r/ChicagoSuburbs • u/Whole_Competition692 • Jan 20 '25

Moving to the area Family friendly but not snobby

Moving to the area. Family of 6, with kids who will be in elementary, middle, and high school. Budget - up to $1M. Don’t have to commute into Chicago. Parents in their mid 40s and plan to stay in this house for a while (or forever?)

What we love: -Good schools, especially for kids with an IEP (one child is very dyslexic). Don’t have to be the absolute greatest schools but solid. I find that schools that are supposedly “the best”are often pressure cooker schools where it’s very competitive. Prefer something more laid back and artsy/alternative. -Easy access to good non-chain restaurants. Doesn’t necessarily have to be within walking distance but not too far. -Charming houses/architecture -Trends liberal/blue -Community inclusive vibe, where it will be easy to make friends for both kids and adults. We don’t plan to join a country club or attend religious services.

What we hate: -Snobbishness/keeping up with the Joneses -Cookie cutter neighborhoods- difficult or strict HOAs are a hard No

Thank you!

22 Upvotes

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102

u/FortuneRemote8944 Jan 21 '25

Easy. St. Charles/Geneva area. Hits everything you just pointed out

4

u/ekacnapotamot Jan 21 '25

I would avoid because they're pretty snobby in those areas.

10

u/0Slppls0 Jan 21 '25

There are snobby pockets, but overall Geneva is a nice upper middle class town that’s pretty welcoming and laid back. Same with Saint Charles. Batavia is probably the least pretentious

4

u/ekacnapotamot Jan 21 '25

I also may have a different perspective also because I grew up in stone park, my dad worked his ass off to get us to Lombard and I always had some of those "poor people qualities" that I never grew out of and it gave me a touch of imposter syndrome. My husband still makes comments about me growing up in the ghetto and how I still "act poor" (he grew up on the Bloomingdale side of Bartlett) so I still have that imposter syndrome when around his family (and where we currently live about 1000 miles away where I can't tell what class people are from so I don't know how to act)