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Anne Kaplan and Lindsey Kaplan-Alarcon Realtors

Anne Kaplan 847-401-7904
annekaplan@atproperties.com
Lindsey Kaplan-Alarcon 415-215-0077
LindseyKaplan@atproperties.com
Carol Mayer 847-528-4818
CarolMayer@atproperties.com

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Time to Move from Chicago to the Suburbs

Chicago
Suburbs

Time to Move from Chicago to the Suburbs

For many city dwellers the question of moving to the suburbs eventually comes up. After years of hanging out at the hip restaurants, mastering the bar scene and hitting up all of the local events, something happened. You had kids, you grew tired of taking 30 minutes to find a parking spot, and/or 800 square feet of living space no longer cut it. Now you are doing something that you never thought you would do. You are wrapping your head around actually taking the plunge. Packing up the wagon, leaving the city behind for promises of furnished basements and backyards that could actually house one of those cool swing sets you had your eyes on. However, before you realize your new dream of unlimited (and free) parking at Target ,you have to figure out what kind of community of which you want to establish the new homestead.

Tricked Out Swing Set

That tricked out swing set you’ve always wanted

In my experience of working with clients moving from Chicago to the suburbs, I have created a list of things to consider when making the big move.

1) How Big do you want to go?

Coming from the city, you might be used to smaller quarters. Once you begin to look at the much larger houses in the suburbs, your eyes get wide. Before you decide that you must live in 4,500 square feet on 2 acres, you might want to consider the cost. You will have to heat and cool 4500 sq ft and you will have to furnish 4500 square feet. And, after 2 months of DIY landscaping and then deciding that it is way too much work, you will have to pay for someone to landscaping 2 acres. Some of you might be ready for the space and don’t care about these costs. Others might want to look at something a little bit smaller.

Like the idea of a lot of space? You might want to consider Long Grove or Lincolnshire. (Bonus: both of those communities feed into an excellent school district. See my blog post on Stevenson High School.) If you think you don’t need that much size, Deerfield has great houses with lots of character.

2) What kind of town do you want?

You will be leaving the urban culture of lots of noise but also lots of amenities. Ask yourself, are you ready for the quiet bedroom community or do you still want to be able to walk to get your coffee? There are several communities in the Northern Suburbs that can offer you either option. Lake Zurich and Kildeer are great communities that offer quiet communities with some great schools. Deerfield, Libertyville and Arlington Heights are perfect examples of communities that have great downtown areas with cafes, restaurants and boutique shopping.

3) What do you want your commute to look like?

If you are still working in the city, you might want to be mindful of your commute time. An hour long commute becomes 2 hours of your day spent in transit. Another option that is growing more and more popular is to take the train into the city. In our wireless world, you can get a lot of work done on your train commute leaving you more time in the evening to do the things you love (like play with your kids on that swing set that you once had your eyes on).

Arlington Heights Train Station

Arlington Heights Train Station

Some towns close to the city and have a relatively short commute time are Evanston, Park Ridge and Des Plaines. If you think might want to go the train route with that have access to the train are Deerfield, Arlington Heights and Libertyville.

4) What kind of schools do you want?

The luxury of moving to the Northern suburbs of Chicago is that majority of the schools are excellent. This leaves you more with the question of what kind of school would work best for my children. Just because a school is top ranked might not mean that it would be a good fit for your kids. To get a better idea of what is right for your child, explore the types of programs the schools offer, the teaching methods that they employ and what kind of activities are offered.

5) Does this community support my lifestyle?

Make sure that the communities that you are considering honor your lifestyle. If you were active in a local group, see if the community has something comparable. If you are active and into fitness, make sure that they have yoga, tennis or whatever it is you are currently into. Personally, I love farmers markets, so I would make sure that there was a great farmers market in the area. This will make your transition from urban to suburban living just a little bit easier.

If you are interested in checking out any of these communities click here for a up to date home search. You can also contact me at 847-401-8947 or anne.kaplan@cbexchange. I would love to help you make your big transition. Happy house hunting!

Homes for Sale in Des Plaines, IL

Homes for Sale in Des Plaines, IL

Why Do People Live here?

