Moving to northbrook (Cherry: for sale, rental, houses)

[Band12]

Hi,
We are moving to Northbrook and are trying to decide on which schools in district 28 or 30 would be a good fit. We are looking for excellent schools with caring teachers, enrichment classes, a friendly neighborhood, and some diversity in the population. Any ideas on which schools might be the best fit? Also we did see two house for sale on somewhat busier streets - one on Western and one on Cherry. We have younger kids and were hesistant to buy on these streets. Would you buy a nice home on these streets?

Thanks for the advice!

[chet everett]

Differnces in elementary schools sometimes can be sussed out by looking at somewhat obscure data like the amount of property wealth per student at either district -- generally districts that have a bigger cushion tend to find it easier to spend on enrichment...

As to the question of a "busy street" lots of variables can either make this not so critical or amdeal breaker. Portions of both those streets have stretches with lots of houses -- the nicest stretches have nice trees, easy optionsnfor commuting and other pluses that SOMEWHAT offset the negatives of high traffic volume BUT still are less valuable / desirable than homes literally a block away that have FAR less traffic tom deal with.

Also there are handful of houses on those streets that are further away from other amenities, isolated becuase of subdiviosn / fence walls, or right on top of a busy stoplight / intersection. Frankly such homes are not desirable for those with children. Even among older folks / those without children (or pets) such houses sell at a BIG discount. They make decent rental units for folks that need a place short term, but not a great choice to buy for a normal family...

[sbkim]

Great thread.

Chet - do you have any thoughts on district 28 vs 30? I think they are both good but I can definitely see the charm of 28 with the new elementary school in 2012 on Cherry and cozier looking neighborhood nearby. It seems like there are more home available for sale in the Wescott area but didn't know how these two neighborhoods compared.