Relocating from WI - recommendations?

[MomtoMal]

Glad the post was helpful. I am definitely one of those people dealing with the sticker shock of buying a smaller house just to live in a suburb with a better school system and with more to do! There is quite a difference in home prices in WI to home prices in IL (especially parts of Lake County), and we just accepted that recently.

[brian571]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Much better to buy the smaller house in the better area and rely on ability to fix up for more resale in better district if you decide to move up or just expand and stay put...

That's definitely our thought as well. I'm sure we could get a bigger, newer house in Gurnee but that area just doesn't appeal to us as much. We're coming from a one bedroom condo too, so anything will seem big to us

Originally Posted by MomtoMal

There is quite a difference in home prices in WI to home prices in IL (especially parts of Lake County), and we just accepted that recently.

Sadly, I am realizing that as well! I guess that comes with the territory of living so close to a huge metro center. At least we'll have some time to prepare for it. Like I said, we're going to rent for a year then buy. I'd actually like to rent close to where I think we'll end up buying to make sure we like the area and get some familiarity with it. Thanks for the suggestion on Long Grove - we'll check that area out too. I grew up about 5 miles from Cedarburg and my wife loves that town, so if it's anything like that it would probably be a good fit for us too!

Thank you both again for your help and suggestions

[chet everett]

Long Grove is picture-pretty, but the "old town" core is not all that livable as it caters to BUSY weekend shopping festivals and the rest of the town is pretty massive and pricey single family homes...

[brian571]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Long Grove is picture-pretty, but the "old town" core is not all that livable as it caters to BUSY weekend shopping festivals and the rest of the town is pretty massive and pricey single family homes...

Good to know! How often are they held? The community Momtomal compared it to in WI (Cedarburg) also has frequent downtown festivals and has an old part of town with newer circa-1980s outskirts, so it sounds pretty similar. The festivals aren't held all that often - maybe once a month April through October and with a few exceptions the downtown is still passable. But if they shut the whole place down every weekend I can see how that would be annoying...

[lakecountylifer]

Originally Posted by MomtoMal

I grew up in Brookfield, WI, so I can see where Elm Grove would be attractive to you. Good schools, large lots, etc. I live in Gurnee right now. I wouldn't say it would have been my first choice, but we did get a nice house in a nice neighborhood for a good price. Unfortunately, I am not as pleased with the school rankings as I am with nearby Libertyville, Lake Forest, etc. We have a young daughter and another child on the way, so we think we will eventually move so we can send them to good public schools instead of expensive private schools. I went to Elmbrook schools in WI and was very pleased with my public school education.

Some of the neighborhoods you mentioned are more expensive than Gurnee, but then again most of the schools are better in those areas. If you can get into a nice home that may need some fixing up, I think that would be the route I would go. Wish I had done that 3 years ago. Libertyville is nice with a cute downtown. I don't know much about Lincolnshire. I do like Long Grove though. It sort of reminds me of Cedarburg. And of course all the north shore suburbs are pretty, but of course a lot higher price tag. I hope this helps.

Momtomal- What part of Gurnee do you live in? We are pleased with Woodland District 50 for my elementary aged kids. Do you live in Gurnee 56 district? I believe 56 is rated lower than Woodland.

Not to discount your concerns, but I can only speak for Woodland 50----and there are many, many smart people that are sending their kids to Woodland. I work for a fortune 50 company, and on my cul-de-sac are folks from Baxter, Abbott, Motorola and someone who works for Kraft corporate down in Glenview. All of us send our kids to Woodland and I don't get the feeling that any of my neighbors would settle for an inferior school system. I went through the Deerfield school system K-12 and my feeling is that Woodland is on par. The only thing I can think of at Woodland is that you may have some testing that reflects some of the English as a second language kids that come from a portion of Park City that falls into the Woodland boundaries.

[MomtoMal]

I live in Providence Village so I am in the Woodland School District. I based my decision on a few of my neighbors experiences (1 that still lives here and 2 that have moved to Libertyville in the last year or so). Plus, I read reviews on greatschools.net. I am mostly concerned about the high school, so I guess I mistakenly lump summed my concerns based on that. We also don't really find much we like doing in Gurnee. Those are really the only reasons I have the desire to move to somewhere more like Libertyville or the North Shore in a few years. Plus, my husband works in the city, and to be closer to work or the metra would be great for him. He drives to Lake Forest's Metra now because the parking has become limited in Libertyville.

I appreciate your concerns. I guess I will look into it more in the next couple of years (not moving anytime soon). Like I said though, it isn't just the schools for me.

[Drover]

If you want to be close to the action, I'd suggest looking in the south suburbs of Milwaukee.