Investigating Villa Park, Lombard and Glen Ellyn (Aurora, Wheaton: how much, home)

[holl1ngsworth]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Relative to what? I know for a fact that many people in Lombard use amenities in Glen Ellyn all of the time, whether it's a church, a gym, Trader Joe's, or restaurants downtown. I don't think the fact that it's ten minutes or maybe even 15 from a distant corner of Lombard is going to change that. If you live in Lombard you will probably go to Glen Ellyn for various things.

Relative to a town that has >3 routes into it's neighbor. Not hard, just a little more snaking.

[streptococcus]

I have only lived here a couple of years but to me the whole area kind of blends together. A couple of years ago when we were looking for a house in the 350K range, it was a choice between a larger house but in this cul-de-sac off rt. 53 with a Glen Ellyn address, or a super cute expanded cape cod in central Lombard. I'm glad I chose the latter as the neighborhood is great, safe for kids to bike/walk to school, good mix of young families and old-timers. My only point is don't get too hung up on the address but think about the amenities. Yes downtown Glen Ellyn, Wheaton and Elmhurst are great, but I think you can get a lot (not all) of the same in Lombard for less $$. And I know Villa Park has a bad rep, but the houses and neighborhoods along the Prairie Path look pretty damn nice. The worst part about Lombard is that it is too easy make up derogatory nicknames: Lame-bard, Slum-bard, or my kids' favorite "Lom-barf"

[RJA29]

Originally Posted by streptococcus

I have only lived here a couple of years but to me the whole area kind of blends together. A couple of years ago when we were looking for a house in the 350K range, it was a choice between a larger house but in this cul-de-sac off rt. 53 with a Glen Ellyn address, or a super cute expanded cape cod in central Lombard. I'm glad I chose the latter as the neighborhood is great, safe for kids to bike/walk to school, good mix of young families and old-timers. My only point is don't get too hung up on the address but think about the amenities. Yes downtown Glen Ellyn, Wheaton and Elmhurst are great, but I think you can get a lot (not all) of the same in Lombard for less $$. And I know Villa Park has a bad rep, but the houses and neighborhoods along the Prairie Path look pretty damn nice. The worst part about Lombard is that it is too easy make up derogatory nicknames: Lame-bard, Slum-bard, or my kids' favorite "Lom-barf"

I like Lombard, but I'd prefer Glen Ellyn if only for the quality of the schools and the resultant resale value of the houses in those districts.

[Zoodle]

Wow everyone - Lots of discussion - I love hearing all your views!
I will be out there in Early December looking at houses and will look closely at all this. (or as much as I can when not living there)

I actually did not find very many houses that met my criteria in Lombard, just a couple; but hope to see about 9 houses in Glen Ellyn.
I'm also going to look at Downers grove - even though the train goes into Union, the express trains are about 10 minutes shorter than the ones from/to Glen Ellyn making the overall trip about equal

I am further limited by trying to get the drive to the train station under 10 minutes.

Any thoughts positive or negative about Downers Grove?

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Zoodle

Any thoughts positive or negative about Downers Grove?

It's a nice town with one of the best express train situations in all of Chicagoland (Belmont and Main, not Fairview). I prefer the northern half of town, which is more charming, includes the downtown, and has better schools. But of course, a lot of people feel this way, and that has driven up prices north of 55th street.

A couple of negatives: No public swimming pools and long standing problems with storm water near the center of town (vast sums of money have been spent, but they can't make up for the fact that an underground creek is buried beneath the center of town). You'll notice that a lot of Chicago suburbs have this problem, however.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by holl1ngsworth

Relative to a town that has >3 routes into it's neighbor. Not hard, just a little more snaking.

More than three.

North Avenue
St. Charles Road
Crescent Boulevard
Hill Avenue
Hwy 53 (it goes E/W out of the Newton Park area in Glen Ellyn with connections to Lombard streets)
Roosevelt Road
Butterfield Road

[chet everett]

I like Downer Grove a whole lot too. The relative "disadvantage" of having slightly fewer express trains to Fairview are more than made up for in my book by the EXCELLENT quality of homes in the portion of town from Fairview to Main St -- that section also feeds into the more desirable North high school and is one of the better values currently in the western suburbs. There are plenty of homes on well drained lots that do not have any issues with storm water. Highly recommended.

[holl1ngsworth]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

More than three.

North Avenue
St. Charles Road
Crescent Boulevard
Hill Avenue
Hwy 53 (it goes E/W out of the Newton Park area in Glen Ellyn with connections to Lombard streets)
Roosevelt Road
Butterfield Road

To downtown Glen Ellyn, from Lombard, three realistic routes.

1.) Crescent/Hill (same termination in Lombard)
2.) Route 53
3.) St. Charles

Maybe I'll concede Roosevelt for the southern Lombardians. But nobody is going up to North or down to Butterfield. For a town that runs more than 4 miles north-south, routes westward are a little limited.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I like Downer Grove a whole lot too. The relative "disadvantage" of having slightly fewer express trains to Fairview are more than made up for in my book by the EXCELLENT quality of homes in the portion of town from Fairview to Main St -- that section also feeds into the more desirable North high school and is one of the better values currently in the western suburbs. There are plenty of homes on well drained lots that do not have any issues with storm water. Highly recommended.

It's a 10-20 minute difference from Fairview. It's a significant time difference, but one that can be made up by living closer to the train station at Fairview vs. further from the train station at Main, I suppose. A 20 minute advantage won't help you if you have to walk two miles.

Also, many of the blocks near Fairview are kind of... meh. We considered new construction there, and were quite turned off by the surrounding houses. No point being the most expensive house on the block.

[holl1ngsworth]

Downers Grove is a very nice town, similar to Wheaton, Glen Ellyn, Elmhurst. Perhaps with slightly greater contrast between the older build-out and new tear-downs.