Best Chicago suburb with the best schools? (Aurora, Naperville: for sale, real estate)

[jennster55]

A bit of background: We bought our house in a not-so-good school district before we had kids; now we have three, ages 5 & under. We're selling our house, and are in the midst of trying to decide where to move to in the Chicago suburbs.

We live in Aurora currently and like the area very much, though my husband's commute to the south Loop is long. We've lived in Berwyn but found the houses too close together and area too urban for our taste; lived in LaGrange but couldn't afford the house we wanted.

If it were only up to me, I'd be happy to stay in the Fox Valley / Naperville area (the portions of Aurora that are in the Oswego or Naperville school districts, or Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles), but is there another area we should be looking at?

Our criteria:
- must have excellent schools
- near Metra
- House budget $250k
- prefer less urban area
- prefer 4 bedroom, 2 bath, single family house
- prefer a newer home, but it's not a must
- do not want a project house -- been there, done that!

Thanks in advance for your opinions and advice!

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by jennster55

A bit of background: We bought our house in a not-so-good school district before we had kids; now we have three, ages 5 & under. We're selling our house, and are in the midst of trying to decide where to move to in the Chicago suburbs.

We live in Aurora currently and like the area very much, though my husband's commute to the south Loop is long. We've lived in Berwyn but found the houses too close together and area too urban for our taste; lived in LaGrange but couldn't afford the house we wanted.

If it were only up to me, I'd be happy to stay in the Fox Valley / Naperville area (the portions of Aurora that are in the Oswego or Naperville school districts, or Batavia, Geneva, St. Charles), but is there another area we should be looking at?

Our criteria:
- must have excellent schools
- near Metra
- House budget $250k
- prefer less urban area
- prefer 4 bedroom, 2 bath, single family house
- prefer a newer home, but it's not a must
- do not want a project house -- been there, done that!

Thanks in advance for your opinions and advice!

I don't think you will be able to meet all of your criteria AND move closer to the city than where you are. To move closer and be in "good" school district you need to either increase your housing budget or compromise on the less urban, newer home mindset and possibly sacrifice # of bedrooms, square footage and possibly do a little remodeling.

[chet everett]

Given your budget you are asking a pretty extensive "wish list". I am not sure what you really mean by "prefer less urban area" especially in the context of "near Metra" as that really limits choices.

Also if I am reading the combination of "do not want a project house" AND "prefer a newer home but not a must" I would assume that "able to live in without tearing out stuff" is a good compromise.

It probably won't come as a surprise that when I suggest "excellent schools" I go off the object data compiled by sources like the Illinois Interactive Report Card for elementary schools and the US News and World Repor Best High Schools list. By that measure you really will be extremely hard pressed to find a "move in ready" home in someplace served by New Trier, Hinsdale Central, Stevenson schools. The dislike of "more urban" areas would also probably rule out Park Ridge. I think you know Batavia has no Metra service, nor does St. Charles.

I do know that Downers Grove has a wide range of houses, in facct I suspect this might just the sort of thing that has many of the compromises you may be willing to consider: Real Estate & homes for sale | 930 Meadowlawn Ave Downers Grove IL- REALTOR.com®

Now I am not psychic, and I know this property has been on the market for a while. The main reason is that it was constructed with just a crawl space instead of full basement, but if your limit is $250K and you want the best combination of schools and Metra (with fast BNSF service and probably the best shuttle buses to the best scheduled station for both express and non-express serrvice) and nice big lot you'd be nuts not to take advantage of the LOOONG time on the market, ice cold conditions and general value...

[almost3am]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I do know that Downers Grove has a wide range of houses, in facct I suspect this might just the sort of thing that has many of the compromises you may be willing to consider: Real Estate & homes for sale | 930 Meadowlawn Ave Downers Grove IL- REALTOR.com®

whoever built that house has some kind of aversion to windows. I also like the realtor comments of "large, but quaint" for the downstairs.

Oh, to the OP question, it seems that Aurora 204 is a pretty good choice.

[chet everett]

The OP did not mention what part of Aurora they currently live in. Some of the D204 and D308 elementary schools (6) are on the desirable Illinois Honor Roll /Academic Excellence list -- Illinois Honor Roll - Academic Excellence Awards 2010 List

[Pete MUFC]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Given your budget you are asking a pretty extensive "wish list". I am not sure what you really mean by "prefer less urban area" especially in the context of "near Metra" as that really limits choices.

