenever BRU67 sees this thread, he can give you some good recommendations on the near west suburbs. Hopefully, he'll sees this thread and does a reply.

Saw the Bat Symbol in the sky, LOL! Sounds like you know about as much about the area as I do. I think your recommendation is fine, though I'd add Riverside and may subtract Cicero and Austin. Those surround OP too, but I wouldn't recommend them at this point.

Oak Park, River Forest, and Riverside are very desirable, and have really strong schools. But they have considerably more expensive housing than Berwyn, Elmwood Park or Forest Park (and property taxes would probably be about double for a similar sized house).

I agree that Berwyn has the better housing stock of the latter three on the whole, though all have nice areas. And the schools in these communities do not necessarily always suck despite popular misconception. Emerson elementary and Heritage middle school in south Berwyn, for example, are pretty good and could get you K-8 without having to resort to private schools. Morton West (Berwyn) and Proviso East (Forest Park) of course haven't exactly set the world afire on the PSAE in recent years. Unfortunate, but it is what it is.

But depending on how many kids you have and how old they are, and what your budget is, it may make more financial sense to live in one of the safer, less expensive communities, enjoy the same location and amenities, and then bite the bullet for private school at the high school level. Or not. I know education-minded parents who have sent their kids to MW and they didn't turn into psycho, gang banger, serial killer drop outs. Like anything, parental involvement is a key aspect in how your child's education turns out. Sometimes, we put a little too much stock in standardized test scores.

[chicagojlo]

Originally Posted by ekulio

Magnate schools are a good choice. Decatur is an amazing school, Pritzker is also good. They send buses pretty far too. I don't know about magnate schools in other parts of the city but you should ask around.

Were you referring to Magnet schools? Both Decatur and Pritzker are selective enrolment schools which you have to test in to. Magnet school places are allocated by a lottery system, which requires you to have a Chicago address to apply. It's also extremely difficult for the majority of people to win the lottery because of the way it is weighted by income (ie favors the very poor areas).

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by chitown85

With $500K as a budget, you can live in Lombard, Downers Grove, Riverside, Elmhurst, Westchester and Villa Park. That makes the commute 30 minutes. All of those suburbs have good school systems. Each school district is independent, which means that you have to ask your real estate agent about the schools in that area.

The suburbs do not have kids going to Chicago Public Schools. Some suburbs also have multiple school districts.

No reason to pay for non religious private school if you pay to live in a suburb with good schools.

LaGrange is west of Brookfield, and probably represents the best value for your money if you can spend $500k. If career is medicine you'll find quite a lot of physicians in LaGrange and Western Springs, in addition to proximity to Loyola and Hines there are ample hospitals in driving distance -- hinsdale and lag range sandwich west and east of ws...

The relatively small size of school districts in Illinois means that towns that are adjacent can have dramatically different schools. Westchester is directly north of LaGrange &Western Springs, while those towns feed into the generally well regarded Lyons Township High, Westchester is served by the scary Proviso West. Chicago schools stop at the city limits.

The single biggest factor in making a town more desirable is better schools, and a town like Hinsdale has terrifically desirable schools, along with prices that make a vacant lot still close to the OP's total budget. Going to Clarendon Hills one still has the excellent D181 elementary schools and Hinsdale Central High, but a little more afforable options too. If you don't mind a home on a smaller lot with a little older building date there are some available near the budget point.http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/4558710_zpid