Chicago Suburbs Real Estate (Naperville, Elmhurst: construction, elementary school, property taxes)

[My Kind Of Town]

Originally Posted by BRU67

I was referring to the comments about the movement out of IL generally. Tax flight has been taking place for awhile now. It is not just conservatives who are leaving.

Tax flight has always been a thing and will continue to be one for a large group of people. Current times are no different.

[Durpie]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

Carmel, Indiana and the rest of Hamilton County outside of Indianapolis is very similar to Naperville and DuPage County. There are many wealthy people in Indianapolis and elsewhere in Indiana.

Carmel is similar to Naperville, but thats it. One city in Indiana. And Carmel is just as expensive as Naperville, so its not a better deal. ANd you don't get the higher salaries and job opportunities you do in Chicagoland.

[MovingForward59]

Originally Posted by Durpie

Carmel is similar to Naperville, but thats it. One city in Indiana. And Carmel is just as expensive as Naperville, so its not a better deal. ANd you don't get the higher salaries and job opportunities you do in Chicagoland.

Umm Carmel is cheaper than Naperville. My brother lives there and his cost of living is 25% lower.

[jvr789]

Originally Posted by MovingForward59

The schools in Munster, Carmel, Fishers and elsewhere in desireable suburbs across the state will match the best schools in Illinois.
more importantly Indiana didn’t have a budget stalemate 4 years ago that decimated social service agencies and had a 2 billion dollar surplus to tap into during covid.

Ummh, no, just no. I cannot speak to Carmel/Fishers but I can speak to Munster and Northwest Indiana from experience. School funding works different in IN than IL. First off, the state has much more control of the school funding and the state of IN is focused on the bottom line not educational excellence of the public at large. The teachers are really not that well paid. Many teachers that I personally know that live in NWI actually work in IL b/c the salaries are so much better in IL. So while there are certainly good teachers in IN you don't have a wide net to attract the best. Classroom sizes have had to go up over the last decade bc the state has squeezed funding. "Specials" (art, library, music) had to be eliminated and then slowly brought back part-time b/c of state funding cuts. Special ed has also been impacted. NWI schools do offer a good amount of sports and there is good community spirit on that level but academic funding is a real issue. For example, Munster has had to vote on additional taxes to fund the schools for basic building repairs and upgrades. There are people in NWI who care dearly about education but from my experience I don't believe that it is at the same level as other communities in the Chicago metro area. So yes, Indiana has a "surplus" but if you really start paying attention to where the money is spent you will find it certianly is not to improve public education.

[Durpie]

Originally Posted by MovingForward59

Umm Carmel is cheaper than Naperville. My brother lives there and his cost of living is 25% lower.

Housing is about the same. Just compare on Zillow. I supposed food and taxes is still lower, but housing is the largest chunk of your budget.

[MovingForward59]

Originally Posted by jvr789

Ummh, no, just no. I cannot speak to Carmel/Fishers but I can speak to Munster and Northwest Indiana from experience. School funding works different in IN than IL. First off, the state has much more control of the school funding and the state of IN is focused on the bottom line not educational excellence of the public at large. The teachers are really not that well paid. Many teachers that I personally know that live in NWI actually work in IL b/c the salaries are so much better in IL. So while there are certainly good teachers in IN you don't have a wide net to attract the best. Classroom sizes have had to go up over the last decade bc the state has squeezed funding. "Specials" (art, library, music) had to be eliminated and then slowly brought back part-time b/c of state funding cuts. Special ed has also been impacted. NWI schools do offer a good amount of sports and there is good community spirit on that level but academic funding is a real issue. For example, Munster has had to vote on additional taxes to fund the schools for basic building repairs and upgrades. There are people in NWI who care dearly about education but from my experience I don't believe that it is at the same level as other communities in the Chicago metro area. So yes, Indiana has a "surplus" but if you really start paying attention to where the money is spent you will find it certianly is not to improve public education.

I love how you assume if we just write a blank check to schools then academic performance will improve.
In reality all the funding in the world doesn’t automatically mean better grades & more academic achievement.
The salaries might be better in Illinois now. Lets see how that is in 3-5 years with the pension collapse, covid budget crisis & downgrade to junk credit in Illinois.

