I have been considering a move to Glen Ellyn and I stumbled upon this site. I gotta tell ya, the posts are some of the wittiest I have seen on any message board. But I digress....

There is some good and bad in any community. This message board appears to be a little more cynical. As I consider my community options I am curious what is good and what is bad in Glen Ellyn. If anyone is up to help out a potential resident, could you please tell me the top 3 good things and top 3 bad things? Thanks for your help.

Hi,

First of all, WELCOME to Glen Ellyn. Even if decide not to make GE your permanent home I hope you enjoy your time here.

Here's my top 3 (like and dislike):

Like:
1. Absolutely a GREAT place to raise children. Still sort of Normal Rockwell-esque. Really. I can't think of any community that has more to offer our kids.

2. Proximity to the prairie path. You may not know it in the winter months particularly, but we have an awesome path that goes for miles. You can ride your bike, walk or run to your hearts content. Along the way, we have towns like Glen Ellyn, Wheaton, etc. where you can stop.

3. Variety of homes to choose from. Not cookie-cutter like other burbs. Nice variety of old and new houses.

Dislike:
1. Taxes. Too high, particularly when compared to other similar communities.

2. Local government. Challenging at best, inept at worst. The good news is that this IS changing! At least I think so.

3. I wish our schools were rated higher. They are good, but not awesome for what we pay in taxes.

Ooh, you got a read a post authored by Dinsdale. I'll see if I can find it.

I love......

1) all the mature trees, but hate raking in the fall;

2) all the wonderful wildlife, but hate when they burrow into my garage and make a mess of the garbage;

3) our quaint downtown, but hate the infestation of bums;

4) walking to the train, but hate the noise, diesel fumes and graffiti;

5) Lake Ellyn, but hate it when it stinks like dead fish;

6) the schools, but hate the taxes and the Board (except BS and SV )

7) my neighbors, but hate the one who lets his damn Mulberry Tree over hang my driveway;

8) Roger from Vittorio's, but hate last call;

9) McChessney's, but hate their produce;

<drum roll>

10) Love Fan and Clam, but hate when they rip on me!

This is it!

Dinsdale
GlenEllynite
Posted April 11, 2007 09:54 AM Hide Post
Welcome to the boards and the Chicago area, and good luck on whatever you choose.

I've lived in GE a little over 10 years, and I readily admit I'm not the town's biggest booster. But your experiences will be influenced by any number of factors, and many folk really like this town. I've lived in the Chicago area for 40+ years.

A couple of things in my experience - there are large groups in town who appear quite cliqueish and judgmental. If you happen to fit into a certain clique - things may appear fine. But if not, you'll wonder why you and your kids don't get called, etc. And if you have any - um - unconventional associations or beliefs, ou might want to keep them pretty much to yourselves.

It will probably be to your advantage in terms of fitting in if you belong to a christian church. And tho things are changing somewhat, GE is still pretty solidly conservative Republican.

There are a whole lot of folks - especially in the walk-to-train area - who have a whole lot of money. Congrats if you happen to be one of them. IMO a good percentage of them seem to be extremely concerned with appearances at the expense of substance. Perhaps the obnoxious folk are not all that numerous, and are just more noticeable.

There are IMO a whole lot of kids who grow up with too much money, too few responsibilities, and too little parental guidance. For whatever reason, I'm not thrilled when I see high schoolers tooling around in BMWs, Mercedes, Porsches, etc. But perhaps if I had that type of money and drove that type of cars, I'd think nothing about sharing it with my kids in that manner.

Also, folks will expect you to be as free with your money, as they may be with theirs. And there is competition at every conceivable level - appearance, possessions, accomplishments... In short, tho people will "appear" friendly when they see you at school or at the grocery store, IMO only are relatively small percentage of them actually "are" friendly. Of course, on one level, there is a lot to be said for superficial pleasantries, if that is what you want.

I'm not thrilled with the level of services a resident gets for the high taxes they pay. One good example is trash and yardwaste service - my impression is GE residents pay as much as anyone for as few services as anyone. IMO there are some significant systemmatic problems with the schools and funding. Check the history of referenda at both the elem and HS levels. But that may be common in most - if not all - places. I don't know.

I'm also not thrilled with the village government, which - to say the least - lacks vision. Without getting into too much detail, I'll only offer that the downtown certainly seems to have gradually slipped over the past decade. I also cannot believe that the Mews and the GE Clinic projects got approved. And I believe the building regulations and enforcement are a horrible joke.

