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Most of the land between Butterfield Road and I-88 is green space (west from I-355 to Hwy 59), with the main exception being the village of Warrenville and some sprawling corporate campuses. And then going north from Warrenville it is nearly continuous green until West Chicago. And then there's a wide green belt going north from West Chicago all the way to Bartlett. The forest preserves to the west are larger and more contiguous, and offer more lakes and recreational opportunities. But it makes sense that this is a benefit to being "further out" from the city. It's a little greener, a little less-developed. This is a disadvantage to some, especially those who want to get to the city quickly.
But you are correct in that you aren't exactly starving for nature in Hinsdale. It's just a bit smaller in scale. Hinsdale has enough other advantages over Wheaton, but it can't win in every category.
While it is true that the performance of Gower D62 is numerically better than Maecker D60, which is to be expected as Gower includes a more affluent area that encompasses southern Burr Ridge (as well as parts of Willowbrook) {btw all the "Higley" neighborhoods feed primarily into Central, and no doubt reinforce the performance characters associated with higher income students...} the FACT is the map that was linked shows ALL of D86.
The vast majority of homes served by Gower feed into HINSDALE SOUTH and since the "attendance boundaries" are subject to change in response to enrollment or even the whims of the BOE it is not wise at all to suggest choosing a home that could very logically be reassigned to the far less desirable attendance area for legitimate reasons, such as to relieve the continued enrollment imbalance between the schools or enhance continuity of instruction from feeder middle schools or even reduce busing costs as most of the homes in the option area are physically close to the South campus. Thus the "discount" is in fact is a rational market response to the uncertainty.
The BOE has had periods where they "flip" attendance and the area of overlap is technically now an "option" area where residents are allowed to "choose" either high school for enrollment.
The trend of late has been for students in the option area that attended a local parochial elementary school but decided, for whatever reason, against a private high school, to prefer Central and the vast majority of kids that do, in fact, utilize Gower public schools tend to stick with the majority of their classmates at South.
As you can imagine, this tends to further reinforce the economic split between the two high schools of D86.
{why don't you stick to throwing down challenges about elementary schools...}
Why you gotta nitpick like dat?
I never said the map was only Hinsdale Central, just that it included Hinsdale Central's attendance zone.
Gower is a viable option. I like that you point out the risks, but don't sweep it under the rug as bad advice.
Yes, the overlap with SD 62 is an option area now -- but if SD 62 were to be "flipped" to only Hinsdale South, it would most likely only affect new students. Current students at Gower would still be allowed to have their option. Furthermore, even new post-flip students would most likely have an option if they had siblings who took the Gower-Hinsdale Cetral path. Have you observed "flips" where similar provisions weren't stipulated?
While the current overlap may be small, there are a lot of influential Higley-esque people living inside it that will fight the BOE tooth and nail on any "flip." The option area contains SD 60, SD 62 and even SD 181 schools! That's why the linked map is helpful for people new to the area! It's a zig-zag mess over there.
If the OP is considering SD 60 she should at least be aware of SD 62!
Majority of "Higley-esque" folks that I have encountered could not give a rat's patootity about public schools -- send their own kids to private schools and/or too old to care...
Trust me, if you knew the first thing about how local BOE often are highly reactive you would understand the downsides of relying on logic when emotion / vindicativeness often are their stock in trade...
The physical limits of some schools like Central are such that re-assingment of attendance areas is not just an edge case; it has come up in the past and could surface in the future. The only D181 site that is anywhere near the "option" area is the southern most school which holds district offices as well as hosting some of the services that draw in students from throughout the district;as an elementary school it would not factor into any redrawing of attendance areas for the high school. Both D181 middle schools would never make any sense to feed into other than Central as busing costs alone would be prohibitive to South.
Really, stick to the slicing and dicing that feeds your ego about what a rare group of high performing non-low income kids you've stumbled upon and just stop trying to give advice that is not sound...
Last edited by chet everett; 06-18-2014 at 01:31 PM..
