Anonymous wrote:Depends on what you need in terms of "nice". Silver Spring nice, Herndon nice or Bethesda nice? Evanston, Winnetka, Highland Park are Chicago-ese for Chevy Chase, Bethesda and Rockville (in no particular order). Great for families and perfect for occasional trips into Chicago and flying out of O'Hare.

those far exceed rockville.

Naperville

Elmhurst very cute.

Elmhurst is good

Does anyone have any thoughts on public schools in Oak Park vs Evanston? Child will be starting K soon and schools are a factor in our home search of course.

Why do you need to be in the suburbs? Check out North Center, Roscoe Village, and many other nice neighborhoods in the city.

We lived in Lake Forest for 15 years and we loved it. But, it’s lack of diversity always concerned us. The excellent high school had a black football coach and a black superintendent but there was always an undercurrent questioning their competence.

Glenview/Northbrook/Deerfield are all nice but of those I like Northbrook the best. Watch out for super snotty areas, though.

Lake Forest, Evanston, Glenview, Barrington, Oak Park, Arlington Heights, Glencoe.

I grew up in Wheaton and LOVED it! I loved the downtown area and access to the prairie path. I used to take it all through the town to visit friends, go to the movies, hang out downtown, or go to Aurora. My side of town (I lived in Arrowhead next to WWSHS) was not diverse but picture perfect. The North side is very diverse but lower status. If I moved back to the Chicagoland area, I would pick Burr Ridge or Lake Forest.

Highland Park.

I see several PPs lived in the DC area and now live in Oak Park. How would you compare them?

How safe is East Oak Park? I’m looking at a few rentals. One is right near Christopher Columbus Park. The other is near Augusta and Austin Blvds.

We lived in Lake Forest for a long time. It really lacks diversity but offers so much. Before we moved there our three kids were in private school but LF has outstanding public schools and the property taxes were about half of our private school costs so it was a real win. The downtown area is charming and the lakefront and beach are beautiful. We loved the area and the city but the long winters seem endless. But June through October is wonderful.

If you like history and older homes check out Riverside. https://www.riverside.il.us/162/About-Riverside

Wherever all the John Hughes movies were filmed. And Home Alone.