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No explanation needed. I fail to see anything that sugggests my statements are other than 100% accurate.
I trust that you agree that you misunderstand the basis of comparison and see that the relative tax burden for a similar home is several times larger. This is of course also borne out by the Illinois Interactive Report Card where the relative tax rate for H-F is 3.8x greater than in an area with greater market value: CHSD 233 HSD 86
As much as it kills me to say it, I'm, at least slightly, with Chet on this one. Several folks I knew at Argonne lived in Hyde Park because of the ties to UofC, and it would only follow (and from some anecdotal experience of mine it does) that it goes both ways.
He suggested Flosmoor and he suggested Hinsdale. Let's give credit where credit is due.
No explanation needed. I fail to see anything that sugggests my statements are other than 100% accurate.
I trust that you agree that you misunderstand the basis of comparison and see that the relative tax burden for a similar home is several times larger. This is of course also borne out by the Illinois Interactive Report Card where the relative tax rate for H-F is 3.8x greater than in an area with greater market value: CHSD 233 HSD 86
Itemized percentages and actual dollar amount cost are two totally different things. For one, there is no property value assessment uniformity for tax purposes between different neighborhoods. Even within the same school district. And definitely not between different neighborhoods in different counties. Secondly, that is not the total property tax rate. Just what the school district’s total tax rate is.
What I pointed out was what the actual dollar amount median property tax bill paid by flossmoor residents was. Regardless of how the percentages for different items on the property tax bill works out. The median property tax bill in flossmoor is $8,284.16 a year. High yes. But, as I pointed out the median property tax bill in unincorporated clarendon hills is nearly double what it is in flossmoor. The median property tax bill in unincorporated clarendon hills is $14,946.82 a year. Not that I really care. But since you brought it up.
Last edited by allen2323; 02-28-2012 at 03:21 PM..
And I showed that the when comparing not homes of "median price" in two areas where that median is VERY definately influenced by the relative differences in the both size and cost of the home BUT HOMES THAT ACTUALLY WOULD BE SUITABLE TO THE OP AND THEIR TWO INCOME FAMILY with school age children they'd pay a SUBSTAINABLY LARGER amount in taxes for a school that has poorer performance...
My wife is a UofC alum, so we spent quite a bit of time in Hyde Park. I'm a Chicago native, and have moved around the metro area quite a bit, lived in several Chicago neighborhoods and suburbs, so I have opinions on a lot of the neighborhoods and suburbs. The thing is that everyone is different and every neighborhood/suburb is different, so it would help to know what your values are and what you're looking for in a place. Neighborhoods I like, you might hate, neighborhoods I hate, you might like. Having lived here as long as I have, one thing I can say is that each suburb and neighborhood really has its own unique flavor. A lot of people who live in the city limits of Chicago swear by the city, and love it, and hate the suburbs, they think all the suburbs are the same, but I disagree- each suburb is different, with a very different feel and different personalities. Other people I talk to are suburb people, and they hate the city, and think all the neighborhoods are the same, which I again disagree with, each neighborhood of Chicago is very different from the others. So I think where you'll be happiest depends on your personality, and what you value in a place. When you do move here, you might want to rent for a while before buying, so you can get to know the area and what you like and dislike about each place.
I agree with pretty much everything boogex has stated with the exception of renting for a while. If they did not have school aged kids renting makes a lot of sense but the hassles of trying to find a decent place to rent when interest rates are at all time lows and then potentially needing to move twice and uprooting the kids more than once is both an economic risk that makes little sense and puts additional stress of the potential for the kids to prgress in school.
With suffficient preparation the wide variety of suburbs and city neighborhoods that may seem overwhelming can rather quickly be reduced to a manageable matrix of options. Allocating several months and a few in person visits can be remarkably effective in making this process fairly smooth.
I would also caution that in practice the number of people that are as polarized in their opinions / defense / promotion of any particular part of the region, city or suburban is far different than hyperbolic on-line experience. I have lived in Chicago as well as working for CPS though I now live in the suburbs and make my primary income in an unrelated way. The broad range of people that live where it makes the most sense for their family and economic circumstances really appreciate the trade offs that come with any real estate decision.
That's true, having to move more than necessary with kids would be extra stressful for everyone involved. I have 2 kids of my own, and would dread having to move again.
I'm normally just a lurker, but I'll chime in since I started working at the U of C in December and my wife and kids are still living in Champaign while we sell our house and figure out where to live in the Chicago area.