Also if I am reading the combination of "do not want a project house" AND "prefer a newer home but not a must" I would assume that "able to live in without tearing out stuff" is a good compromise.

It probably won't come as a surprise that when I suggest "excellent schools" I go off the object data compiled by sources like the Illinois Interactive Report Card for elementary schools and the US News and World Repor Best High Schools list. By that measure you really will be extremely hard pressed to find a "move in ready" home in someplace served by New Trier, Hinsdale Central, Stevenson schools. The dislike of "more urban" areas would also probably rule out Park Ridge. I think you know Batavia has no Metra service, nor does St. Charles.

I do know that Downers Grove has a wide range of houses, in facct I suspect this might just the sort of thing that has many of the compromises you may be willing to consider: Real Estate & homes for sale | 930 Meadowlawn Ave Downers Grove IL- REALTOR.com®

Now I am not psychic, and I know this property has been on the market for a while. The main reason is that it was constructed with just a crawl space instead of full basement, but if your limit is $250K and you want the best combination of schools and Metra (with fast BNSF service and probably the best shuttle buses to the best scheduled station for both express and non-express serrvice) and nice big lot you'd be nuts not to take advantage of the LOOONG time on the market, ice cold conditions and general value...

Wow! What a value for the $.
Plus, low property tax for the house of this size.

Chet, next time I am buying the house I will consult with you first .

[almost3am]

Originally Posted by chet everett

The OP did not mention what part of Aurora they currently live in. Some of the D204 and D308 elementary schools (6) are on the desirable Illinois Honor Roll /Academic Excellence list -- Illinois Honor Roll - Academic Excellence Awards 2010 List

Yep, there are definitely good schools that Aurora feeds into outside of 204, good clarification.

[jennster55]

Thank you for all the advice. Downers Grove is someplace I'd really not considered, because I'd been under the assumption we wouldn't be able to afford it (thanks for the link to the DG house -- looks like a great deal, but sadly $270k is still more than we can afford... but maybe by the time we sell, it'll have dropped down a bit more. Will definitely mark as a favorite.) D99 high schools sound excellent -- I'll research more about them and the area.

Thanks also for the Illinois Honor Roll link. I'm compiling a pretty extensive Excel spreadsheet with all kinds of facts and figures about schools & districts, housing and general pros & cons, and that'll help.

So far I've been targeting the portion of Aurora that's in Oswego D308 schools, or the portion of Aurora in Naperville D204 schools, or Batavia or Geneva. Any of those locations will require a longer drive to Metra, but also may be near or on a public bus route, an option we don't have now.

I should clarify what I mean by "less urban": Where we are now (the northern section of Aurora D131), the Aurora Metra station is less than 2 miles away, our house is newer, yet we still have a large lot, lots of open space, surrounded by cornfields and we're on a dead end street. Our location is probably unique in the Chicago area, and if it weren't for the school district, we'd never move. I don't want Berwyn or Oak Park urban, but LaGrange, Westmont or Darien suburban would be fine.

Oh, and by "project house," you hit the nail on the head, Chet: I meant we don't want one in which extensive repairs are needed just to make it safe: rotting wood, sloping floors, cracked foundation, insect infestations, water damage. We had that in our previous house and cannot deal with it now, especially with three little ones at home! Projects like removing wallpaper, ripping out carpeting or tile, repainting or replacing light fixtures are no big deal.

I know we won't find everything on our wish list, and most likely the things that'll have to give are the shorter commute and possibly the newer house, but I was mainly hoping for some insight about areas I hadn't yet considered. South or southwest suburbs, maybe? Or am I really on the right track staying in the Fox Valley D204, D308, Batavia or Geneva school districts?

[aga412]

Biased, but big Batavia fan. Great schools, small-town atmosphere with great access to Metra stations in either Geneva or Aurora, and closest to 88 of the Tri-Cities.

[chisub]

We live in 204, right near 88 and a mile from the Metra. I looked and there are definitely some homes in your price range (although they are about two miles from Metra instead of one). We are in the 60502 zip code if that helps.