Would you rather stay in housing or get a place out in town? Why?

What areas would you recommend for living out in town?

We have a place out in town. I'm not fond of the schools by base. If you don't have kids or they are not in school then I don't think living in housing here would be bad. I can't say for certain since we haven't lived in housing up here. Living by base would be really nice for your hubby since if he has some free time when the recruits are at a class or something he could home for a little bit. We live 25-30 minutes from base so John never gets to come home for a little bit while on push. We have a 3 bd, 2.5 bath, 2 car garage house and we pay $1395.

We lived in housing. My house was nice but I hated the school my kids were at. If I were to go back we would live in Wisconsin.

We live in housing and in a nice area with great schools, BUT Forest City ruins everything about it. They have closed off Fort Sheridan though because once again we are moving in less than two months (supposedly) and they are tearing our stuff down.
If you don't mind a commute then out in town would be the choice. Like I said, Forest City ruins everything about the experience

We live in Housing--love my house (even though we have a three bedroom) LOL--since we have four munchkins.

Our kids go to private school, in Libertyville. It works great for us because, he can come home during his breaks and such, plus I can see him if I bring him dinner or we can meet somewhere quick.

I Love my neighbors too, I got pretty luck moving here.

For the ladies that live in town, how much are your utilities during the winter?

If I were to go back we would live in Wisconsin.

Where in WI and how far is it from base?

Where in WI and how far is it from base?

The state line is about 15 min away, maybe less. I want to say Kanosha is the first main city once you cross.

We have a few friends that bought houses in Zion, there is a new housing area up there-I think beach park is the school dist.

Our friends pay 1400 for a okay sized (I think she said it was 1600 or 1800 sq ft) three bedroom and she said her utilities were from 200 to 300 a month depending on the season and such. That utilities included everything but phone, cable and internet.

When we were looking for places out in town, we found a great realtor that really helped us, depending on which area you are looking at you could use one too.

I liked housing in Great Lakes my big issue now is the school. We did not have a good experience our last year but before that my DD went to a North Chicago school for 3 years and everything was fine. I was very involved with the school and the Vice Pres of the PTO so I was up at the school most of the time and could keep an eye on things.

I liked housing in Great Lakes my big issue now is the school.

This issue has come of several times and my friend said the samething when she was stationed there.

Why is it bad and what school district is this?

What is the school or district that I should send my girls to? They are both in elementary.

This issue has come of several times and my friend said the samething when she was stationed there.

Why is it bad and what school district is this?

What is the school or district that I should send my girls to? They are both in elementary.

IMO
North Chicago is the school district. My DD went to South School(that's by Nimitz housing area). The standerds are very low. Alot of the kids come from very bad areas so you have alot of out of control kids. Because they are out of control it is very disruptive(sp). I don't feel the teachers make much of an effort. IMO the could do so much more. Forget the school board. They just don't give a crap. I will send you a PM.:lol Others may have not have had an issue with the school but I did my last year. way to much to post.

Woodland and Grayslake are really good. If you move into town using a realtor is really good idea. Find the school, not the area (the area doesn't always come with the school you want or think it may), you want and go from there. We found a realtor that was retired Navy and was also once a RDC. It was awhile ago so he had fun hearing how things have changed.

Utilities in winter:
Gas: 130-160
Electric: about 40
Water/Sewer/Trash: 61
Cable/internet: 126
Cell phones (2 phones w/ AT&T): 75
We also have our car payment, car insurance, my school loan, and the Star card.

Good Luck.

Oh, I use the website Greatschools.

The state line is about 15 min away, maybe less. I want to say Kanosha is the first main city once you cross.

it is, i do live in kenosha myself.

i lived there for 3.5 years in housing and the schools were OK. my oldest son was in the gifted program and it was a struggle with his teacher she hated boys. hated them and made it clear she wanted only girls in her room! my youngest did the pre school and it was great. i loved it. our house was old and we had a lot of problems with it, furance was always broken, the basement flooded. and the dishwasher always broke. the windows leaked really badly. i would look at housing in Round Lake Beach as well. Grayslake is a nice nice area as well and Gurnee. Pleasant Prairie is the first town over the state line then Kenosha and Racine area. good luck

the school will depend on which housing we lived in Halsey so my boys went to South. i was not happy with South, i had only one teacher i liked! the whole time he was there! i did like Yeager though, its a preschool-kindergarten school that is all that is in there. i have heard horror stories about the high school. forrestal village was getting all brand new single family homes when we left they had finished quite a few and people living in them. and the school board is a JOKE they care less than the teachers.

honestly i just dont care what house we live in here i will just do the time and i am ready to move on :grin: not trying to be too negative

We went to a school board meeting last week and found out that the reason the schools suck up there is because the state doesn't want to spend the money on them. We get millions for our district while others get left in the dark

We went to a school board meeting last week and found out that the reason the schools suck up there is because the state doesn't want to spend the money on them. We get millions for our district while others get left in the dark

That's pretty sad for the other schools.