The main concern seems to be in retaining a "quaint" appearance. I think that sums up a lot of what I dislike about GE. A whole lot of folks are far more interested in appearances than anything of substance.

Having said that, the town IS pretty. We walk around the neighborhoods quite often, and the majority of streets are very attractive. Of course - having said that I find myself less and less enamored of the huge houses which a part of me thinks consume outrageous resources. We'll have to see if the past trend of teardowns and additions continues.

The Links cannot be beat, and I'm a big fan of the Glen, and Soukups and Young's can't be beat. That's about it.

Like I said - good luck in whatever you choose. Heck, if you decide to move to GE, make me an offer on my walk-to-train house with plenty of room for a family of 5! I'm moving myself as soon as my youngest kid gets out of HS.

koconn,

Go to the archived posts and under the Glen Ellyn-Everything Else forum, page one, about 44 threads down you will find a one entitled "Moving to Glen Ellyn?" started by Dayna. Enjoy!

koconn:

Moved here (kicking and screaming) from downtown Chicago in 1995. Neighbors are great. Houses and lots are closer together than much of newly built Naperville. It's a 1 mile walk to the train from my house, if you work downtown. Central Business District is seeing the problems that all suburban commuter towns see. It will work itself out, but on this bulletin board, everyone has a sharp opinion. And ideas. That's good.

I have learned to like it, and downtown Chicago is only 30 minutes without traffic.

Top 3
1. Wonderful Village and sense of Community.
2. Good People.
3. Great Homes and Streetscapes.

Bottom 3
1. Taxes.
2. Snow plowing.
3. Dogs across the street from me.

Overall, I think this is a great place. In fact, haven't found one much better.

This is a good place for me to share my one and only warm fuzzy thought of the day, which occurred this evening as I was leaving the Glen after watching a showing of "Juno." (Good movie, btw.)

Anyway, I just realized I had had a most pleasant, charming small town experience. I went to this theater, which is still locally owned and operated, and where my son happens to work, following in the footsteps of his older brother who worked there until he went to college; I was greeted warmly by the manager on duty, said hello to the boys behind the counter, friends of my sons', who were most polite and friendly, watched a great movie after first seeing lots of charmingly handmade advertisements for local business....

But the best part was when I left. I walked out of the theater onto a fairly bustling sidewalk. People were walking to and fro in groups or pairs, old people, young people, middle aged people like me; everyone seemed in a particularly good mood (had to chalk that up to the nice weather today), but mostly, everyone seemed really happy to be there. The lights were just starting to come on, I saw people in all the shops and restaurants that were open, and at least at that moment, on that particular patch of sidewalk along Crescent, Glen Ellyn appeared to be a charming, bustling little town full of happy people with a purpose, and I was really glad to belong here. I felt safe, I felt inordinately friendly toward my fellow man, I realized it's nice to go do something like see a movie or grab a cup of coffee and stand a pretty decent chance of running into someone you know, and then be able to walk jauntily back to your car and not fear being mugged or anything, and know that you only have to drive 5 minutes until you're back in your own house, snug as a bug in a rug, and when summer comes, IF it comes, surely it HAS to come, you can ditch the car and make the same trip on foot and be perfectly safe and not really break much of a sweat and you'll see lots of your neighbors out puttering in their yards and waving at you and maybe one of them will invite you in for a beer or glass of wine...

I dunno. I just felt really, really contented. And happy to live here.

So I'd say that's a good reason to move to GE.

(And now, I'll go revert back to my usual curmudgeonly self.)

As you have seen, we all have plenty to say - good and bad. And yes, sometimes we BBers focus on the bad but if a town is going to improve, people have to be willing to see the problems and want to do something to change it. A number of people here are on various committees and boards in the village and in the schools. So, there is definitely a way to get involved in such things if that is something you are interested in doing. The taxes are high but not much different from other "nice" towns.

All that being said, I think today, something that happened at my son's wrestling match kind of sums up why I like this town. At the conclusion of the junior high level regional meet (held at another school), the other school was announcing the top four finishers (who will go on to sectionals). Halfway through the awards, the coach from the host school said, "I just want to point out that the only kid saying thank you so far, was the kid from Hadley with the mohawk." First, it was one of "our" kids and second, it was a kid with a mohawk - you know, the one that most people would judge as a malcontent just because he has mohawk. Basically, most kids are pretty nice and wrestling has been a much more positive experience than I EVER thought it would be for my son. The boys have taken him under their wings and really encourage him. My daughter has had similar experiences - the sports, clubs, scouts, and school activities available are fantastic and prolific.