Majority of "Higley-esque" folks that I have encountered could not give a rat's patootity about public schools -- send their own kids to private schools and/or too old to care...
Most children there go public, even the Higleys. Central performs better than most local privates and is a driving factor for moving to the area, even for the Higleys.
Being flipped to Hinsdale South would in some measurable way affect real estate prices in the option area. Whether the effect is large or small, rich folk don't like when BOEs take their money. They would be upset.
Stop being so overly dismissive just because you've had select encounters with people in the area. I have a good friend living in the option zone with a 9-year-old daughter at Gower. He would be upset. People were irate back in the late 90's when this was a real issue.
Bottom line, it's ridiculous you would recommend SD 60 and not want to even mention the higher-performing SD 62 when both have sections that feed into HC. Starting to feel like I am being trolled.
It is not that I am "recommending" either area or even telling folks to "avoid" either area.
I have lived in the region for decades, have seen lots of odd behavior from BOE and would strongly caution that the "discount" that sometimes appears to make certain areas a "bargain" in otherwise desirable attendance areas is more often a rational response of buyers to the uncertainity of school attendance areas getting shifted unliaterally by BOE action (which are unlike district boundaries that are nearly impossible to change and require intevention of Regional Office of School Superintendent...). If people don't understand all the details they generally grok "inside vs outside"...
It is also my expereince, based on interaction with hundreds of buyers and many more shoppers, that the value of having a home in the walkable core of a town like Clarendon Hills or Hinsdale is a not just a "nice to have" it is 100% "make or break" aspect of local real estate deals . There are many people that fail to understand this and wrongly assume a "really nice" home in Oak Brook in what is inarguably a higher performing school district that also carries a lower tax burden ought to be enticement. In practice the "location premium" is rather insurmountable.
Funny part of it is, in practice folks really "spend on the lifestyle they envision" not necessarily on what they really use / need. I can't tell you how many people that do buy a home that is walkably close to the train station end up getting a ride, or how many that build out their backyard with an outdoor kitchen use it less than half a dozen times a season. Or how many three car garages remain mostly empty, "home theater" space that stay untouched and "soak tubs" that collect dust...
The "private school" thing is further something I have exceedingly deep knowledge of, having not just been a real estate agent / investor but also a former teacher. There are huge numbers of higher income folks that out of tradition / generational continuity, or legitimate concerns over social factors / school performance choose private schools. Places like Fenwick, St. Ignatius, Nazareth and other parochial schools in Cook Co draw signficant enrollment from Hinsdale and other DuPage suburbs, as do Benet, Timothy Christian, Montini and other DuPage area high schools as well as residential options outside the region.
It is amazing to me that more folks in towns like Oak Brook that are split between multiple school districts don't fight harder for issues that are a major part of the tax bill but like F.Scott Fitzgerald said "They are different from you and me...". The folks most likely to be elected a BOE are rarely those "backed" by anyone and routinely come down to who was able to get the tinest majority of voters to actually show up on the usually very poorly attendend nonpresidential cycle elections. In fact if you do a little googling you'll see that even very high profile types (and their "drawn into the spotlight" spouses...) often have a spotty record of voting at all...
Last edited by chet everett; 06-18-2014 at 03:04 PM..
Have you thought about going south? Frankfort has great schools, easy train access (plenty of parking) to both the Metra Electric and Rock Island metra which can drop you at LaSalle Street, union station, or millennium park if you'd like. Great family community, new construction that is affordable, etc.
It is not that I am "recommending" either area or even telling folks to "avoid" either area.
I have lived in the region for decades, have seen lots of odd behavior from BOE and would strongly caution that the "discount" that sometimes appears to make certain areas a "bargain" in otherwise desirable attendance areas is more often a rational response of buyers to the uncertainity of school attendance areas getting shifted unliaterally by BOE action (which are unlike district boundaries that are nearly impossible to change and require intevention of Regional Office of School Superintendent...). If people don't understand all the details they generally grok "inside vs outside"...