[My Kind Of Town]

Originally Posted by jvr789

Ummh, no, just no. I cannot speak to Carmel/Fishers but I can speak to Munster and Northwest Indiana from experience. School funding works different in IN than IL. First off, the state has much more control of the school funding and the state of IN is focused on the bottom line not educational excellence of the public at large. The teachers are really not that well paid. Many teachers that I personally know that live in NWI actually work in IL b/c the salaries are so much better in IL. So while there are certainly good teachers in IN you don't have a wide net to attract the best. Classroom sizes have had to go up over the last decade bc the state has squeezed funding. "Specials" (art, library, music) had to be eliminated and then slowly brought back part-time b/c of state funding cuts. Special ed has also been impacted. NWI schools do offer a good amount of sports and there is good community spirit on that level but academic funding is a real issue. For example, Munster has had to vote on additional taxes to fund the schools for basic building repairs and upgrades. There are people in NWI who care dearly about education but from my experience I don't believe that it is at the same level as other communities in the Chicago metro area. So yes, Indiana has a "surplus" but if you really start paying attention to where the money is spent you will find it certianly is not to improve public education.

Oh boy, nothing like spoiling his/her narrative! Unfortunately, most already have their minds made up and tax savings is first and foremost. The rest is an attempt to justify the first priority (tax savings), whether the reasons for justification are true or not.

[jvr789]

Originally Posted by My Kind Of Town

Oh boy, nothing like spoiling his/her narrative! Unfortunately, most already have their minds made up and tax savings is first and foremost. The rest is an attempt to justify the first priority (tax savings), whether the reasons for justification are true or not.

Just providing concrete feedback to people saying there is no real difference between a town like Munster and Winnetka (random pick from North Shore with top schools). That isn't accurate. I agree with you that for those that care most about tax savings NWI is the place to be. If you are looking to avoid political corruption of IL, think again, Lake County Indiana has plenty of corruption. I believe the FBI just indicted the Mayor of Whiting. East Chicago used to be famous for the level of corruption and there are IL political players that are involved across the state line there. The games are shared.

Now if somebody is deciding on Lansing, IL vs. Munster or Highland or Dyer, IN, literally, I have NO IDEA why you would pick Lansing. I think NWI is a better pick than the typical SW Suburbs all day long. Same story if you are picking between a place like Zion, IL and Pleasant Prairie, WI.

[jvr789]

Originally Posted by MovingForward59

I love how you assume if we just write a blank check to schools then academic performance will improve.
In reality all the funding in the world doesn’t automatically mean better grades & more academic achievement.
The salaries might be better in Illinois now. Lets see how that is in 3-5 years with the pension collapse, covid budget crisis & downgrade to junk credit in Illinois.

I agree that just throwing money at schools does not automatically equate to better academic achievement. However, I do believe there is a level that is required and when your state removes your ability hit that threshold problems can arise despite the best efforts of admin, teachers and parents.

The other thing that matters is parent involvement. If most parents at the school believe taking young kids to sports practice is more important than reading to them before bed, then this collective mindset will also impact academic achievement over the long run.

People tend to follow the crowd. What the parent "crowd" is already doing in a town will impact educational outcomes. There are distinct cultural differences between communities across IL, IN, WI and the nation.

[MovingForward59]

Originally Posted by jvr789

Just providing concrete feedback to people saying there is no real difference between a town like Munster and Winnetka (random pick from North Shore with top schools). That isn't accurate. I agree with you that for those that care most about tax savings NWI is the place to be. If you are looking to avoid political corruption of IL, think again, Lake County Indiana has plenty of corruption. I believe the FBI just indicted the Mayor of Whiting. East Chicago used to be famous for the level of corruption and there are IL political players that are involved across the state line there. The games are shared.

Now if somebody is deciding on Lansing, IL vs. Munster or Highland or Dyer, IN, literally, I have NO IDEA why you would pick Lansing. I think NWI is a better pick than the typical SW Suburbs all day long. Same story if you are picking between a place like Zion, IL and Pleasant Prairie, WI.

Do you know how many people in the US are wealthy enough to afford Winnetka?
Hint its less than 5% of the population. So lets focus on areas where the majority of people can reasonably afford to get into instead of fringe wealthy burbs.