Yes it is

its so sad that the school is like that unfortunalty i have found a lot of school districts like that when they are made up of mostly military! Great Lakes was by far the worse though.

We will be moving to Great Lakes in February so I have been researching like crazy the schools around the area since we will be living on base. My daughter will be in the 8th grade and I have heard terrible things about the North Chicago school district so I have decided to put her in a private school. I'm leaning towards St. Joseph's in Kenosha, WI. It may be 40 minutes from base but there is bus transportation from the base and to the school and back..for a yearly fee of course. But I like the fact that it is k-12 and seems to have alot of extracurricular activities as well. My daughter is in her 3rd year of playing the clarinet so a school with a music program is also important to me.

I will be moving there the 1st or 2nd week of March and we also plan on living in housing

I live on base housing also, I like my house, I have a 4 bedroom, plenty of space but I also have an issue with the schools, the elementary school, (forrestal) is not bad, they have some great teachers there but it is wise to be very involved. I also have my 14 year old nephew living with us and he goes to North Chicago high school, not a good school at all ranked only a 2 or 3. I would recommend schools outside of the waukegan, north chicago area. Libertyville, Grandview or places like that.:thinkin

We will be moving to Great Lakes in February so I have been researching like crazy the schools around the area since we will be living on base. My daughter will be in the 8th grade and I have heard terrible things about the North Chicago school district so I have decided to put her in a private school. I'm leaning towards St. Joseph's in Kenosha, WI. It may be 40 minutes from base but there is bus transportation from the base and to the school and back..for a yearly fee of course.

We're moving there sometime in April and I too have been researching like crazy.

I have two girls in elementary school and I plan on putting them in private school. I didn't know about St. Joseph's in Kenosha. I'll have to check that one out. There are two school that were recommended to me from a few ladies here St. Jame's and St. Joseph's but they're close to housing. I've contacted both schools for further information.

We will be moving to Great Lakes in February so I have been researching like crazy the schools around the area since we will be living on base. My daughter will be in the 8th grade and I have heard terrible things about the North Chicago school district so I have decided to put her in a private school. I'm leaning towards St. Joseph's in Kenosha, WI. It may be 40 minutes from base but there is bus transportation from the base and to the school and back..for a yearly fee of course. But I like the fact that it is k-12 and seems to have alot of extracurricular activities as well. My daughter is in her 3rd year of playing the clarinet so a school with a music program is also important to me.

even in the public schools they charge to bus kids to and from housing it was going to cost us $300 a year to bus our kids plus the registration fee they call a "book fee" at that age i would stay away from N.chicago schools at all cost. the housing truely isn't worth the hassel your going to get in the schools.

Why not try getting Fort Sheridan housing if you are worried about schools. They have a top ranked school district and we have brand new housing like Great Lakes. It is a smaller community so it isn't overcrowded. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the base (10 miles). St. James is located a mile away from the base here at Ft Sheridan. We have several train stations right here (Ft Sheridan, Highwood,Highland Park). It is something to consider

ETA: military kids do not get charged to ride the bus here, civilians pay 400 yearly. It does cost 200 dollars for registration though

Why not try getting Fort Sheridan housing if you are worried about schools. They have a top ranked school district and we have brand new housing like Great Lakes. It is a smaller community so it isn't overcrowded. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the base (10 miles). St. James is located a mile away from the base here at Ft Sheridan. We have several train stations right here (Ft Sheridan, Highwood,Highland Park). It is something to consider

That is where my husband and I were just talking last night about trying to live. We will need a 4 bedroom do they still have old houses or are they all new ones. Do you know what the wait is?

Why not try getting Fort Sheridan housing if you are worried about schools. They have a top ranked school district and we have brand new housing like Great Lakes. It is a smaller community so it isn't overcrowded. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the base (10 miles). St. James is located a mile away from the base here at Ft Sheridan. We have several train stations right here (Ft Sheridan, Highwood,Highland Park). It is something to consider

ETA: military kids do not get charged to ride the bus here, civilians pay 400 yearly. It does cost 200 dollars for registration though

We've never lived in housing before so is there a choice in housing or do you get whatever they have?

they tried to charge me and we lived in halsey village! the only reason we got out of paying was because my kids went to daycare in Forrestal and they would have had to walk more than a mile to school!

