Which is better to live in- Arlington Heights or Barrington (Buffalo Grove: ski resorts, house)

[LouiseOF]

I have 2 boys 14 and 16. We are moving from Utah so that my husband can take a new job in AH. I have been speaking with other bloggers about AH, Mt. Prospect, and Buffalo Grove... I decided upon AH until I ran across Barrington. How is this in comparison-
Barrington High school vs Hersey
small town feel
middle age families (we are in our mid fortys)
lots of things for teenagers to do
things for families to do
park system: workout facilities, pool etc.

[Steve-o]

Small town feel? Barrington all the way. Im not familiar with the schools, so I cant comment there. Sorry!

If you can afford Barrington, Id do it. Arlington Heights is great, but more in the thick of things, so to say. Definitely more urban feeling than a place like Barrington.

[middle-aged mom]

I live in the Village of Barrington and used to live in Arlington Heights.

The Village of Barrington is a small town and it often seems as though everyone knows everyone, given there are only about 10,000 residents.

Arlington Heights is substantially larger and it's population is approaching 80,000.

You can buy more house in Barrington than you can in Arlington Heights.
The Village of Barrington resides in both Cook and Lake Counties. The property taxes are more affordable for now, in the Cook County portion.

There is one public pool in town while Arlingtom Heights has several. A substantial percentage of the population live in Fox Point which has its own private lake, pool and tennis courts, which makes the municipal pool/park more than adequate, given the population.

There is a health club within the park as well as the ( private pay) Good Shepherd Hospital Health and Wellness Center.

BHS serves the greater Barrington area, including a part of Deer Park, Lake Barrington, North Barrington, Barrington Hills, South Barrington, Tower Lakes, Timber Lake and a slice of Fox River Grove and Carpentersville.

Students have ample opportunities to be as involved as they care to in either school. There is tremendous emphasis on community service within Barrington which is the best way for adults and teens to meet people and make a difference. The whole community rallies around Giving Day, between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Given there are so many Barringtons, which area appealed to you?

[thehollos]

Barrington schools are awesome, and a small town feel.

Arlington Heights is bigger.

[nanannie]

We live in Barrington,put two kids thru the schools and one is in middle school.I have absolutly no complaints and am impressed with the parent invovlement. Great sports,and extra curricular activities.Check on "Great Schools" as is usually has a "10" rating.
The year round park dist. programs (South Barrington or Barrington) are wonderful with a plethora of classes, clubs, activities , sports and family events. My son was in Ski Club this winter and his friday nites this winter,he was bussed to Ski Resorts in Wisc and had a ball. There is also an active "pool scene' all summer with concerts, a fun July 4th parade and brat/beer tent with music.We have a farmers market, and the metra for a easy ride to CHicago.We like that Barrington has hills, lakes and plenty of open land, much protected, that most burbs dont.There is big money-some HUGE money in the Barringtons, but plenty of 'normal' homes and down to earth caring families.I am sure there are 'snobs', as in any affluent area, I would say hands down they are hard to come by. We live in the country, but the village is charming with wonderful older homes. We still have an old village movie theater.
Nothing wrong with AH, but as others have posted, its alot busier and larger. Its not far away so we have eaten there often, we enjoy there downtown.

[LouiseOF]

Thanks for all the info! Barrington sounds like a great place to set down roots. I didn't realize there are so many areas in Barrington. Before I look further, how far is the commute to AH, which is where my husband will be working. Will that commute time vary depending on where we settle in Barrington?

Is there ony one high school in Barrington that feeds both Cook and Lake counties?

My interest is really peaking, as I have two kids that are desperate to stay in Utah b/c of ski and snowboard programs they are involved in. What is the name of the ski club in Barrington? I will have to pass that info on to my kids!!! We currently live 20 minutes from Snowbasin (Olympic men's and women's downhill) and ski an average of 40 days per winter. Unfortunately, we have to move for my husband's job.

[SJaye]

I think AH vs Barrington is kind of a conflict between two of your interests, small town feel vs. lots of things for teenagers to do. Arlington Heights would give teenagers more to do, especially near and south of the downtown area, with the theater downtown and proximity to Woodfield mall area, but definitely does not have a small town feel. The train station downtown is one of the 10 busiest in the entire METRA system.

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by LouiseOF

Thanks for all the info! Barrington sounds like a great place to set down roots. I didn't realize there are so many areas in Barrington. Before I look further, how far is the commute to AH, which is where my husband will be working. Will that commute time vary depending on where we settle in Barrington?

Is there ony one high school in Barrington that feeds both Cook and Lake counties?

My interest is really peaking, as I have two kids that are desperate to stay in Utah b/c of ski and snowboard programs they are involved in. What is the name of the ski club in Barrington? I will have to pass that info on to my kids!!! We currently live 20 minutes from Snowbasin (Olympic men's and women's downhill) and ski an average of 40 days per winter. Unfortunately, we have to move for my husband's job.

The greater Barrington area, including all the Barringtons, is greater than 100 Square miles and 4 different counties, Cook, Lake, McHenry and Kane.

Almost all the areas, regardless of county, feed into the Barrington School district , #220.

I live in the Village of Barrington and used to drive my daughter to/from Viator's, in AH, every day. The ride is about 17 minutes each way, during rush hour. This time could easily exceed 30 minutes if one lives further away from the heart of the village.

The train ride, between Barrington and AH is about 10 minutes. Some major employers provide shuttle services from train stations.

There are ski clubs within the schools, as well as area clubs, including but not limited to:

Norge Ski Club 1905 -> 2008 103 years and still jumping

Close in sking tends to be icy. It's all about longer haul bus trips, over the weekend, especially to Michigan, for the best powder.

[AmyVVV]

Listen to this: I grew up in Barrington in the 1960s and moved to Arlington Heights in the 1970s! I haven't been back there since 1980, and I realize the whole place has likely changed, but my opinion would still be that Barrington was and probably still is much nicer for a family than Arlington Heights. Your teenagers will certainly find it easier to get into trouble to get into in Arlington Heights; that's exactly what happened to me. All the trouble started in AH! Go for Barrington.

[LakeShoreSoxGo]

I don't know about that. Maybe back in the 70's when arlington had people and was a suburb, and barrington wasn't much more than a rural town. Now Barrington is drug central for upper middle class teens. Remindes me of the the movie traffic.

Barrington still has preserved much of its small town feel and a good deal of sprawl stops at their door step. Once you leave the barrington area going west northwest the rural feel becomes a lot more pronounced.

Barrington>Hersey, though not by much.
Older families in Barrington with more empty nesters and retirees
Both have good familiy atmospheres, parks, pools, play grounds, libraries, etc


More to do =Arlington Heights (ie closer to woodfield and streets of woodfield in schaumburg)
Barrington has a nickname amongst its local teens as "borrington", kids usually head east to find more action. Many suspect that barringtons bucolic nature contributes to the teen drug problems(in addition to wealthy parents who give their kids too much money).