Any former Chicago North Shore Suburbanites now living in Jupiter or Boca Raton Florida? (Miami: best city)

[Chicago-Florida]

Our family of four (Mom, Dad and 2 teen aged daughters) has a dilemma and need the advice from ANY former Chicago North Shore residents; Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, Northfield, Kenilworth.
If you're now living in the Jupiter Florida - Boca Raton Florida area. I would love to hear from you

As anyone from any of the above mentioned towns will know, Chicago's North Shore is a safe area for families, very affluent and the public & private schools are among the country's best. We feel privileged to live here.

That being said, for health & personal reasons, we have directed our attention toward making a move to Jupiter or Boca Raton Florida.

Aside from the weather, are the high schools in Boca and Jupiter comparable to New Trier HS in Winnetka? Can we expect a similar standard of living, safety, demographics, cultural experience? Does anything come to mind that would be a "red flag"?

Can any transplants now living in Florida offer us some insight about how life on the North Shore is in comparison to Jupiter/Boca?

What makes Jupiter/Boca better, different (again, besides the weather)?

And (especially for my 2 high school girls), are there any other South Florida towns that anyone can recommend as a closer fit for us?

Thanks so much from anyone who can help us!

[teq3]

Hi Chicago-Florida,

Since you have not had a response, I thought I would chime in, being that I grew up in Naperville, IL and relocated to Tequesta in 1999. I feel the schools here are great. Please look up Palm Beach County's school of choice program. It's been great for our kids. My oldest is now at Dreyfoos High School ~ we are slated for Jupiter High School which is a wonderful school full of different choices for the students and I would be proud if my boys were to attend that school as well. I cannot speak for the Boca schools personally, however ~ I would bet they are comparable as well. I would suggest taking a tour of each school to get a feel for them.

As for safety ~ I feel VERY safe here in Tequesta as well as Jupiter & have believe Boca is just as safe too.

Demographics and cultural experiences ~ well, I don't think you can compare this area to a Chicago suburb... especially yours being so close to the best city (IMHO ) However, we feel our boys have had a wonderful childhood and have great friends and there is so much to do in this area, it really is a beautiful place to live and play. Also, don't rule out being close to the Keys... now that is an experience in and of itself ~ LOL! And Miami is close enough to enjoy a day away.

The only "red Flag" is how hot and humid the summers are ~ but so are/were the summers in Naperville... and we have the aqua water to cool off in

Hope this helps some!

[Nomad-gypsy]

Anyone ? I also like to know if there's someone from North Shore Chicago suburbs living in Palm beach with teenagers...who can share their experiences

Such as
1. If not Jupiter or Palm beach is there a comparable town with a school similar to New Trier HS?
2. Contrast between N. Shore and the Palm Beach/Jupiter area
3. What would be the biggest difference that is not the weather?

Thanks in advance

[urbandeco]

Hard to compare, as the South Florida region is so different to Chicago. I highly recommend coming down and really checking out all the communities lets say from Jupiter all the way to southern Palm Beach County (Delray and Boca Raton) If you want more suburban feel, then communities way west of the beaches are quite different than the more cosmopolitan areas along the coast. If you stay east, you have easier access to beaches, more unique restaurants, shopping, but it is more expensive and a bit more crowded.

[mcharas]

Originally Posted by Chicago-Florida

Our family of four (Mom, Dad and 2 teen aged daughters) has a dilemma and need the advice from ANY former Chicago North Shore residents; Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, Northfield, Kenilworth.
If you're now living in the Jupiter Florida - Boca Raton Florida area. I would love to hear from you

As anyone from any of the above mentioned towns will know, Chicago's North Shore is a safe area for families, very affluent and the public & private schools are among the country's best. We feel privileged to live here.

That being said, for health & personal reasons, we have directed our attention toward making a move to Jupiter or Boca Raton Florida.

Aside from the weather, are the high schools in Boca and Jupiter comparable to New Trier HS in Winnetka? Can we expect a similar standard of living, safety, demographics, cultural experience? Does anything come to mind that would be a "red flag"?

Can any transplants now living in Florida offer us some insight about how life on the North Shore is in comparison to Jupiter/Boca?

What makes Jupiter/Boca better, different (again, besides the weather)?

And (especially for my 2 high school girls), are there any other South Florida towns that anyone can recommend as a closer fit for us?

Thanks so much from anyone who can help us!

Sorry to answer without being a native FL expert, but...

I went to college in Evanston (then moved to apts. off Dearborn, then Oak, in the city- super easy walk to Michigan Ave.- basically backyard) and came back to upstate NY after that. Both north of the city and even in the city where I was- compared to where I reside now- are two areas of the same cloth. So I'm invested in the replies you might get from locals. Hubby has an offer in FL as of tonight that we are taking very seriously. We are also looking for health reasons & to get out of the cold (certain that we won't be "half-backs"- i.e., moving back up to someplace like MD or VA to get out of humidity or heat, etc. Lol.)

Like I opened with, I have not much to give in terms of native advice for that area of FL, except to say that we find BR (visits of 3-4 times per year) very nice and appears to be quiet and safe. I am very interested to see if there are more current replies to your thread. (FWIW- I do miss Chicago/Evanston so much... wonderful areas, some of the best times of my life!)

We are also interested in finding out more about MS and HS in that area- seems to be easier to find decent ES... with common core and it's "off shoots", I think gaps will close in curriculum between states at some point- just that the delivery matters most (quality of teachers and admin)... and so far compared to NY, looks like we will be footing the bill for private. (Which kind of sucks, cause our current district is something of a small college in terms of offerings from STEM, to art, to sports- really anything you can think of- and privates tend to have less re: scope.)

If you're still in search for answers given the time gap between your OP and now, I'll be catching up... Good luck!

[mcharas]

Originally Posted by urbandeco

If you want more suburban feel, then communities way west of the beaches are quite different than the more cosmopolitan areas along the coast. If you stay east, you have easier access to beaches, more unique restaurants, shopping, but it is more expensive and a bit more crowded.

Being a frequent visitor to the area, I agree with this 100%. And the drive certainly is worth it to beaches... definitely not the cold waters of Lake Michigan!