It is also my expereince, based on interaction with hundreds of buyers and many more shoppers, that the value of having a home in the walkable core of a town like Clarendon Hills or Hinsdale is a not just a "nice to have" it is 100% "make or break" aspect of local real estate deals . There are many people that fail to understand this and wrongly assume a "really nice" home in Oak Brook in what is inarguably a higher performing school district that also carries a lower tax burden ought to be enticement. In practice the "location premium" is rather insurmountable.
Funny part of it is, in practice folks really "spend on the lifestyle they envision" not necessarily on what they really use / need. I can't tell you how many people that do buy a home that is walkably close to the train station end up getting a ride, or how many that build out their backyard with an outdoor kitchen use it less than half a dozen times a season. Or how many three car garages remain mostly empty, "home theater" space that stay untouched and "soak tubs" that collect dust...
The "private school" thing is further something I have exceedingly deep knowledge of, having not just been a real estate agent / investor but also a former teacher. There are huge numbers of higher income folks that out of tradition / generational continuity, or legitimate concerns over social factors / school performance choose private schools. Places like Fenwick, St. Ignatius, Nazareth and other parochial schools in Cook Co draw signficant enrollment from Hinsdale and other DuPage suburbs, as do Benet, Timothy Christian, Montini and other DuPage area high schools as well as residential options outside the region.
It is amazing to me that more folks in towns like Oak Brook that are split between multiple school districts don't fight harder for issues that are a major part of the tax bill but like F.Scott Fitzgerald said "They are different from you and me...". The folks most likely to be elected a BOE are rarely those "backed" by anyone and routinely come down to who was able to get the tinest majority of voters to actually show up on the usually very poorly attendend nonpresidential cycle elections. In fact if you do a little googling you'll see that even very high profile types (and their "drawn into the spotlight" spouses...) often have a spotty record of voting at all...
Ok. A bit tangential to 60 v. 62, but I can agree with this. I mostly like the lack of cheap shots at the end.
Have you thought about going south? Frankfort has great schools, easy train access (plenty of parking) to both the Metra Electric and Rock Island metra which can drop you at LaSalle Street, union station, or millennium park if you'd like. Great family community, new construction that is affordable, etc.
But aren't property taxes there pretty high compared with closer in areas?
But aren't property taxes there pretty high compared with closer in areas?
It is pretty nuts. What has happened is with the dramatic fall off in value, taxes as percentage of current market value has soared. Back when some of these large houses on big lots were changing hands above $600k a tax bill of $10k seemed like a fair price compared to more established areas.
Now with the fall back to prices in the mid $300k with the same tax bill(becuase they have closed down the schools and shuttered the fire stations, fired the cops ...) of $10k it is an eye poppingly high percentage of value
Thing too is the folks are really stuck -- even if they sell it is a big loss and if they have kids nobody wants to uproot 'em. I don't see this ending well Things are actually very similar in the exterme NW fringe burbs too -- Huntley and the areas that were the edge of development like Bull Valley have some very impressive looking homes that are just taxed like crazy. Some folks sunk boatloads of money into places that unless some HUGE turnarounds in business growth / tax policy happen are just going to wipe out sellers...
Getting back on topic and off the Hinsdale - Wheaton war, I would recommend looking at Lisle on the border of Naperville/Lisle. If you like cookie cutter, there is a new development from some friends who live there. I believe it is Lisle, but goes to Naperville 203 district which isn't Hinsdale/Wheaton, etc., but a pretty darn good one.
Has great access to downtown Naperville, 355 and 88. Just an FYI
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They are...
Things are actually very similar in the exterme NW fringe burbs too -- Huntley and the areas that were the edge of development like Bull Valley have some very impressive looking homes that are just taxed like crazy. Some folks sunk boatloads of money into places that unless some HUGE turnarounds in business growth / tax policy happen are just going to wipe out sellers...
