Libertyville / Prairie Crossing Commute (Chicago, Gurnee: houses, landscaping, subdivision)

[cpm314]

I'm considering taking a job in Chicago within walking distance of Union Station. Does anyone have any sense to how the train commute from Prairie Crossing is?

Do a lot of people do this or would you recommend living closer to the city?

Also, we love the Prairie Crossing sub-division but similar homes in Gurnee/Grayslake are much cheaper and the $90 a month assesment is a big high (not including the grayslake taxes).

Anyone live in Prairie Crossing on here ??? I would love to hear your opinions. (It seems that some of the homes are a bit run down since I last looked 4 years ago, many need paint on their trims .. etc).

[cdc3217]

Look like its a 70 minute train ride.
Metra - Welcome to Metra

I have friends in Prairie Crossing and they LOVE it. You are paying extra for the prestige and for the planned community aspects of it - which I don't know all the ins and outs, but there's a farmers market, and horse barn, and trails, etc. So if you like it for that, that's why you pay the extra $$.

I think the development is starting age a bit - its not brand new any more, and even when it was first build, they gave it a more "weathered" look. So its going to look more rustic than a traditional subdivision with grass lawns.

Could also be a number of residents are feeling the bites of ARM's going up, or other financial crunches.

[cpm314]

Yeah I know the homes have a different look to them but we just drove through the subdivision and you can tell that the porches and window trims are looking very rough on some houses.

We saw a house we loved and if the taxes were lower we would make an offer. Also, I was worried that the prairie style landscaping is making people a little lazy about keeping up there house (not talking about landscaping!). Unless it's the ARM issue, maybe I can sit back and see if I can leverage someone and get a good price.

[cdc3217]

Interesting - was that in the area where the larger houses are, or where things are tighter together.

Well, the people I know are rabid about their landscaping, so I wouldn't personally jump to that conclusion. It might also be the time of year- if things are going to get out of hand, it usually shows in Aug-Sep.

Good luck, and let us know how that goes!

Just in case you don't have it - there's a website for Prairie Crossing.
Prairie Crossing -- a conservation community

[cpm314]

The landscaping was fine with most houses. It was more or less the exterier of a lot of the house that is starting to really show!

We found a great house with a nice yard but I'm worried about the taxes, $90 a month assesment, plus whether the values will go up in the future if resisdents aren't keeping up their painting!

[cdc3217]

Yeah, I can't add much more insight. I know I thought the home values were pretty high, but its out of my range in general, so I don't really know what's reasonable. Its hard to judge b/c of the "value added."

[chicagomichauds]

I take that train from Gurnee when I go downtown. Express 4:40 train out of Union takes 1 hour, else it is closer to 1 hr 15 min.

I like the Prairie Crossing subdivision. Big focus on being green too, fyi.