Investigating Villa Park, Lombard and Glen Ellyn (Chicago, Arlington Heights: sale, new house)

[Zoodle]

Thanks for the replies - I will look into all this.


One of my main problems with the commute is that my husband often works late - he was leaving the office at 7:30 last night and the express trains were all done by then

[holl1ngsworth]

Originally Posted by aga412

Not really much of a unity of Glen Ellyn and Lombard if the high schools actively keep the two towns apart... lol.

Never heard of any unity between Lombard and Glen Ellyn. The highway acts as a physical barrier and they have such disparate character. There's no school overlap either. Something like Batavia and Aurora.

There's commonalities between Wheaton and Glen Ellyn though. Some school overlap too. Probably like Batavia and Geneva.

[RJA29]

Originally Posted by Zoodle

Thanks for the replies - I will look into all this.


One of my main problems with the commute is that my husband often works late - he was leaving the office at 7:30 last night and the express trains were all done by then

A short commute during off hours at under 500K with a CT-like house is just going to be hard to come by. There might be places nearer the city (that are perhaps not the neighborhoods you're looking for) like Oak Park, but you won't get the quality there (and property taxes are very high).

The commute would be longer from the further burbs, but at least the regular train would be under an hour.

Good luck!

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by holl1ngsworth

Never heard of any unity between Lombard and Glen Ellyn. The highway acts as a physical barrier and they have such disparate character. There's no school overlap either. Something like Batavia and Aurora.

There's commonalities between Wheaton and Glen Ellyn though. Some school overlap too. Probably like Batavia and Geneva.

I think he/she is talking about the term "Glenbard", which is a combination of Glen Ellyn and Lombard. At one time there was just Glenbard High School (formerly Glen Ellyn High School), in the building that is now Glenbard West in Glen Ellyn. Then Glenbard East was constructed in the late 1950's in Lombard, basically separating the school systems of the two towns. Then Glendale Heights, Bloomingdale, and Carol Stream grew to the north, necessitating that addition of Glenbard North to District 87. And then the areas south of Glen Ellyn grew, and Glenbard South was created in the 1970's, creating the third largest school district in Illinois.

Today most kids in Lombard are assigned to Glenbard East, while kids in Glen Ellyn go to West or South. Glenbard North takes most of Carol Stream and Bloomingdale, and Glendale Heights kids are split between North, East, and West. South is smaller than the other three.

[4122]

Originally Posted by Zoodle

Thanks, It is good to know that Villa Park has dicey areas. I noticed there were few houses for sale in my price range, but there was at least one New Construction house and that had peaked my interest.

I will have to rethink Lombard then. It has been hard to find a newer home with at least 2.5 baths in our price range in many of the towns we have looked as so far.
Downers grove is on the train to Union, so I was trying to stay into Ogilvie.

Are you familiar with Westchester? I know it is not as well thought of as La grange, but living there would we would be using the la grange train station and be near it's DT area.

I think you should still consider Lombard, but $600k is a lot of money for Lombard and you won't need to spend $600k. Westchester is nice but $600k is also considered a lot of money. However, Westchester is in the Proviso HS district which is terrible so resale on a $600k house and even on a $400k-$500k house would not be good. I would skip out on Westchester and Villa Park. Have you considered looking NW?

[RJA29]

What about North Shore (Highland Park, Wilmette, etc)?

[holl1ngsworth]

Westchester = no way. Don't think the market there supports >$300k. Look at recent sales data to help determine whether your budget is appropriate for town or not.

With a budget >$500k, I would limited a western suburb search to the following towns:

Oak Park
River Forest
Brookfield
Riverside
La Grange (proper, Park, and Highlands)
Western Springs
Hinsdale
Clarendon Hills
Oak Brook
Elmhurst
Downers Grove
Wheaton
Glen Ellyn
Warrenville
Naperville
Batavia
Geneva
St. Charles
Winfield (Wheaton schools)

I think it'd be a gamble to spend >$500k in the following towns, but it's certainly not unheard of:

Lombard
Darien
Woodridge
Lisle
Westmont
Countryside
Willowbrook
Aurora (Naperville schools)

Everything else I would avoid. No matter how nice a home some contractor is willing to build. All IMO, of course.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by holl1ngsworth

Westchester = no way. Don't think the market there supports >$300k. Look at recent sales data to help determine whether your budget is appropriate for town or not.

With a budget >$500k, I would limited a western suburb search to the following towns:

Oak Park
River Forest
Brookfield
Riverside
La Grange (proper, Park, and Highlands)
Western Springs
Hinsdale
Clarendon Hills
Oak Brook
Elmhurst
Downers Grove
Wheaton
Glen Ellyn
Warrenville
Naperville
Batavia
Geneva
St. Charles
Winfield (Wheaton schools)

I think it'd be a gamble to spend >$500k in the following towns, but it's certainly not unheard of:

Lombard
Darien
Woodridge
Lisle
Westmont
Countryside
Willowbrook
Aurora (Naperville schools)

Everything else I would avoid. No matter how nice a home some contractor is willing to build. All IMO, of course.

I agree with this list.

And I would add Burr Ridge to the "safe" list.

And I would add Carol Stream, Bloomingdale, Bartlett, and Roselle to the "maybe" list. Some of those towns are better than others, though. None of these are "my cup of tea", though Roselle and Bartlett at least have Metra service. Some of these are in the blurry area between "Western Suburbs" and "Northwest Suburbs".

[holl1ngsworth]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

I agree with this list.

And I would add Burr Ridge to the "safe" list.

And I would add Carol Stream, Bloomingdale, Bartlett, and Roselle to the "maybe" list. Some of those towns are better than others, though. None of these are "my cup of tea", though Roselle and Bartlett at least have Metra service. Some of these are in the blurry area between "Western Suburbs" and "Northwest Suburbs".

Burr Ridge, yes, but I count it Southwest. I disagree with the "maybe" on Carol Stream. Bloomingdale, Bartlett and Roselle, I agree with the "maybe," but I think of those as Northwest.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by holl1ngsworth

Burr Ridge, yes, but I count it Southwest. I disagree with the "maybe" on Carol Stream. Bloomingdale, Bartlett and Roselle, I agree with the "maybe," but I think of those as Northwest.

Burr Ridge is between Countryside and Darien, of which you both included.

And if Naperville is a western suburb, all of the ones mentioned above are Western suburbs. I can see Bartlett and Roselle being called "Northwest", but Bloomingdale and Carol Streat are exactly due west of Lincoln Park.