Why not try getting Fort Sheridan housing if you are worried about schools. They have a top ranked school district and we have brand new housing like Great Lakes. It is a smaller community so it isn't overcrowded. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the base (10 miles). St. James is located a mile away from the base here at Ft Sheridan. We have several train stations right here (Ft Sheridan, Highwood,Highland Park). It is something to consider

ETA: military kids do not get charged to ride the bus here, civilians pay 400 yearly. It does cost 200 dollars for registration though


When I called the housing office a couple weeks ago inquiring, I was told that they aren't accepting anyone in Ft. Sheridan right now and didn't know if they would be in February either when we get up there in Feb. I know the public schools in that area are good...already had researched them before even calling! I was told my 3 options would be Forrestal, Halsey, and Nimitz. Hmm...makes me wonder if I'm getting the run-around.

There are four units (two buildings) of 3 bedroom and the rest are 4 bedrooms. There will be a total of 209 homes built by 2009 and that includes officer housing as well. I don't know the wait right now, but it is wise to call the relocation office to find out.
You get what they have/qualify for. They are not going to stick you in a new home with no children and get a 4 bedroom. There are alot of people around here that have two children and are getting a 4 bedroom. By next spring/summer there will be a brand new 4000 square foot community center here also.
The 3 bedroom floor plans are online at the great lakes website but not the 4 bedroom. The homes here are mixed between two story duplexes and one story single family homes.

It might have been because everything was on hold. The electric company (com ed) kept putting a hold on things and so the schedule got pushed back. Now that the power is on, people are moving in the month of November. Officers won't move until the first of the year because they are still building their homes. We have 50 families here at Fort Sheridan right now and it is nice. We are getting 20 families from Forrestal/Halsey and 5 families from Glenview. I would wait a couple of weeks and call back. It also depends on who you talked to. If you called and spoke to Lisa H. then you will get a new story each time you talk to her

It is odd they told you that when we are getting new families here all the time and they are being moved into a new house in a few weeks

your hubby is a chief or at least senior enlisted so you will get a 3 bedroom no matter what. the chief housing in forrestal isn't too bad its very similar to what i lived in accept the garages are attached making the kitchen bigger.

OH KYM i hated that woman! she gave us such a run around when we checked out our house was suppose to be demo'ed and people moved into just a few weeks after we did! and the coyotes up there are awful near my old house they used to run in the field. she was just horrible to deal with..

There are four units (two buildings) of 3 bedroom and the rest are 4 bedrooms. There will be a total of 209 homes built by 2009 and that includes officer housing as well. I don't know the wait right now, but it is wise to call the relocation office to find out.
You get what they have/qualify for. They are not going to stick you in a new home with no children and get a 4 bedroom. There are alot of people around here that have two children and are getting a 4 bedroom. By next spring/summer there will be a brand new 4000 square foot community center here also.
The 3 bedroom floor plans are online at the great lakes website but not the 4 bedroom. The homes here are mixed between two story duplexes and one story single family homes.

I wonder what our chances are of getting a new home with my hubby being an E7? Full time there will be my daughter living with us but he has 4 kids that will be with us during visitation. But he has a total of 6 kids listed on his DEERS....his 4 and my 2. I will definitely request Ft. Sheridan as my first choice though. How far is Ft. Sheridan housing area from the base? My husband will be an RDC and want to be as close to where he will be working as possible.

if you want to be as close to the base as possible you want nimtz that is the closest housing to the base. i am not sure if they are putting people in them last i knew they were tearing down chief housing over there, and had actually started before i left. but they change their minds daily up there good luck..

FS is ten miles away (15 minute drive). All housing will be new down here, they are tearing down the old and that is why we are all moving into the new homes. There simply will be no old housing to move into. The houses you see on line will be gone. The brick ones (Westover) are sold to civilians and the rest are going to be torn down

The FS homes are already leased. They are moving the people here at Forrestal into them, so they can finish tearing down the old housing here.
Also unless you are a force move or due for a new home-after living in a old home. You don't get a new home. I hope that make snse.
If you have more questions let me know. I have been round and round with them, also depending on what your hubby does, i.e. if he is going to be a RDC, you only can live up here. Due to the hours they work.

FS is ten miles away (15 minute drive). All housing will be new down here, they are tearing down the old and that is why we are all moving into the new homes. There simply will be no old housing to move into. The houses you see on line will be gone. The brick ones (Westover) are sold to civilians and the rest are going to be torn down

Sounds good to me. To be close to the base and have a good public school district to put my daughter in...thats my goal. I'm a planner...this life is frustrating for me...I'm used to multi-taskling as a nurse and I've dealt with the stress of my profession of my job and being a single mom for 7 years to 2 kids but I find this more frustrating. To not know where I will work and where my daughter will go to school in a few months and the overall affect financially has me feeling edgy.