I hope I never have to leave because Glen Ellyn really is home for me.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Amy,

Top 3

1. Location, Location, Location!
2. Schools
3. Home town U.S.A. atmosphere (parks, prairie path, neighbors)

Worst 3

1. Thursday Night Homeless insurgency
2. Overpriced unique fixer-uppers
3. Village "Leadership"

It truly is a great place to live! I remember those long summer days riding my bike downtown and heading over to:

Yankee Doodle Dandy Burgers and Shake
Bagel Benders
The Hobby Shop (now Santa Fe)
The Pet Shop (Across from Village Hall)
Climbing the retaining wall to take a short cut across the tracks (my kids better not do this)
Haircuts at the Busy Bee
Cee Bees Deli!

The place has changed since then, but the concept is the same.

Your help is very much appreciated. You are wonderful ambassadors for the Village of Glen Ellyn. I am not sure many towns could generate this type of passion among its resident base.

Glen Ellyn is a great place to live! I grew up here, moved around and came back to raise our family here. Couldn't be happier. Small town feel, you can walk almost everywhere, kids can come home for lunch in grade school (my personal favorite), tree lined streets, variety of homes, train so close and available, seasonal traditions...there are many many residents who grew up here that have moved back. That says it all!
p.s. I miss Yankee Doodle Dandy too!!!

gee, scribbler...had the same experience last night...the Glen, walk around, etc. (and it wasn't 40 below.) kconn, like anywhere you'll find pros and cons...but it is basically a lovely town (walk through lake ellyn, sit in those stands for an outdoor glenbard west graduation and you'll see what i mean) with (mostly) lovely people...and really smart people too, as you can see from reading this board. if you decide to join us...welcome!

quote:

Originally posted by AMH21:
Glen Ellyn is a great place to live! I grew up here, moved around and came back to raise our family here. Couldn't be happier.

Glen Ellyn does seem to have an inordinate number of SalmonPeople® that return to spawn.

Pros:

1. I live here
2. Football Saturdays at West
3. Fall in general

Cons:

1. I live here
2. The outdated Civic Betterment Party and its old boy network candidates
3. Village seems overwhelmed with various sophomoric issues from garbage collection to snow removal. Just can't figure it out.

All in all, an enjoyable town.

quote:

Yankee Doodle Dandy Burgers and Shake
Bagel Benders
The Hobby Shop (now Santa Fe)
The Pet Shop (Across from Village Hall)
Climbing the retaining wall to take a short cut across the tracks (my kids better not do this)
Haircuts at the Busy Bee
Cee Bees Deli!

GEM, we must have grown up in Glen Ellyn around the same time...I remember ALL, but most specifically Yankee Doodle Dandy and Bagel Benders!

Back on track...

I'm a lifelong resident. I love Glen Ellyn for it's 1. smaller town feel, 2. its designation as a Tree City USA, which clearly shows on all of its streets and in all of its neighborhoods, 3. its proximity to major expressways/METRA train station, 4. College of DuPage for its library, cultural and learning opportunities, 5. proximity to The Morton Arboretum, one of the finest Arboretums in the Country and one of the most scenic and relaxing venues in DuPage County, and 6. we have a park district that really shines and offers some great programs given the size of our town.

Things I'm not necessarily fond of are 1. the taxes, 2. the division of North vs. South Glen Ellyn, which in large part is due to the separate yet very equal elementary/middle school districts, but can be a bit 'snippy' and uncalled for at times, and 3. some, not all, residents are a bit 'behind-the-times' with diversity issues and general acceptance of different lifestyles, etc...

All-in-all, it is a community whose residents have a great sense of passion for its destiny. The village has also achieved many positive changes in the 30+ years I have lived here, while keeping a good sense of its past.

Good luck with your search!

"Snippy" and "uncalled for", indeed, sir! The division between north and south is as time-honored a tradition as the ringing of the victory bell at our finest high school in town, Glenbard West. Viva El Norte!!

quote:

finest high school in town

Finest or prettiest? Prettiest I'll give you, Mr. Snippy Sniperston

It's like a girl, GER. Given the opportunity to be with one that is a little prettier or a little smarter, most men will take the former.

quote:

It's like a girl, GER. Given the opportunity to be with one that is a little prettier or a little smarter, most men will take the former. Smile

If you would have said 'it's like a guy...' you would have had me, but you just lost me big time, big guy.