I am currently staying with my grandparents in Oak Park during the week. So I can talk a little about the commute to a western suburb to and from Hyde Park. I commute from there most of the week, but I also come via I-57 north Monday morning from Champaign and take I-57 south on Friday afternoon. The morning commute from Oak Park is fine. It takes about 30 minutes at around 7:30 in the morning to get to Hyde Park. I take the Eisenhower to the Dan Ryan and usually get on Lake Shore Drive. It is possible to of course take the Dan Ryan to Garfield if there is a backup on LSD (and there was this morning). Coming home in the evening at say 5-6 PM, I can usually count on 40-50 minutes. I always take Lake Shore Drive home to the Stevenson, to the Dan Ryan, to the Eisenhower. If you have flexible hours that would be helpful to try and avoid some of the traffic, but it can be heavy past 6 PM even. I've only occasionally driven on the Stevenson for the morning or afternoon commute, just to get an idea of what driving on it would be like. The stevenson is not great. The traffic sign when you merge on to the Stevenson usually says about 25 minutes to Harlem avenue and maybe 40 minutes to the tri-state tollway. I believe you can estimate about 40 minutes on average to get from Hyde Park to Harlem Avenue via the Stevenson.
What this boils down to is Oak Park, Riverside, Brookfield, and La Grange are possibilities if you can put up with that type of commute. To me Oak Park would probably be the best, but it can of course be expensive to buy a house in a desirable area (ie not within a couple of blocks of austin boulevard). You also have the possibility of riding the Green Line all the way to 63rd. It can be useful in case of inclement weather. My grandparents live closer to the blue line, so I usually take that and transfer downtown. It takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes. It's not an enjoyable trip. Taking the Green Line only should only take around 50 minutes. It is still a bit of a walk from the station to the university and the area around the station maybe isn't the greatest, so I wouldn't suggest it as a normal option.
Of those areas I mentioned, we're taking the closest look at Riverside because it seems to have more affordable houses and seems to have good schools. I'm still worried about the commute, but I do have flexible hours, so I could probably make it work. Personally, I don't think I could handle a commute much farther than from Riverside coming from the west. I think I would prefer driving on the Eisenhower to the Stevenson as well.
The other option we are definitely looking at is Flossmoor. It seems to really be the only option for commuting by public transit. It should take about 25-30 minutes by train during the rush hour. I only drive that way on Monday morning around 9:15 and Friday afternoon around 4. At 9 there is usually not any heavy traffic. Since I'm not actually going to or from Flossmoor, I don't know the exact time, but I figure it to be similar to my current commute from Oak Park. I would say it takes about 30 minutes from the Lincoln Highway exit to get to Hyde Park. Friday afternoon will of course take longer 40-50 minutes.
Another factor is you can buy a lot more house in Flossmoor than you can the western suburbs. There are some impressive houses in the Flossmoor Estates, Flossmoor Park, and Old Flossmoor areas. Flossmoor is indeed a very nice looking area. There are some concerns about whether or not the quality of schools has declined and the changing demographics, but you can surely read about those in some of the other threads on this forum. You can also check out the Illinois Interactive Report Card for more information on the schools. Flossmoor is probably our top choice at this point, though.
My wife did take a look at Homewood as well, but she didn't like how the schools are set up. The Homewood schools only have 2-3 grade levels in each school, so they end up going to 4 different schools before they get to high school.
There are a couple of areas that would be worth looking in to. We haven't looked at them as closely as Riverside and Flossmoor, but Oak Lawn, Evergreen Park, and Beverly are certainly options. Oak Forest and Tinley Park which are farther south and closer to Flossmoor but on the west side of I-57 could be considered as well.
Anyway, I hope this was helpful. It is quite a difficult decision on where to live especially when you've got children to worry about.
I have a friend who is an administrator for one of the schools at the U of C. Her & her partner used to own a house in north Berwyn. She finally got sick of the commute, and they sold their house, and ended up in Hyde Park. Since they send to their kids to a Jewish day school in Hyde Park, it worked out well for them. They did seriously consider Homewood, though.
I've been commuting to U of C from La Grange for nearly 4 years now. During rush hour it's 35 minutes in the morning and 40 going home. For the am commute, I generally take 47th to Joliet to Pershing (through Stickney) and get on I-55 at Cicero and take I-55 to LSD, which bypasses most of the I-55 morning jam. Coming home, I check traffic on the internet and if the delay is moderate (15 minutes or so) I take LSD to I-55 all the way to 1st ave. Otherwise, I take Garfield/55th past Midway airport to Archer to 1st ave (which is 40 minutes) to 47th.
Without traffic (which faculty can often swing), the commute is 25 minutes via I-55/LSD.
When we moved here we looked S, N, W, and in Hyde Park, and ended up choosing the closest suburb that had low crime stats and top schools. We are very happy with our choice. Access to the loop, at 20 minute non-rush drive, is nice for museums and such. The downtown La Grange restaurants/shopping/movies provide the icing on the cake.
Children are the worst possible reasons to purchase any home at any time in an unfamiliar city. However children are resilient. Rent during the school year. Parents will have nine months to discover the mundane facts: the cost of transportation to/from work, potential real estate tax on X property, snow removal, doctors and stores, and whether or not you like city/suburb where you live, or to the area where you are considering a move. Ten little kids are 1000 times easier to move than one unhappy, foot draggin', reluctant teenager.
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