River Forest/Oak Park or Evanston?

[kindrakindra]

River Forest has excellent middle schools. OP's are fine too, just not considered as strong, but still solid test scores which hover around 90%, and are way higher if you actually look at different subgroups. You cannot beat the OP/Rf commute. Two el trains and a metra; even city taxi cab service or driving is easy. The green line train ride is about 18 minutes. If you move to OP/RF, it's best to like old houses with tons of character as well as diversity in schools.

[hunt20]

Thanks for all the great responses. Based on my research and your comments, Evanston is out of our consideration. I loved being close to the beach in Lake Forest, but as a couple of you said we do have a boat and could put it at one of the Chicago marinas. River Forest is still an option, but I have to check out private high schools first. We are also opening our search to Elmhurst and Hinsdale too.

[chet everett]

...years of people thinking that OPRF was heaven on earth have resulted in there not being too many private options.

Fenwick was once a tough all boys schools. It has been co- ed for quite a while now and the backers really support the kids sports.

There is a much smaller all girls school and it has some nice curricular thinking, but enrollment at Trinity continues to be a challenge...

Numerically Hinsdsle Central performs in the top tier of high schools in Illinois, which almost certainly is to be expected given the income and education levels of parents. In Elmhurst York was once at the same level but shifts in the towns priorities caused things to falter. For kids at the upper ranks the experience at York is almost back to it's peak, but for kids in the middle things still need some improvement. Fortunately the overall demographic profile of Elmhurst is very solid and the ongoing improvement of Elmhurst Hosptial and Elmhurst College are very exciting pluses for anyone looking tom the future. Lots of nice choices...

[Lookout Kid]

There are some awfully nice towns between Evanston and Lake Forest... I'm not sure why you only mentioned those two. With the down market, you could certainly get something in Wilmette on your budget. It won't be a huge house, but it's hard to find a more charming older suburban area than eastern Wilmette. And the schools are okay, I hear. Some high school called New Something or Other...

[Humboldt1]

Agreed. Wilmette is a great option, though do not expect cheap taxes to pay for New Trier schools.

[Tex?Il?]

You could always split the difference between Lake Forest and Evanston, and look into Highland Park. Highland Park, while not cheap by any means, might still offer a few cheaper options: as there are more small houses in Highland Park, and yet the same house isn't cost as much in Evanston.

In fact, I remember a couple posts by people who were familiar with Birmingham, MI who spent time in Highland Park and said it actually reminded the quite a lot of Birmingham (both being very wealthy with a nice happenin' downtown).

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

You could always split the difference between Lake Forest and Evanston, and look into Highland Park. Highland Park, while not cheap by any means, might still offer a few cheaper options: as there are more small houses in Highland Park, and yet the same house isn't cost as much in Evanston.

In fact, I remember a couple posts by people who were familiar with Birmingham, MI who spent time in Highland Park and said it actually reminded the quite a lot of Birmingham (both being very wealthy with a nice happenin' downtown).

Have to agree. Highland Park, Wilmette, and Winnetka are among the nicest suburbs in Chicagoland with older housing stock. There's no reason to jump from Evanston all the way to Lake Forest without considering the North Shore suburbs in between. Highland Park and Wilmette are more likely to have something in your price range than Winnetka, though. Glencoe is another option.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by BillyTheKid69

Evanston by all means. The other 2 cities are dumps

That's a good one. Haven't heard something so funny in a while!

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by BillyTheKid69

Yeah, only had to work in that ghetto they called Oak Park. Yeah yeah yeah, they have a quasi historic district with Victorian homes, it's still a ghetto outside of that small-tiny little area. And River Forest is a complete crapper without any question. Where do people like you come from? You know where West Suburban hospital is? What about Loretto Hospital? Have this guy walk around those hoods at night and then have him come back here and comment himself OK? I thought so......

What does Loretto Hospital have to do with Oak Park or River Forest? And I find it hard to believe that a town with many, many multi-million dollar mansions and a resident billionaire or two is a "complete crapper". Are you sure you know what you're talking about?

[mclairch]

You'd have no issues with the middle school or hs in Oak Park (or elementary schools- all are good). There are also lots of good options for a house with a budget up to 650k. And the commute will be less than an hour door to door (more like 45 at most- we lived in OP for several years before moving to NY last year and boy do we miss the better commute times!). You will be farther away from the lake but depending on where you keep your boat it may not be that far. I could certainly get to North Avenue beach in under 25 door to beach and spend a loving day enjoying the sand and sun.