Possibly moving to Chicago (Naperville, Arlington Heights: affordable apartments, rentals, crime)

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by canthisbemyusername

How far would Evanston be from North Michigan?

From the Main St Metra station in Evanston, its about 20 minutes to Ogilvie Terminal. Then its probably about a 10-15 minute walk from the train to Michigan Ave. Obviously, add time to get from house to the Metra station.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by canthisbemyusername

The taxes are too high in Oak Park, I found several homes I loved and then stopped breathing when I saw the $25,000 in property taxes. Are the schools good in Evanston? I read that the high schools weren't that great but what about the elementary and middle school. Not trying to start a fight about the high school in Evanston, i just read some posts from people saying they thought they were rather run down.

Yeah, taxes are much higher in Illinois than in Tennessee (assuming that's where you're from.) If anything Evanston is probably more expensive. If you're looking at houses with 25k tax bills in Oak Park, you're looking at 1.2+ million dollar homes. Maybe you can afford to live in the city.

[canthisbemyusername]

What part of Chicago is the Waldorf School located in? Is it a safe part of town to live and is it far from the loop. We can't afford a million dollar home-the house I was looking at was $875 I think, we can't afford that much now, the foreclosure fairy has landed in our neighborhood and we will probably have to sell at a loss.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by canthisbemyusername

What part of Chicago is the Waldorf School located in? Is it a safe part of town to live and is it far from the loop. We can't afford a million dollar home-the house I was looking at was $875 I think, we can't afford that much now, the foreclosure fairy has landed in our neighborhood and we will probably have to sell at a loss.

875 with a tax bill of 25k? That homeowner needs to file a tax grievance! We paid about 600 for our house a few years ago (who knows what its worth today), and our bill is around 12k.

[canthisbemyusername]

It was a house I got in an email from a real estate agent. It was about a month ago and can't find the email now. Are the schools really good in Oak Park, even the high schools? My experience in general has been that a lot of towns(my current included) have good elementary schools,average middle schools and below average high schools. My 16 year old goes to a private school now and my 12 year is in public. My 5 year old would be starting school this year.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by canthisbemyusername

It was a house I got in an email from a real estate agent. It was about a month ago and can't find the email now. Are the schools really good in Oak Park, even the high schools? My experience in general has been that a lot of towns(my current included) have good elementary schools,average middle schools and below average high schools. My 16 year old goes to a private school now and my 12 year is in public. My 5 year old would be starting school this year.

I suppose it depends on your standards. My kid is 2 so I have no direct experience with the high school yet. You can check out all the stats online. Around here the gold standard for high schools is probably New Trier which is located in the very tony North Shore. It tends to draw from a very, very affluent population with minimal poverty. Oak Park has a significant (20% or so) African-American population (who have, on average, lower family income, lower parental education levels, etc) so test scores averages will be somewhat lower. Nonetheless, the resources available are tremendous and I think the middle and upper class kids with motivated, educated parents do very well.

[chicagocubs]

If you live in the city and your 16 yr old has a interest/ability in technology, there is a public school called Lane Tech that he/she can apply to. It is pretty intense and the quality of the education is very good.

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

According to this article ( Chicago area's best schools :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Education (http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/1251847,illinois-school-report-cards-main-103108.article - broken link)) the top ten high schools in the state are:
1) Northside College Prep (Chicago)
2) Payton Prep (Chicago)
3) New Trier (Winnetka)
4) Young Magnet (Chicago)
5) Hinsdale Central (Hinsdale)
6) Stevenson (Lincolnshire)
7) Glenbrook North (Northbrook)
8) Deerfield (Deerfield)
9) Jones Prep (Chicago)
10) Fremd (Palatine)

All of these schools are in the Chicago area.

[canthisbemyusername]

The application process is only open to 8th graders. Students who are already in high school are not eligible for admission to Northside College Prep.

unfortunately i found this when I went to their website. The other magnet schools say the same thing-so that knocks all those out.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by canthisbemyusername

The application process is only open to 8th graders. Students who are already in high school are not eligible for admission to Northside College Prep.

unfortunately i found this when I went to their website. The other magnet schools say the same thing-so that knocks all those out.

Yeah, unfortunately the Chicago Public School magnet schools are notoriously difficult to get into, and they rely on variables other than test scores/academic achievement.