Can somebody explain E. Glenview/W. Wilmette to me? (Chicago: real estate, big house)

[chisub]

We finally know where my husband's new office is located (Bucktown), so we have a better idea of where we want to look for a home. Since I'm a stay-at-home-mom (probably will be for another 5-7 years) and my husband owns his own business we feel our best move would be to a "starter" home, even though we know that living quarters will be tight for awhile.

Anyways, why is there such a drop in home values in E. Glenview and W. Wilmette? It looks like the schools are pretty decent (West Avoca, New Trier) and the houses aren't that much smaller than some more expensive homes of equal size further into these towns. Are there major flooding issues? Too close to the expressway for people's liking? Something else I'm missing?

FWIW, my family is in the Milwaukee area and my mom is a great help with my son so we also want to move closer to her before we add another kid to the mix. We are also considering Deerfield and possibly Northbrook, but Northbrook hasn't really drawn us in yet.

[slow_nerve_action]

Originally Posted by chisub

We finally know where my husband's new office is located (Bucktown), so we have a better idea of where we want to look for a home. Since I'm a stay-at-home-mom (probably will be for another 5-7 years) and my husband owns his own business we feel our best move would be to a "starter" home, even though we know that living quarters will be tight for awhile.

Anyways, why is there such a drop in home values in E. Glenview and W. Wilmette? It looks like the schools are pretty decent (West Avoca, New Trier) and the houses aren't that much smaller than some more expensive homes of equal size further into these towns. Are there major flooding issues? Too close to the expressway for people's liking? Something else I'm missing?

FWIW, my family is in the Milwaukee area and my mom is a great help with my son so we also want to move closer to her before we add another kid to the mix. We are also considering Deerfield and possibly Northbrook, but Northbrook hasn't really drawn us in yet.

There is a perception that Romona Elementary in Wilmette is trending lower, problems with the English scores, a good number of kids where English is the second language. Its better then 80% of suburban elementary schools, but up there, people have pretty high expectations for what they pay for with the home, and nothing is good enough for little Aiden and Emma.

Plus, it is a deadzone between the two Metra lines. People really value being able to walk to the train.

[chet everett]

I think the commute issue is bigger than the school attendance area thing, and there are definitely lots of little things that make living further east a lot more desirable to most shoppers -- afterall when "Northshore" IS the defining term that covers the area the nearness to Lake Michigan is HUGE -- for every block of two you add in distance it drops from "kids can walk to the beach, to kids can ride bikes to the beach, to kids need a ride to the beach, to kids won't sit still long enough in the minivan to make going to the beach worth it..."

Housing styles are somewhat less distinctive, "walk to town" factor falls down, heck you even the prevailing winds coming over the Water Reclaimation District property (though in fairness it is rare to have more than the faintest hint of what their are 'reclaiming' that water from...)

[chisub]

Chet, I was wondering about that b/c I know one particular house was right across the street from that and I didn't know what it was. Basically we know we want to get a house that we don't feel the need to jump ship once middle or high school comes around.

We live in Aurora so we already get a little bit of that heirarchy vibe from some Naperville people (not directly aimed at us of course), used to live in Brooklyn vs. Manhattan, etc. so that doesn't phase us even if it can be obnoxious at times.

I get that living closer to the lake and Metra is more desirable, but it's not in our cards and we just want to get the best schools and proximity to my husband's job without stretching ourselves too much financially. To us, being able to travel, own our cars outright and enroll our son in classes is more rewarding than penny pinching for a bigger house, you know? However, I don't want to be so short-sighted and end up disliking our neighborhood either b/c that's also very important.

[chet everett]

Well the "channel" carries mostly surface water, but with the rare sanitary sewer overflow / failure & it can have some bad stuff in there too (I think all the Northshore communities have done a lot to truly isolate the "combined" surface water and sanitry sewers compared to Chicago )-- thus when they open the locks they have to close the beaches. Happens VERY infrequently but worst case there is the potential to have big rains, storm sewers catch a sizable amount of sanity sewer overflow and the water in the channel / lagoons gets polluted. With enough heat it might be noticeable. If you are worried then go shopping in conditions like I described... Realistically to most folks the same factors that you describe (very very good schools, more house for the money, great set-up for driving commuters) MORE than offset that negative...

[Rlest8]

Avoca and Marie Murphy (middle school) are excellent schools. They test very well and are nationally recognized. It has been my experience that because they aren't "neighborhood schools" the homes in that district aren't as desirable. Avaoca serves a small portion of Wilmette, Winnetka, Glenview and Northfield. Chet is absolutely right about the other perceived negitaves of west Wilmette and east Glenview and it is a "dead zone" in terms of communting or walk to location.

[kindrakindra]

My close friend is focusing on the Avoca school district in her housing search because of how the grades are set up. Her kids will be two years apart in school and if they lived further east, the kids would almost never be at the same school.

[STL Mom]

I don't have any personal experience with Avoca, but here's what I've heard about the school district. There is a mix of modest homes and enormous mansions, without much in between. The kids in the normal homes go to Avoca, the kids in the ginormous houses go to Catholic school or to North Shore Country Day. Because of the taxes raised from the big houses, the Avoca students get some nice perks, like a laptop for every student.
You're only a few exits further from Milwaukee in Wilmette/Glencoe than you would be in Northbrook, so I personally wouldn't worry about that aspect. Ten minutes added to your husband's commute is going to be more noticable than ten minutes added to a trip to Wisconsin.
I think you're very smart to stick to an affordable home instead of stretching, because the kids' activities, real estate taxes, and other expenses add up quickly!

[847mom]

O.k. I do have experience with the Avoca School District, as I have two children there. Though there are students that live in Ginormous houses and modest ones, there are plenty of in-betweens. I happen to live in one of them. Additionally, I know several people that you could describe as living in some of the ginormous homes, whose kids do attend our school. This makes a great mix of people. There is a small section of people in the small section of Winnetka that is in our district, that seem to attend Faith Hope and Charity School. Obviously, larger homes pay more taxes. However, that is not the only reason for the lovely perks like one- to- one Laptops. Incidentally, that is only for grades 4-8. Younger students use the Macs, but do not get one assigned to them. We do get some tax base from the Edens Plaza shopping Center. I have to say, I have never regretted living in this area. We love the school, location and wonderful diversity and atmosphere. Great bang for the buck, but don't tell everyone, we love our nice small schools with the average size of 18 kids per class! North Shores' best secret.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by 847mom

O.k. I do have experience with the Avoca School District, as I have two children there. Though there are students that live in Ginormous houses and modest ones, there are plenty of in-betweens. I happen to live in one of them. Additionally, I know several people that you could describe as living in some of the ginormous homes, whose kids do attend our school. This makes a great mix of people. There is a small section of people in the small section of Winnetka that is in our district, that seem to attend Faith Hope and Charity School. Obviously, larger homes pay more taxes. However, that is not the only reason for the lovely perks like one- to- one Laptops. Incidentally, that is only for grades 4-8. Younger students use the Macs, but do not get one assigned to them. We do get some tax base from the Edens Plaza shopping Center. I have to say, I have never regretted living in this area. We love the school, location and wonderful diversity and atmosphere. Great bang for the buck, but don't tell everyone, we love our nice small schools with the average size of 18 kids per class! North Shores' best secret.

I tend to agree with 847mom's view of things in the Avoca district. I know more than a bit about enrollment trends in the parochial schools in the region and the numbers would seem not indicate that there is a clear pattern of folks in enormous homes preferring that costly option...