Moving to Chicago from East coast - Wilmette, Glenview, Hinsdale?

[Omoikane]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I do agree that they do get more money to spend on things, I don't agree that the test results are available --

George Lucas, Mellody Hobson donate large again - Chicago Tribune

Those black tie affairs consume LOTS of "donor money" -- Charity Navigator Rating - Latin School of Chicago

Latin School of Chicago Upper -- Chicago Tribune 2013 Illinois School Report Cards

University of Chicago Lab Schs -- Chicago Tribune 2013 Illinois School Report Cards

The literally "did not release" information that could be used to compare the success of kids in even the "upper" or high school equivalent...

Latin, UChicago Labs, Parker, Roycemore, and North Shore CD released data to Chicago Magazine for an article in 2007. If you visit a private school admissions office most will be happy to disclose this information to the parents of a prospective applicant.

http://www.chicagomag.com/images/200...ateSchools.pdf

[chet everett]

I well remember the controversy that flowed from that article about seven years ago. The schools that honestly participated, the schools that felt "tricked" and the magazine all agreed "never again"...

Comparing Private High Schools, Page 5 | Chicago magazine | December 2007

[LifeIsGood5]

Greetings,

Lots of good information in your post. We are in a similar situation having spent the last almost 10 years on the East Coast which we have come to really appreciate. We have the opportunity to move back to the Chicago area and really think Wilmette is perfect...except for New Trier and the possibly middle school atmosphere which I've read a few posts that the entitlement starts at that age. Fortunately, financially a move to Wilmette is not an issue. Although our current area has all the makings of fulfilling sterotypes of affluent children, it is kept in check rather well - or we keep it in check!

How has your experience with the schools/environment been? Is it similar to Connecticut? My husband and I agree after living here, the other metropolis suburbs wouldn't be a good fit.

Thanks for giving your perspective and feel free to add more that I didn't ask!

Originally Posted by chrissyb52

NotinKSanymore—

First, welcome (almost) to Chicago! I currently live in East Wilmette, and logged 12 years in towns in the NYC & Boston area before coming back "home". I've certainly logged my time my time in relocating and know what a challenge it can be to find a new community from afar. I ended up here following a camp thread and stumbled on to your post and felt compelled to respond.

I will tell you why my family choose to live in Wilmette vs other communities. First the New Trier School district was a powerful draw for us and we wanted our children to attend public school. We are also a block away from St. Francis Catholic School, which like the public schools was given a Blue Ribbon School recognition last year. Several of my neighbors children attend there and they love the community, quality of learning, and all 3 Wilmette Catholic Schools are highly regarded. All in all - private or public - all the schools are fantastic options and in the end it will come down to what will be the best atmosphere for your child to thrive in. And the beauty is you have many great options.

Of the final towns we were looking at, Wilmette's taxes were the lowest and we felt that we got more services for our tax dollar. Wilmette's park district is incredible - there is a book just for camps and the yearly recreation they offer is wonderful. Other towns can use the park district, but residents get first dibs and popular classes & camps sell out first. Their other services such as pre-school, after kindergarten enrichment, extenders on day camps and after school care are also helpful for working parents with small children. I used them for my own children. We also love the library and the programming it offers. Since you have small children, having a variety of activities to meet your children's interests as well as other families is key, and I felt that for our family the range was wide, diverse and affordable.

Accessiblity was also another factor. We wanted to be close to downtown, as well as have easy access to the expressway-I-94 is a straight shot up Lake street. Wilmette is the last town on the EL and gives the flexibilty of both train lines. From our house, we are a 10 min walk to the Wilmette & Evanston Metra (UP-North) stops and the EL - Red/Purple Lines. We liked the optionality of both train lines because we were going to two different areas in the city. It would take me 45 min to commute to Merchandise Mart via EL. For you the easiest is probably going to be to drive. I estimate about 25 min in rush hour to Michigan Ave exit. The EL will not be bad either maybe 30-35, the red line stop is a couple blocks away from Chicago/Michigan. I don't have good estimate on time, but at rush hour there are express trains and minimal wait time between Red & Purple, and a visit to the CTA website probably can calculate it. O'Hare is not a straight shot, so that can be an issue if you fly a lot, but there are shortcuts to be learned. We like having convenient access to Ravinia, which our westerly friends in Elmhurst never went to because they hated the drive. Access to the lakefront was important to us because it was on the east coast and we did not want to remove that from our life. The kids love swimming and take sailing lessons, and like the New England town we lived in, we will meet families down at the beach for Friday night pizza in the summer.

We also wanted to be able to walk to downtown (and a cute one), as well as have the shops that we used frequently fairly close by. We thought Wilmette charming and it has a good restaurant base. Old orchard is 10 min away, as well a solid utilitarian shops and healthcare. Evanston has tons of activities, restaurants, etc and is very close. Glenview/Northbrook have a lot of big box...Costco, REI, Marshalls, etc.

We are old house people and have restored a NJ 1968 Brownstone, and lived in a new England Town with 7 Historic districts, although we did have a brief affair with new construction. We choose a 1910 home in Wilmette which we renovated. We love the charm of the cobblestone streets and the diversity in architecture of our neighborhood. It is more urban feeling that the other towns mentioned. Yes, yards will be larger the further west you go, and housing dollars will go further as well. For you it will all be balance of where your trade offs will be. Wilmette is the priciest of the three. Glenview has many old homes in the old section of town and Hinsdale has many old homes as well. Both of those towns offer more affordable new/newer construction.

As for meeting people and making friends, we thought the Midwest easier than the east coast. Block parties are popular on the north shore in the summer. It was a shocking thing for us having been on the east coast. We had been in our home a week when our neighborhood hosted one on our street and we were invited to 2 others just a couple of streets away that summer as well. Potluck, a keg of beer, the firetruck stopping by, a band, crafts, etc. Everyone was so nice. And don't get me started on Halloween which is a social event in itself. We've been fortunate to have great neighbors whom we socialize with and our children play. We refer to our neighborhood as the Village...if someone need size 4 soccer cleats, or dress shoes, a quick email to the "village" usually yields results. Some of it's luck, the rest I attribute to closer homes and Midwest friendliness.

While this may not work for everyone, every time we relocated we prioritized what we wanted our of our town/home/community...from the critical (awesome schools) to the the vain (charming downtown - hey, why not shoot for the moon!) and once I had narrowed down my towns, I did 'dry runs' of a typical day. How was the commute? How long did it take? How easy to get the kids to school, day care or nanny access. I'd go to the library and places that would have been typical of my daily routine. I arranged a tour of the schools my children would go to and tried to put myself in situations where I would meet people to see how easy it was to meet people I had stuff in common with. I would even stop in to the police dept. A couple of times we totally scrapped recommended towns and went back to the drawing board. It can be a little time consuming if you are flying in for the weekend, but worth a long day's efforts.

Hope this helps. Feel free to PM if you have specific questions or want to talk more about Wilmette!
Christine