Chicago suburbs vs NoVa Real Estate Market

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the property taxes that are the barrier to getting in. While the housing prices are lower, their taxes are sky high.

A $900K house in Naperville for example has a property tax of $20K. A $900K house in MoCo would have around $10K in property taxes.

Not to mention that a Naperville to Chicago commute just would not be feasible for most. If you're from the Midwest, I guess it's no big deal to travel for that long, but I think it's crazy.

I think it depends what you consider "feasible"? Naperville is 35-40 minutes on the train but door to door could be closer to to 60-70 minutes if you live further from the train station.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the property taxes that are the barrier to getting in. While the housing prices are lower, their taxes are sky high.

A $900K house in Naperville for example has a property tax of $20K. A $900K house in MoCo would have around $10K in property taxes.

But you get a nice house for 900k in Naperville rather than a tiny sh!tshack in MoCo.

Naperville is not a suburb of Chicago lol

It absolutely is a suburb - a western suburb easily accessible on Metra. And it’s older than Chicago.

yea what exactly is Naperville if not a suburb?[/quote


It is an exurb. It is about the same distance as downtown DC to Manassas with an arguably longer commute time if you drive. Most people that live that far out are working in the western suburbs, not Chicago.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's the property taxes that are the barrier to getting in. While the housing prices are lower, their taxes are sky high.

A $900K house in Naperville for example has a property tax of $20K. A $900K house in MoCo would have around $10K in property taxes.

But you get a nice house for 900k in Naperville rather than a tiny sh!tshack in MoCo.

Naperville is not a suburb of Chicago lol

said no one ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chicago suburbs will be cheaper. These certainly aren't perfect comparisons to Vienna due to the broader differences in the Metro areas, mainly Chicago is a much bigger city and older. With that caveat and assuming you want Metra access take a look at Des Plaines, Arlington Heights, Park Ridge, Elmhurst, Western Springs, Glen Ellyn and La Grange as very rough comparables. You are overall likely to be thrilled by school quality from K -12 and easier/somewhat less costly childcare options and, as many have rightly said, shocked by local taxes.

I live in Vienna and my brother lives in Glen Ellyn. I’d trade any day of the week! Cute downtown, walkable, and even more social things to do in town than in Vienna. Better restaurants, shops, and bars, plus a great public park/swim complex. He pays a lot in taxes, but I think it’s worth it!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wilmette on the North shore. About 30-40 minutes on the train to downtown Chicago. Older houses, but many are very updated and beautiful. Close to the lakefront, many amenities. great schools. Still, very cold in the winter. Lovely spring and fall in Chicago, which is a beautiful, large city, much nicer than DC.

Wilmette doesn't have much in it. You're going to want to drive to another town over to do your shopping and dining.

Wilmette has plenty in it! I used to live there, and I know this for a fact! If you want Ikea and Costco, yes, you have to travel. But regular shopping is available in Wilmette. It's a great suburb (except for that cold weather).

Recently? I was there today. Lots of empty storefronts in the downtown area near the Metra station, and lots of the retail is open very limited hours. Like the coffee shop that is only open Fri-Sun until 1pm.

Btw, that's not a dig at Wilmette necessarily, but if OP is really looking for something along the lines of NOVA/MD suburbs like Bethesda, Arlington, Fairfax... I'm surprised that people are mentioning Highland Park and Wilmette. Not really a fair comparison, IMO unless you're really just talking about schools and housing stock. I find the NOVA/MD burbs much more liveable.

Funny. I feel the opposite. I like that the suburbs of Chicago are actually their own unique towns/"village" type atmosphere...Dc suburbs don't really have that.

[Anonymous]

It's half price or less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Housing prices will be much lower. You can get into the north shore suburbs for much less than what you'd pay for an equivalent location here

I moved to DMV 10 years ago from Chicago.

I do not miss Chicago one bit.

Housing prices are cheaper in the North Shore suburbs (than Chevy Chase/Bethesda), but not significantly so.

The weather is terrible. The people are boring. Try finding someone who reads the New York Times!!

Ugh. I could not get out of there fast enough.

LOLing at your NYT litmus test. If we are to go there, WSJ is better, hands down.
And if you thought everyone around you was boring, the problem is probably you.

I am from a Chicago suburb (not North Shore, but similar) and now several family members have places on the north side.
We’ve been in NoVa for 8 years now but visit Chicago frequently.
It is beautiful in the spring and fall, even summer is great. The lake is gorg!!
People are fun. Lots of neat architecture and great food.
I’m divorced and single now and considering someday getting a condo on the north side near my family, once my kids have flown the nest.
BUT the property taxes are a pretty big deal, maybe worse in the suburbs.
The Chicago suburbs are de facto segregated.
The massive SALT deduction helps to preserve this system. Capping it was one of the few things Trump did right.
IMO there is no sense in preserving a deduction that enables segregation. It is also causes lower tax areas people to basically subsidize the fed taxes of rich northern suburban white people.
“What’s wrong with people in a community paying a little more taxes if they value education?” You might ask.
What’s wrong with it is that it only benefits THEIR children. Believe me, they are not willing to pay those taxes to help the south side Black kids.

[Anonymous]

Chicagoland >>>>> DMV. Let me be blunt, and use the language of so many Virginians I've had the pleasure of who've talked my ear off with their snootiness. Most of the clueless DMV boosters posting here are provincial borderline Southern rubes who have barely ever left their bubble. Hence the ignorance in spades.

[Anonymous]

I have lived on both coasts and am raising my kids in the suburbs of Chicago. Like everywhere else, there are all kinds of people here: smart, not so smart, ambitious, content, shallow, strivers, down-to-earth, etc. But broadly speaking, I don't think it's as snooty or as jaded as the DMV, and I'm hopeful that my kids will grow up with fantastic educations, great friends and kind personalities. (DCUM is my guilty pleasure. It's like the forum version of Real Housewives, lol.)

[Anonymous]

Chicagoland is a really great place to raise your family. Know a few kids all who were raised in the Chicago suburbs and they are all without fail great people with so much less… angst? Pretentiousness? As the kids I know who grew up on the East Coast.

[Anonymous]

I hate the cold and barely survived one winter in Boston/Cambridge so not likely to ever live in Chicago but I do like to visit, think it is a great city and have friends and family who love it. Let us know what you decide to do OP.

[Anonymous]

Chicago is a real city; like second only to New York City in density and size. It is really cold from October to late April.

When I was there my Chicago born friend who had young family swore they would never leave. Then Boeing relocated them to Charleston and eventually their families left for SC who had been there for generations. I did 2 years there and it is fine; just really cold. I was single but after seeing my friend leave and never come back or look back I never considered that a place I would want to live.
My friend never lost his Chicago accent though, so there is another negative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Chicago is a real city; like second only to New York City in density and size. It is really cold from October to late April.

When I was there my Chicago born friend who had young family swore they would never leave. Then Boeing relocated them to Charleston and eventually their families left for SC who had been there for generations. I did 2 years there and it is fine; just really cold. I was single but after seeing my friend leave and never come back or look back I never considered that a place I would want to live.
My friend never lost his Chicago accent though, so there is another negative.

Most in Chicagoland have no accent.

[Anonymous]

The cold would be a dealbreaker for me. It's a huge difference from the DMV.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do not move to the Chicago area. Been there done that.

Why do you say that? My instant negatives are winter and northern state taxation but other reasons?

Murders. Violence. Crime.

Chicago is more dangerous than DC.