ANd if you have 4 or more kiddos, you may even get the old, Nimitz Officer housing.
We have friends that just moved over there.
We live in Forrestal Chief housing, and I love it.

I also forgot to say--our neighbors attached to us-her hubby is stationed at FS and they can't even get into the new ones down there. Crazy shit huh

That's not true about RDC. We have a couple of people here that are RDC's and they commute.

Well I went over to housing and ask to be placed on the FS list--which is HUGE.
And I can't be on it, but my neighbor could be. :dunno
Crazy all the stuff you hear.

they tried to charge me and we lived in halsey village! the only reason we got out of paying was because my kids went to daycare in Forrestal and they would have had to walk more than a mile to school!

also it was only 40 for registration in kindergarten and then 45 1-4th grades but it gets much higher in middle high and high school. and they are very strict about the uniforms in the upper grade levels. esspecially the shoes. and you can become exempt from registration and bus fees if you qualify. we did not qualify because of my income. but just because your military doesn't mean your exempt. honestly that was the only reason i kept my kids in the CDC it saved us money on busing. had we picked a home provider in halsey or nimtz we would have to pay daycare and bussing fees. we over paid for daycare but it was still cheaper in the end. good luck finding a school that fits your needs highland park is only a few miles from the base, but can be up to an hour commute easily with traffic, it used to take me over 2 hours to get home from Arlington heights which is a 25 mile commute.

That's not true about RDC. We have a couple of people here that are RDC's and they commute.

is it possible they were there before FC took over? that is a recent thing like super recent, they took over not too long ago, and they were moving people all over when they started tearing down homes in Forrestal, if they didn't like the house they were reassigned to they could pick a new one anywhere they wanted.

I don't know how long one has been here but the one across from has been here about 3 months

you know the one thing i learned after FC took over, was everything depending on who you talked to when you went in. and we were there during the change over, it was a flippin' nightmare! one time they told us we were going to have to move in march, when we were moving in march they wanted to make us move for a freaken week, then that went away. when we checked out they told us they were tearing down our house to start building a new commisary and NEX, then they moved people into it. one person told us we didn't have to paint then another told us we did. no one knew what they were talking about and all answered our questions differently. the schools were the same damn way too.

Hey ladies:

As far as Fort Sheridan housing goes, they are all taken up with families that their housing is being torn down. My husband who works at Sheirdan can not get housing there. We are on a waiting list and Lord only knows when they will call us for that. He is an E-7 also and we have 5 children listed on DEERS with gaurdianship of our Nephew with a baby on the way and still cannot move up the list. 4 bedrooms are few and far between, but I would inquire about trying to get one if possible, never hurts to ask. If you have any other questions just post and I will try and help.:wacko

They are still building. There are only 50 families here right now and yes, the houses are for the families that live here now BUT when we are moved in then the empty ones get filled. There might be a wait list, you never know anymore since each person gets a different story. They built only 4 3 bedrooms and the rest are 4 bedrooms. The E7s will stay on the enlisted side and officers will be on their side of the road. I'm not sure who you talked to but 4 bedrooms are not far and few between.

Well asking questions directly to Misty and several other girls there at housing is how I found out that the list for 3 bedroom housing is alot faster because they have more of them and they are still working on the list of potential moves that dates back to 2005 for the 4 bedrooms. They are only moving the families that are in the path of demolition to the fort sheridan housing and then there is a list of families that they work at Fort Sheridan and then there is the list that families will be moved over there when space is available.

Hmmm, there are 4 3 bedrooms and those are occupied. They are moving ALL families from Boles Loop, Westover, and then 5 families from Glenview and 20 from Forrestal into the new homes. Now if they are moving people from 2005 from Forrestal then that might be possible but the ones that already live here and the ones from Glenview, it doesn't matter when they moved here because they get in first over anyone. Glenview homes are being torn down and those families are moving here. The ones that didn't want to move downsized from a 3 bedroom to a 2 bedroom.

Regardless of who you talk to at FC, you WILL get a different story on the wait list. If you want info you should technically talk to the relocation office and Misti works directly with Lisa so she does not work in relocation but in the management office.

little late on this convo but we live about 45-1 hr away from the Great Lakes Base. He's a weekend warrior now, so It's no big deal for us... but I'd probably prefer to live on base just for safety reasons

Is this the Great lakes thread or just about the housing?