Live in Chicagoland, Work in Rockford (Elgin, Waukegan: crime, school district, income)

[Cool Arrow]

I've heard really bad things about Rockford. I would look into moving to Woodstock. It's a nice little town and it's only about an hour to Rockford. The commute to Chicago from Rockford is going to be brutal, and worse in the winter

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by wjj

City-data begs to differ. Rockford crime rate is higher than 97.3% of all US cities.

All I said was that I was not aware of the reputation. With the OP looking at up to $700k homes, they are certainly not going to be in a dangerous part of Rockford or the surrounding area. Regardless, I don't understand why people live or die by these numbers that are really hit or miss when it comes to accuracy. Crime is not such an issue in Rockford (or Chicago, for that matter) that one should avoid being in the cities.

[tolovefromANFIELD]

Originally Posted by Hiruko

All I said was that I was not aware of the reputation. With the OP looking at up to $700k homes, they are certainly not going to be in a dangerous part of Rockford or the surrounding area. Regardless, I don't understand why people live or die by these numbers that are really hit or miss when it comes to accuracy. Crime is not such an issue in Rockford (or Chicago, for that matter) that one should avoid being in the cities.

I don't know that the crime is the biggest issue here. Rockford is, for the lack of better word, not nice. It certainly doesn't have good public schools, fun educational activities, and sure as hell doesn't have any museums--as OP wanted to have nearby. It's a cultural wasteland--for the most part.

[Creo]

Rockford does have multiple museums, and I find them to be quite nice. Midway Village has extensive programming.

[npj]

Thank you everyone, lots to consider. I would generally prefer to be closer to where my husband works, maybe I shouldn't worry about Rockford's crime and try to find a dagger suburb outside of Rockford. I'll look into the towns that were recommend as well. Again, thank you for taking the time to respond!

[CCrest182]

Originally Posted by npj

We are looking at moving from Oklahoma to Illinois. My husband is looking at a job in Rockford. I saw Rockford had high crime rate, so we were thinking of living closer to Chicago. Any specific suburb recommendations? We have 2 kids, ages 3 years and 15 months. We both make a good income, would likely be willing to spend up to $500k-700k on a house. I work in healthcare so likely can find a job mostly anywhere. We would love to be close to playgrounds, or museums, or other fun or educational activities for kids. We would love to be involved in a community with other educated parents. We would like to live in a good school district or near a good Catholic school for the kids. But it also needs to be a relatively easy commute to Rockford. My husband may also need to go to the financial district in Chicago at times, so being close to the metra might be helpful as well. Let me know if any thoughts! Thanks in advance!

Harvard, Woodstock, and Huntley are all good options. The first two have Metra, but Huntley isn't too far, could easily drive to a Metra station, park there, and take the train.

Huntley is probably the best as you can drive to the Metra, and also are right by I-90 to get to Rockford/rest of the Chicago area easily and quickly.

Wisconsin also wouldn't be a terrible idea to look into. Janesville isn't too bad from what I hear. Heck if you can stomach a 1 hour drive to work, Madison would be a good option too. Of course, further away from Chicago, but still within a 2 and a half hour commute.

[aga412]

Originally Posted by CCrest182

Harvard, Woodstock, and Huntley are all good options. The first two have Metra, but Huntley isn't too far, could easily drive to a Metra station, park there, and take the train.

Huntley is probably the best as you can drive to the Metra, and also are right by I-90 to get to Rockford/rest of the Chicago area easily and quickly.

Wisconsin also wouldn't be a terrible idea to look into. Janesville isn't too bad from what I hear. Heck if you can stomach a 1 hour drive to work, Madison would be a good option too. Of course, further away from Chicago, but still within a 2 and a half hour commute.

Would not do Harvard. Huntley, Hampshire, Marengo in the "closer to Chicago" category are good bets.

Further from Chicago, you could look into Rochelle, or closer to Rockford in Belvidere, Loves Park and Cherry Valley. I think I have heard Byron is decent too.

[ToriaT]

Rockford is known to be high crime and appears on many high crime lists. I would look into Huntley, Crystal Lake, Marengo, Cary, Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, etc. I'm thinking Harvard is like a farm town. I could be wrong.

[oldhousegirl]

Hi OP. A heads up. They just started an extensive construction project on one of the expressways that goes into downtown Chicago which significantly affects drive time with lane closures, etc. It is projected to be at minimum a 3 year project. This is I90 - The Kennedy that goes into the city from Rockford.

[Sunbiz1]

Originally Posted by ToriaT

Rockford is known to be high crime and appears on many high crime lists. I would look into Huntley, Crystal Lake, Marengo, Cary, Algonquin, Lake in the Hills, etc. I'm thinking Harvard is like a farm town. I could be wrong.

Out of this really good list, I'd opt for Huntley.
There are some nice, newer developments, and it's close enough to Randall road for decent shopping.
Harvard is nice little town, but it is isolated from pretty much everything to do, buy; and eat.