Tell me about Park Ridge (Chicago, Naperville: condos, homes, neighborhoods)

[chicagomama]

I live in Houston but am dreaming about moving back to the Chicago area. In Chicago I've lived in Pilsen, Arlington Heights, Naperville, Elmhurst. I have family in from Wicker Park, Old Irving Park area, all the way to near Midway, all the way out to Plainfield and Yorkville.

BUT I know nothing about Park Ridge and I heard it has an urban-ish feeling and has good schools. True?

Also- I always thought Elmhurst had good schools, but I have seen a couple of threads that say it doesn't. Is that true?

[chet everett]

First I will address the issue you raised about Elmhurst schools, as I have posted extensively on that subject.

Sadly York, like TOO MANY High Schools has NOT made adequate yearly progress, the reasons for this are complex but boil down to not enough students perform as well as they need to.
The trend is looking a bit better and the efforts that the whole town have undertaken are pretty extensive, from physically improving the school to getting lots of little things about the whole town focused on schools improvement. The bottom line on the achievement is that the percentages of students that "meet or exceed" the admittedly weak standards is better than at any of the surrounding schools, except for the really desirable section of adjacent Oak Brook served by Hinsdale Central.

All the other schools are in much worse standing:

York -- 74.8% Interactive Illinois Report Card

Willowbrook (serves Villa Park & Oakbrook Terrace) -- 70.7% Interactive Illinois Report Card

Glenbard East (serves Lombard and part of Unincorporated DuPage) -- 58.6% Interactive Illinois Report Card

Addison Trail -- 66.9% Interactive Illinois Report Card

Fenton (serves Bensenville) -- 44.8% Interactive Illinois Report Card

Proviso West-- 15.4% (not a misprint) Interactive Illinois Report Card

Hinsdale Central -- 87% Interactive Illinois Report Card
Hinsdale Central High School: Best High Schools - USNews.com


OK, Park Ridge. A little bit "urbanish" but only in the sense that it borders the pretty "suburbanish part" of Chicago's NW side, and does have a similar layout of a commuter oriented downtown, with a nice library, movie theater and a smattering of shops / restaurants that do make for a nice walkable stretch along with some condos that are built in that area.
Schools are quite desirable, Maine South rates a "silver" in the comprehensive analysis of US News: Maine South High School: Best High Schools - USNews.com

[thePR]

You said you lived in Arlington Heights so you should know that it's downtown is fairly built up and urban. Park Ridge's uptown is like a mini Arlington Heights. There is also a downtown a few miles South. It is a fairly walkable city although it's layout is undeniably suburban.

The education in Park Ridge is very good, especially at the high school level.

[wetcement]

As a resident, I mainly agree with Cindy about living in Park Ridge. Lovely place to live if you are within walking distance of "uptown" or Edison Park, a Chicago neighborhood. Very, very middle class white. I feel really safe here.
Arlington Hts has a better downtown. Not sure if Evanston meets your needs geographically, but it's more racially and ethnically diverse with better public transport and a more urban vibe.

[SJaye]

Originally Posted by Cindy1971

The main drawback is that is it white, upper middle class and Catholic. So if you are looking for diversity, Evanston might be a better bet.

Originally Posted by wetcement

Arlington Hts has a better downtown. Not sure if Evanston meets your needs geographically, but it's more racially and ethnically diverse with better public transport and a more urban vibe.

I don't believe the OP specifically asked about diversity, let alone diversity amongst racial, ethnic, religious, and economic lines (there are other kinds of diversity).

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by LakeShoreSoxGo

Who cares if she thinks its a draw back. There are people who post here that are a dime a dozen who will list a hood that is black or mexican or peurto rican or jewish or what ever as a draw back. Nothing wrong or racist about it. She is not making any character judgements or stereotpyes, she just does not prefer to be around that demographic, perhaps she god forbid, likes to be around her own people (whom ever they may be..for all we know she could be a lower- middle class white protestant).

Either way park ridge is a very nice place, and aside from the tear downs, many neighborhoods still look like picturesque late 50's suburbia. I'm not a fan of all the new stuff but I understand it has made downtown a little more vibrant.

If someone posted that the "main drawback" of a neighborhood was that it was mainly black and Baptist, that poster would probably be crucified by others and possibly banned from the site. It was a poor choice of language by Cindy, whoever she is. Maybe she was just projecting the fact that some might consider this a drawback, but the choice of language was poor. Maybe that's all she's guilty of. I generally give people the benefit of the doubt in these instances.

[thePR]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

The original poster didn't say he/she was looking for diversity, so it sounds pretty racist to me to call the predominant race of an area the "main drawback"--not to mention that anti-Catholic stance you took. But yeah, in the 2000 Census data Park Ridge was more than 95% white. That's astounding for a town that physically borders the city in this day and age.

Well it is by the Whitest and most Irish part of the city (Edison Park). That helps explain the White and Catholic part.

[Anthera]

Originally Posted by promis1

If having a white, upper middle class and catholic town is seen as a drawback, then I will take that drawback.

Never realized those things were drawbacks.

To be fair the internet doesn't reflect inflection. I could see someone stating this as a humorous remark rather that a far far far left commentary.

[SJaye]

My main issue with this is that some people care deeply about diversity, and some people don't give a rat's &!#. The people that care deeply about diversity will often specify it in their thread, either in the title or in the OP. We have plenty of threads that discuss race/diversity issues, and we do not need to inject it into this conversation when the OP primarily wants to know how urban-ish the feel is, and how good the schools are.

I think Park Ridge feels significantly more "urban" than a suburb like Bolingbrook or Naperville with windy roads, and a far more sparse population, but I would still classify it as a suburban feel in the same sense asEddison Park and Norwood Park, with Single Family Homes that tend to be spaced out a bit and strip malls as opposed to High-Rise Condos and corner stores, etc. Maybe we can classify it as a "traditionally suburban" feel, as in before the Levittown days changed the manner in which suburbs are developed.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by chicagomama

I live in Houston but am dreaming about moving back to the Chicago area. In Chicago I've lived in Pilsen, Arlington Heights, Naperville, Elmhurst. I have family in from Wicker Park, Old Irving Park area, all the way to near Midway, all the way out to Plainfield and Yorkville.

BUT I know nothing about Park Ridge and I heard it has an urban-ish feeling and has good schools. True?

Also- I always thought Elmhurst had good schools, but I have seen a couple of threads that say it doesn't. Is that true?

Just curious about why you want to move back from Houston; was seriously considering a move to Houston in '08.