Looking for a good fit for our family. Any thoughts? (Chicago: houses, buy)

[Bogey]

Have learned a lot from posts here on this site, and would appreciate suggestions on my situation.
My husband, myself and our 3 young children currently live in Evanston, in a home that we're rapidly outgrowing. We adore our neighbors, and enjoy the lake and conveniences here, but not the local public elementary school that we feed into. We prefer to send our children to public schools, and our oldest will begin kindergarten in 2011-2012.
We have looked for a long time at purchasing a larger home in Evanston, but with the cost + taxes of a larger home, we would be living beyond our means if we buy up in Evanston. We do not want a fixer-upper. With 3 little ones, we'd prefer something that's move-in ready.
My husband works in the UIC area, and plans to stay with his job. I work part time in Evanston in healthcare, and am fortunate to be in a field where there are openings in many locations in the Chicago area. His commute time is important to us, preferably an hour or less during rush hours. He prefers driving vs. train for commuting.

Wants:
Reasonable commute to UIC area
Good/excellent public school system and good Park/recreation program
Easy access to open/green spaces such as the lake or forest preserve
4 bdrm, 2 bath home in the $400-450,000 range

We've investigated the Palos area because of the home prices, schools and natural beauty, but there's no express train (he's willing), and many posters report the drive into the city from there is slow. Also, we've considered Skokie and Flossmoor. All 3 towns have features that we like, but none seem to meet all 4 of our "wants."

Any advice or insights you can provide, we'll appreciate. Thank you.

[chet everett]

Have you considered Brookfield?

Commute time to Union Station is going to be excellent via BNSF, the schools, especially in the Hollywood section are well regarded, the area is surrounded by Forest Preserve and the Zoo, homes are more affordable than in other towns further to the west along BNSF.

[Suburban Mom of 2 Kids]

Try Oak Park...it's almost down the street from UIC.

[AuDiBelle]

Brookfield is far below the price range the OP is looking at. I would look more towards Oak Park or LaGrange. Oak Park is a lot like Evanston and very close to UIC. LaGrange has a less "urban" feel than Oak Park does, but is extremely accessible to UIC as well and has excellent schools and decent houses in that price range. I'd estimate the commute time to be half hour or less from LaGrange (I used to go to Rush for grad school while living in western springs which is the next town over from LaGrange and it took me half hour straight up Ogden Ave door to door).

[bulldawg1594]

i think flossmoor would be a good choice, it is pretty upscale, but is also diverse with good schools.

[Bogey]

Thanks for the information and replies. I'll check into Brookfield. It was not on our radar and I'd like to know more about it. Oak Park is nicely located for my husband's commute, but is more urban than I'd prefer for our next move. Flossmoor continues to be a possibility since the area appeals to us and our money would go further there, but we are not convinced the schools are as strong as we'd like.
LaGrange seems nice. I just did a quick search on realtor.com and it gave me only 2 homes in our price range, both with addresses in Countryside. Looks like the prices in LaGrange are comparable to homes in Evanston?

[deechee]

Originally Posted by Bogey

Thanks for the information and replies. I'll check into Brookfield. It was not on our radar and I'd like to know more about it. Oak Park is nicely located for my husband's commute, but is more urban than I'd prefer for our next move. Flossmoor continues to be a possibility since the area appeals to us and our money would go further there, but we are not convinced the schools are as strong as we'd like.
LaGrange seems nice. I just did a quick search on realtor.com and it gave me only 2 homes in our price range, both with addresses in Countryside. Looks like the prices in LaGrange are comparable to homes in Evanston?

I'd say Flossmoor or Brookfield.

Schools are just fine in Flossmoor.

[bulldawg1594]

flossmoor schools are better than oak park schools, and pretty much the same as brookfield.

[deechee]

Originally Posted by bulldawg1594

flossmoor schools are better than oak park schools, and pretty much the same as brookfield.

Housing is (in my OPINION) better in Flossmoor. I enjoy living in the area. Great place to live. Lots of things to be involved in, not to mention SAFE.

The schools are a lot better than what those damn stats say. Man, people and their obsessions with stats!

[AuDiBelle]

Try doing a search using zipcode 60525 instead of typing in LaGrange. Also check out 60626, which is LaGrange Park.. very nice too.

I know your kids are far from being high school aged, but home values in Brookfield are tied to their school districts. Brookfield is split into North and South with regard to what high school district you are in. I happen to think the North section is much nicer and cleaner, better kept yards, wider streets (especially south of 31st street); however, the North portion feeds into Riverside Brookfield High School which is not as preferable as Lyons Township High School. The Hollywood section, which is just darling, is in this section. It's also a floodzone though, so beware of that. This section is very close to the zoo which also connects to a 6 mile bike path through the forest preserve that runs from the zoo all the way to Western Springs. The Lyons Township portion of (South) Brookfield is shabbier IMO and much more diverse. The lots tend to be smaller, roads are narrower, yards are not as upkept, and over the past 10 years has changed from a predominantly white demographic to approximately 50% white, 25% hispanic and 25% african-american. I'm not aware of any floodzones in the South section of Brookfield. Either way, in Brookfield you have the quandry of deciding on school disctrict vs. what section you prefer, North or South.

I would think LaGrange to be slightly more affordable than Evanston. Definitely check out LaGrange Park too, and Countryside is nice as well and has lower taxes due to the higher tax base of the Quarry Mall. It just doen't have that cute "downtown" area that LaGrange does, but shares a lot of the same schools and is equally nice IMO.