Move to... Northern Lake County OR Kane County? (Chicago, Aurora: new home, neighborhood)

[Candeunited]

Hello, my wife and I are looking into moving from the southwest suburbs to either Northern Lake County (Grayslake, Lake Villa, Volo, Lindenhurst area) or possibly out Kane County (Batavia, North Aurora, Carol Stream, St. Charles). We're looking for a nice LGBTQ+ friendly area with great resale value and good schools. Which area do you guys think will provide us with this? Property taxes seem to be pretty much the same for both counties. We could get a nicer newer house in Northern lake County but its also pretty rural. I'm torn and it's a big decision.

[Creo]

I would guess that overall St. Charles has the best schools of the towns listed. It has some beautiful homes, a nice downtown, and a more upscale vibe than Batavia, which seems to have good amenities, possesses what I consider many nice-looking older homes, but also appears to be a bit less LGBTQ+ friendly. From what I know of Grayslake, it has an underrated downtown and a cool historic neighborhood adjacent, but then as you get further out it's cookie cutter and blander. Lake Villa has an itty bitty downtown, and I don't think Volo or Lindenhurst have any true central core. Carol Stream strikes me as quite diverse in terms of incomes and ethnicities, but it doesn't have a true downtown. North Aurora has some good schools and some nicer new homes, but it also lacks a significant downtown. I'm not sure which other factors come into play for you aside from what was shared.

[SonySegaTendo617]

I don't know how well the schools are exactly rated like there, but I always thought Elgin was kinda underrated myself. And it's schools must not be the worst ever, if the local school district serving there has a telescope and space educational center that I remember visiting, during Open Elgin(their equivalent event to Open House Chicago). I get this sense when there, that local residents were accepting of LGBT people.

[ChiGuy2.5]

Just a few things to note from my perspective... I was born and raised in St. Charles and currently live near Lake County.

1) Schools in St Charles and Geneva/Batavia are great! Not so much in Elgin, avoid Elgin school. North Aurora and Carol Stream schools should be avoided too. I would say you should avoid Lake Villa and Lindenhurst based on schools too. I'm unfamiliar of Grayslake or Volo for school purposes but you can check ISBE.gov for school ratings to get a better understanding!

2) If you decide to choose Lake County, make sure you don't have flooding. That area and many of the homes around it are prone to flooding. So make sure whatever you buy is dry.

3) As for LGBTQ friendly areas, I feel like all of these cities will have the same tolerance for that sort of thing. What's more important is who your neighbors are. I feel like that's hard to gauge though, so it's probably going to be luck of the draw...

Best of luck on your search! Hit me up if you have questions.

[aga412]

Originally Posted by ChiGuy2.5

Just a few things to note from my perspective... I was born and raised in St. Charles and currently live near Lake County.

1) Schools in St Charles and Geneva/Batavia are great! Not so much in Elgin, avoid Elgin school. North Aurora and Carol Stream schools should be avoided too. I would say you should avoid Lake Villa and Lindenhurst based on schools too. I'm unfamiliar of Grayslake or Volo for school purposes but you can check ISBE.gov for school ratings to get a better understanding!

2) If you decide to choose Lake County, make sure you don't have flooding. That area and many of the homes around it are prone to flooding. So make sure whatever you buy is dry.

3) As for LGBTQ friendly areas, I feel like all of these cities will have the same tolerance for that sort of thing. What's more important is who your neighbors are. I feel like that's hard to gauge though, so it's probably going to be luck of the draw...

Best of luck on your search! Hit me up if you have questions.

Some additional nuance - all of the things mentioned in the above post are correct. I think Grayslake is the only one worth looking at of the ones you mentioned in the North burbs.

Also biased like the above poster as I was also raised in the Tri-Cities, but Batavia/Geneva/St. Charles are all great towns, can't really go wrong with any of them. All have very strong community feel, strongly performing schools and quaint downtown areas overlooking a picturesque river.

You could feasibly also move to North Aurora but *only* if it is in the Batavia school district. You could accomplish this with Aurora as well (the northeastern part of Aurora falls in the Batavia district). South Elgin or West Chicago could also be a fit but *only* if it is in the St. Charles school district. You mentioned Carol Stream and could get away with a decent school if you're in the part that goes to Wheaton North, but Carol Stream is soulless suburban sprawl and has zero character. Warrenville could also be a potential fit. Avoid the Aurora and Elgin school districts at all costs.

Grayslake does put you by two Metra lines, but only one of those runs with any regularity. In the Tri-City area, and it's surrounding satellite towns (NA and SE), you could be close to three (UP-W in Geneva, BNSF in Aurora and the MD-W in Elgin) that all run very regularly.

[DannFrankenstein]

St. Charles is not LGBTQ+ friendly. I actually think Batavia has a more enlightened population. St. Charles is an outpost of Wheaton conservatism and Sycamore biker country-ness. Normalcy is highly valued. Main Street downtown on a weekend night is not the place to be for a gay couple, or anyone presenting as the slightest bit alternative. But I am talking from experiences from years ago, so for all I know it has changed


Yes, Elgin schools are generally worse, but what Elgin school district U46 offers is an option to take Japanese or Mandarin in high school. Elgin has some true diversity, and in addition to the Metra, there is the Pace 603 bus that goes to the Rosemont Blue Line. You could get a bigger house for less in Elgin than St. Charles, I think

[aga412]

Originally Posted by DannFrankenstein

St. Charles is not LGBTQ+ friendly. I actually think Batavia has a more enlightened population. St. Charles is an outpost of Wheaton conservatism and Sycamore biker country-ness. Normalcy is highly valued. Main Street downtown on a weekend night is not the place to be for a gay couple, or anyone presenting as the slightest bit alternative. But I am talking from experiences from years ago, so for all I know it has changed


Yes, Elgin schools are generally worse, but what Elgin school district U46 offers is an option to take Japanese or Mandarin in high school. Elgin has some true diversity, and in addition to the Metra, there is the Pace 603 bus that goes to the Rosemont Blue Line. You could get a bigger house for less in Elgin than St. Charles, I think

Elgin's schools are bad. I think South Elgin and Bartlett are decent high schools but only those as a stretch. You could also buy in Elgin if it's in the Burlington district (though Burlington is nowhere near as good as Batavia, Geneva or STC).

I will concede I think that of the three Tri-Cities that St. Charles is probably the most "traditional" in terms of its outlook, but I would not call them hostile to LGBTQ+ people, especially in recent years. That said, though they are the most traditional I would say they are nowhere near the level of Wheaton (or what Wheaton used to be, as I feel like they have become more liberal overtime there as well). Of the three, Batavia would probably be the most open (it's a quirky little town).

Of all the places you mentioned (and that I threw in the mix too), Batavia/Geneva would probably be the most LGBTQ+ friendly.

[Candeunited]

Thanks everyone! This information has been really helpful. Does anyone else have any other areas (other than the ones I mentioned) that you think would work? We're flexible. We went out to Volo today to look at homes and had a pretty frightening experience. The neighbor was intentionally revving up his motorcycle and playing loud music once we showed up.

[DannFrankenstein]

If you want similar recommendations then maybe anywhere in McHenry County East of Route 47 would be similar. But Batavia sounds like the best choice. I agree, it is quirky, in a good way

[aga412]

Volo and that whole area is pretty strange - would avoid. McHenry County is a touch more conservative than all the other collar counties (Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, and Will), so I'd also say to avoid that too.

Don't know your budget but you could probably find a cheaper home in the Batavia school district that has an Aurora address (Savannah and that area). It effectively functions like an extension of Batavia anyway.