Parkridge IL (Evanston, Skokie, Des Plaines: house, transfer, best school)

[Lookout Kid]

Niles, Skokie, and Des Plaines may have rentals in your budget. But the schools are a mixed bag in those communities, so do your research first.

[JTW2013]

Originally Posted by sara le

Thank you all for replying back. My husband really doesnt want to live more than 20 min from work. He will be doing medical research at Luthern Advocate Hosp in Parkridge. We used to live in Ann Arbor MI. Currently we are living in Long Island NY, our move to NY was temporary. Its been a year since we came to NY.

Im not looking for a rich wealthy area, I just want my kids to feel safe playing outside and at nearby parks. I would to be in a clean area. I have a daughter that is beyond her grade level. I just
want her to be in a school that has a good rep.

I guess our max budget would be 2000.

Chicago is a very expensive market and families are forced to make compromises if they want affordable housing and good schools. What is usually compromised is a short commute to work.

You will definitely be able to find a house or a townhome in your price range in a nice, safe community with good schools. But your DH will probably need to drive longer than 20 minutes to get there.

[MSchemist80]

Niles or Des plaines may have something in your price range but as far as nice and desirable and schools I'd describe them as meh. They aren't ghetto but are particularly desirable ether kind of blue collar. Lutheran General is about 1.5 miles away from the Union Pacific Northwest Metra line (train) either Desplaines or Dee Rd Station. Perhaps something farther out on the Metra.

[MassVt]

Skokie should be just fine, and what about Evanston? Lot of amenities there, including Northwestern University and the Purple Line, and pretty close by..

[nikitakolata]

Originally Posted by MassVt

Skokie should be just fine, and what about Evanston? Lot of amenities there, including Northwestern University and the Purple Line, and pretty close by..

Evanston might be a possibility. The drive will likely take longer than 20 minutes in traffic, but not a ton longer. I don't think they will be able to find a single family house in their rental budget, but an apartment is possible. I even found a listing for a coach house, actually:

2108 Harrison Street, Evanston IL - Trulia

2022 Colfax Street #1, Evanston IL - Trulia

[4122]

Evanston has good schools, better schools than Niles, Skokie, and Des Plaines.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by 4122

Evanston has good schools, better schools than Niles, Skokie, and Des Plaines.

I have been going through the latest set of results from the Illinois Interactive Report Cards and there is a whole lot of "disruption" that almost certainly was caused by the shift toward questions more aligned with Common Core. Next year, when students in Illinois are required to take the PARCC assessments, things will be even murkier.

Going by my traditional yard stick, of affluent parents / high property values, a case could be made either way -- Evanston is so much larger and so many more pockets of low income students that the least good students / schools are very likely to be much more of a drain than the offsetting well prepared students. Conversely, with shrinking family size among the affluent that still live in the nicer areas areas of Niles, Skokie or DesPlaines and growing influence of lower income families the negative pressure on standardized tests and increasing demands for things like ESL may stretch resources even thinner...

[sara le]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply back. Now I'm pretty nervous. Also my husband is going to drive to work rather than take public transit.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by sara le

Thank you all for taking the time to reply back. Now I'm pretty nervous. Also my husband is going to drive to work rather than take public transit.

No reason to panic, though. You have plenty of nice communities to choose from. Investigate Park Ridge,a nd if that proves too pricey, then look into all of the above communities,and add Morton Grove and Northbrook as well. Evanston has tough areas, but most of the city is very nice. And if you have to add to your commute time, so be it--pretty hard to keep any commute under 20 minutes.

[holl1ngsworth]

Originally Posted by sara le

Thank you all for taking the time to reply back. Now I'm pretty nervous. Also my husband is going to drive to work rather than take public transit.

Not anything to be nervous about... just tell the DH to adjust his commute expectations.