Buffalo Grove vs. Libertyville? (Chicago, Wheeling: real estate, renting, credit)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Due to a job relocation to Lake Forest, my family is looking to move to the northwest or north suburbs so that my husband's commute is within 20-25 min from work. We both dealt with long commutes for years so we'd really like cut down on travel times. I am currently a stay at home mom to my two preschool-age children but will likely resume working outside the home in a couple years.
We are targeting Buffalo Grove and Libertyville. I have greater familiarity with Libertyville and really like it however Buffalo Grove seems to have more diversity. Our main criteria are schools, community (diversity is a plus), and distance to work. Obviously we want to raise our children in a safe environment too but I assume these two cities are pretty similar in that regard. Can anyone do a compare/contrast of these two suburbs? We are also open to other surrounding suburbs as we could definitely be overlooking some.
For Buffalo Grove, I am already aware of Stevenson HS's mixed reviews (top notch school but can have a pressure-cooker effect on the kids). Please feel free to weigh in on that, especially if you have firsthand experience!
Finally, I grew up in a very religious, church-going community. While that's not a bad thing at all and we're open-minded, I'd prefer a more secular community. Is one of these two (or another close suburb) less religious than the other? Not a huge concern at all, I'm just curious. Thank you so much for the help!
Buffalo Grove is longer commute to/from Lake Forest than Libertyville and likely would exceed your 20-25 minute window.
Only a small portion of Buffalo Grove feeds into Stevenson. There is a large Jewish population in Buffalo Grove. About 16% of the population is Asian. The combination of these two cultures and their value of education bodes well for the schools, as it relates to test scores.
You might want to consider Lake Bluff, too.
Much will depend on renting vs. buying and your budget. Pay attention to Lake Cty property taxes.
Disagree with the "only a small portion of Buffalo Grove feeds into Stevenson" comment. EVERY student north of Lake Cook Rd. attends Stevenson. Most south of Lake-Cook Rd attend Buffalo Grove and a very small section attends Wheeling HS. I would say 60-65% of BG goes to Stevenson!
Disagree with the "only a small portion of Buffalo Grove feeds into Stevenson" comment. EVERY student north of Lake Cook Rd. attends Stevenson. Most south of Lake-Cook Rd attend Buffalo Grove and a very small section attends Wheeling HS. I would say 60-65% of BG goes to Stevenson!
Agree. And that is also why housing prices on the Lake County side are higher than on the Cook County side - as are real estate taxes. Most of which is driven by Stevenson HS.
A couple of observations.
1. Depending where the job is in LF, a 20 to 25 minute commute from either BG or Libertyville during rush hour may be out of the question. If the job is in the business corridor on Route 60 and the Tri State, you might be able to make it from the far northeast corner of BG (the area north of Half Day Road) or the far southeast corner of Libertyville. Anywhere else, at least a half hour and probably closer to 40 minutes - maybe more depending on how far east the work location is (such as Lake Forest Hospital). All of the major east/west roads in that area are packed during rush hour as is Milwaukee Avenue which you will likely need to access or cross from either town.
2. In the north and northwest suburbs, there are two high schools that are in a league of their own - Stevenson and New Trier. There are other excellent schools in the area and LHS is certainly one of them, but any comparison between the physical campus and the academic, athletic, and artistic opportunities between Stevenson and Libertyville is not a fair fight. Stevenson would win hands down.
3. Stevenson is a huge school (smaller now (about 3,800) than what it was 7 or 8 years ago (about 4,300)) that is comprised mostly of high achievers who come from high achieving families that value education. In that kind of environment, there will be intense competition in any endeavor be it academics, athletics, music, art.....whatever. No student will be able to slide by just by showing up and participating and expect to be "playing" at the highest levels in whatever they chose to participate in. It is an eye-opening experience for incoming freshman when they find out there are hundreds of other kids in their class as good as, or better than they are. But a student coming out of SHS who works hard and reaches the higher levels in whatever it is they are pursuing, will certainly know how to compete in the real world. They will also know how to deal with adversity and how to recover from failure. It is a competitive place. That may seem to be harsh to some, but to others, it is the ultimate in preparing students to face life in what really is a very competitive world.