Des Plaines is truly about location, location location!  Located approximately 17 miles northwest of the Chicago Loop, Des Plaines is a perfect home base for anyone needing to commute to Chicago. If you prefer to take the train, the Des Plaines Metra can get you into the city in about 20-30 minutes. If your job requires a lot of air travel, you’re in luck as Des Plaines is truly a 10 minute drive. 

Des Plaines has a combination of houses that have old world charm and beautiful new high rises. Families come for the schools and park districts and single professionals enjoys the proximity the city and O’Hare Airport. Single family homes in Des Plaines start at $150,000 making it a very affordable place to live with excellent schools and close to down town Chicago.

Looking for a home in Des Plaines?

Interested in finding homes for sale in Des Plaines, IL? Click here find all the currently available homes in this area of Cook County.

What’s the Neighborhood Like?

Many of the homes in Des Plaines were well build in the 1960’s and the neighborhoods are lovely with tree lined streets. There is a wide variety of housing that you can get in Des Plaines, ranging from brand new condos, houses constructed in the 1960’s to million dollar homes. Typically, houses range between 1500-3000 square feet. However, you can get a whole lot of square footage (I’m talking around 7000 sq. ft.) if you are searching for a house starting around $800K. Most houses between $500-$600k will get you around 3000 sq. ft. If you are looking for a condo, you are in luck as Des Plaines has many condo developments to offer. You can even get into many condos for under $100K. Due to the wide range of living options, acreage, floor plans and amenities vary throughout Des Plaines.

What’s Going on Nearby the Des Plaines, IL?

The downtown shopping district of Des Plaines, Metropolitan Square, is anchored by a new 40,000-square-foot Shop and Save grocery store and includes an additional 56,000 square feet of retail space, 22,000 square feet of office space, and 135 condominium and loft units situated on automobile / pedestrian lanes and walkways in a main-street setting. Des Plaines offers a variety restaurants expanding the globe with Korean, Thai, Mexican, Japanese, Italian, Indian, Greek, Vietnamese and good ole’ fashioned American. 

Two park districts and the Cook County Forest Preserve a responsible for approximately 700 acres of parks and open space within Des Plaines. Anyone looking for recreation will find miniature golf, fitness centers, bike and hiking paths, 18-hole golf courses and horseback riding trails. It also includes Mystic Waters Family Aquatic park featuring two exciting 37 foot slides, lazy river, and leisure pool.

And, of course, Des Plaines is the location of McDonald’s first store. Ray Kroc first opened for business there on April 15, 1955 Eventually  it was remodeled however, in 1984, the year Kroc died, Store #1 was demolished and then completely rebuilt in 1985 to look just as it did in 1955. Now it stands as McDonald’s museum and #1 store. 

Original McDonalds
Mystic Waters
New Seoul Restaurant

What Schools will the Kids Attend?

Des Plaines school districts have been given several distinctive awards and are known for innovation.

Elementary District #62 
Schools Serving Des Plaines Residents: 

  • Algonquin Middle School
  • Central School
  • Chippewa Middle School
  • Cumberland School
  • Forest School
  • Iroquois Community School
  • North School
  • Orchard Place School
  • Plainfield School
  • South School
  • Terrace School
  • Spark Program

Elementary District #59
Schools Serving Des Plaines Residents: 

  • Brentwood School
  • Devonshire School
  • Friendship Junior High

River Trails School District #26
Schools Serving Des Plaines Residents: 

  • Euclid School
  • Indian Grove School
  • River Trails Middle School

High School School Districts
Maine Township High District #207 
Schools Serving Des Plaines Residents: 

  • Maine East High School
  • Maine West High School

Elk Grove Township High School District #214
Schools Serving Des Plaines Residents: 

  • Elk Grove High School

To get local school scores and more information about these schools check out the Des Plaines school reports on my
website.

Now You Really Want to Find a Home Here, Right?

Right? Des Plaines is a great place! If you are interested in the current homes for sale in Des Plaines, IL click here.

 

 

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Anne Kaplan | 847-401-7904 | AnneKaplan@atproperties.com
Lindsey Kaplan-Alarcon | 415-215-0077 | LindseyKaplan@atproperties.com
Carol Mayer | 847-528-4818 | CarolMayer@atproperties.com

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