4. Libertyville is a more historic town with hundred year old buildings, a very impressive downtown, and a wide mix of housing choices from newer 7 figure properties to vintage bungalows and ranches. BG is newer, with the oldest sections dating to the mid 1950s. The oldest sections of the Lake County side date from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. There is no downtown area or old vintage buildings except for perhaps St. Mary's church. BG has a lot of open space including many parks and two municipal golf courses. However, some would call BG sterile when compared to Libertyville.
You really cannot go wrong in either place. They each have their own unique qualities. But I would caution about traffic. Try driving the expected commute during the rush hours a few times and see if it is tolerable for you.
I worked just outside Buffalo Grove for the last two summers and it is a beautiful little place. Plenty to do, not far from your job location, but, as mentioned before, out of your preferred commute time.
Speaking as a graduate of Stevenson ('05), I think it's only as much of a pressure-cooker as you and your child make it. The school has very high expectations, but so do most parents who live in the district, so that's not new to the students when they enter Stevenson. There are a lot of students who excel academically, but I think that being in that environment is an advantage when Stevenson grads go off to college, because it's a shock to many college freshmen who were in the top 10% of their high school class and end up getting mediocre grades in college for the same amount of effort. Stevenson taught me that slacking off would earn me Cs at best. Did I care as a teen? No, but that's why it didn't feel like a pressure cooker to me, because I was fine with being in the middle of the pack. For comparison of Stevenson's expectations to typical high school expectations this is the best example: I (and most of my classmates) got a 5 (the highest score) on the AP Calculus exam. I got a C in the class. My college GPA was higher than my high school one. That's partly due to maturity but I credit a lot of it to how well Stevenson prepares students for college-level work. It's a challenging school but there are plenty of resources to help students. The teachers have office hours just like college professors and my teachers were always willing to help me during that time. Some teachers also moonlight as private tutors, there were tutors available in the library during study hall, and other things I can't remember.
I don't know anyone who went to Libertyville HS so I can't comment on whether the expectations there are greatly different. I can say that I feel fortunate to have attended Stevenson. Growing up in Buffalo Grove was a good experience as well. My family isn't very religious and it's never been an issue. I probably had an equal number of Christian and Jewish friends, some involved in their religion and some not. Buffalo Grove has an excellent park district and offers a lot of activities for families. I think Libertyville has a better library though, if my fuzzy memories from ages 3-5 are to be trusted. My personal choice would be Buffalo Grove, but I think it's hard to go wrong in either town. The shorter commute may make Libertyville the better choice for you. Traffic congestion in Lake County is miserable during rush hours and it's definitely something I don't miss since moving downstate.
We looked at BG and many other burbs in the north Chicagoland area and landed on Libertyville. It was a combination of great schools, a community feel I didn't get from anywhere else, great downtown and vibrant community. Libertyville provides a great family oriented village with a fairly diverse economic group: csn find housing in many different price ranges. When we looked at lake bluff and lake forest there was much less choice and I didn't get the same community feel.
Thank you so much!!! Yes, the job is in the business corridor - Rt 60 and Field Dr. in Lake Forest to be exact. Given this location what do you recommend that would keep the commute within 30 min (even outside of Libertyville and Buffalo Grove)? Thanks again!
Quote:
Originally Posted by wjj
Agree. And that is also why housing prices on the Lake County side are higher than on the Cook County side - as are real estate taxes. Most of which is driven by Stevenson HS.
A couple of observations.
1. Depending where the job is in LF, a 20 to 25 minute commute from either BG or Libertyville during rush hour may be out of the question. If the job is in the business corridor on Route 60 and the Tri State, you might be able to make it from the far northeast corner of BG (the area north of Half Day Road) or the far southeast corner of Libertyville. Anywhere else, at least a half hour and probably closer to 40 minutes - maybe more depending on how far east the work location is (such as Lake Forest Hospital). All of the major east/west roads in that area are packed during rush hour as is Milwaukee Avenue which you will likely need to access or cross from either town.
2. In the north and northwest suburbs, there are two high schools that are in a league of their own - Stevenson and New Trier. There are other excellent schools in the area and LHS is certainly one of them, but any comparison between the physical campus and the academic, athletic, and artistic opportunities between Stevenson and Libertyville is not a fair fight. Stevenson would win hands down.
3. Stevenson is a huge school (smaller now (about 3,800) than what it was 7 or 8 years ago (about 4,300)) that is comprised mostly of high achievers who come from high achieving families that value education. In that kind of environment, there will be intense competition in any endeavor be it academics, athletics, music, art.....whatever. No student will be able to slide by just by showing up and participating and expect to be "playing" at the highest levels in whatever they chose to participate in. It is an eye-opening experience for incoming freshman when they find out there are hundreds of other kids in their class as good as, or better than they are. But a student coming out of SHS who works hard and reaches the higher levels in whatever it is they are pursuing, will certainly know how to compete in the real world. They will also know how to deal with adversity and how to recover from failure. It is a competitive place. That may seem to be harsh to some, but to others, it is the ultimate in preparing students to face life in what really is a very competitive world.
4. Libertyville is a more historic town with hundred year old buildings, a very impressive downtown, and a wide mix of housing choices from newer 7 figure properties to vintage bungalows and ranches. BG is newer, with the oldest sections dating to the mid 1950s. The oldest sections of the Lake County side date from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. There is no downtown area or old vintage buildings except for perhaps St. Mary's church. BG has a lot of open space including many parks and two municipal golf courses. However, some would call BG sterile when compared to Libertyville.
You really cannot go wrong in either place. They each have their own unique qualities. But I would caution about traffic. Try driving the expected commute during the rush hours a few times and see if it is tolerable for you.
Thank you so much!!! Yes, the job is in the business corridor - Rt 60 and Field Dr. in Lake Forest to be exact. Given this location what do you recommend that would keep the commute within 30 min (even outside of Libertyville and Buffalo Grove)? Thanks again!
30 minutes should be doable most days from the Lake county side of BG (especially if north of Half Day Road) or southern Libertyville. There will be days where there are delays and when it snows like it has this week (Libertyville and BG got 18 inches), all bets are off. There was a lot of road construction on Route 60, but I think it has wrapped up.
I do not know your budget, but other nice places to consider are Lincolnshire (where Stevenson is located), Deerfield, or the Gregg's Landing section of Vernon Hills - and of course, western Lake Forest itself. Deerfield HS is highly rated and on par with Libertyville. North/south traffic seems to move better than east/west, so the drive from Deerfield might be easier to stomach. Vernon Hills HS was opened about a dozen years ago when Libertyville HS became over crowded and split in two. They are the same district. Vernon Hills is a retail mecca along the Route 60 corridor along and west of Milwaukee Ave. Gregg's Landing is a huge development built about a dozen years ago (north of Route 60 between Milwaukee and Butterfield) that includes a golf course. Many higher end properties and some more moderate properties. The commute from there should be no more than 30 minutes most days. The area of Lincolnshire north of Half Day Road along either side of Riverwoods Drive would be a short commute for you. Excellent K-8 schools and feeds into Stevenson. Housing there on average is probably higher cost than BG, VH, or Libertyville.
Can't go wrong with any of them. It is really hard to make a mistake in any of these areas. Just spend some time and see what feels right (though right now, all you will see is snow)!
Given that the job location is at a full interchange on the Tri State Tollway, you could look a little further away at places like Northbrook as well.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
