SperlingViews - River_Forest, Illinois

River Forest as a whole is an old suburb outside of Chicago, very quiet and upscale. River Forest neighbors Oak Park, which does have much more to offer in terms of public activities. However, those looking for a quieter lifestyle in a more conservative family oriented suburb might find River Forest a great fit! River Forest is home to Dominican University, which is a private school with a good business school. Concordia University also makes its home in River Forest, which is a progressive private school known for its education and Lutheran studies programs. Both schools have fine and performing arts to share with the community and make their resources available to an extent for residents of the area. Oak Park high school used to be one of the top public schools in the state several years ago. While I do agree that OPRF high school is just "ok" now there is a problem with students attending the high school from outside of the area. This would not be a problem, except, many are not paying the out of area tuition to attend the high school. They get around this by placing their primary residence with a relative living in Oak Park, but their parents live outside of the area. OPRF residents pay a high tax rate to support the high school, so why should a student from outside of the area get to attend without paying tuition? OPRF does invest much of its resources in security, as there have been threats of gang issues from the inner city threatening students of the school. I can attest to all of this because I am an OPRF resident and graduate of the high school. For those not wanting their children in the public school system, there are good private grammar schools and high schools in River Forest and Oak Park Trinity High School, located in River Forest is a very good all girls Catholic college prep school. Fenwick High School, located in Oak Park, is a Co-ed Catholic high school, which are great alternatives to the public high school. Both schools require entrance examinations and have been in operation for over 100 years. Overall, River Forest is a quite upscale residential community geared for raising children and for those who commute to downtown Chicago. [read more...]

River Forest as a whole is an old suburb outside of Chicago, very quiet and upscale. River Forest neighbors Oak Park, which does have much more to offer in terms of public activities. However, those looking for a quieter lifestyle in a more conservative family oriented suburb might find River Forest a great fit! River Forest is home to Dominican University, which is a private school with a good business school. Concordia University also makes its home in River Forest, which is a progressive private school known for its education and Lutheran studies programs. Both schools have fine and performing arts to share with the community and make their resources available to an extent for residents of the area. Oak Park high school used to be one of the top public schools in the state several years ago. While I do agree that OPRF high school is just "ok" now there is a problem with students attending the high school from outside of the area. This would not be a problem, except, many are not paying the out of area tuition to attend the high school. They get around this by placing their primary residence with a relative living in Oak Park, but their parents live outside of the area. OPRF residents pay a high tax rate to support the high school, so why should a student from outside of the area get to attend without paying tuition? OPRF does invest much of its resources in security, as there have been threats of gang issues from the inner city threatening students of the school. I can attest to all of this because I am an OPRF resident and graduate of the high school. For those not wanting their children in the public school system, there are good private grammar schools and high schools in River Forest and Oak Park Trinity High School, located in River Forest is a very good all girls Catholic college prep school. Fenwick High School, located in Oak Park, is a Co-ed Catholic high school, which are great alternatives to the public high school. Both schools require entrance examinations and have been in operation for over 100 years. Overall, River Forest is a quite upscale residential community geared for raising children and for those who commute to downtown Chicago. [read more...]

River Forest as a whole is an old suburb outside of Chicago, very quiet and upscale. River Forest neighbors Oak Park, which does have much more to offer in terms of public activities. However, those looking for a quieter lifestyle in a more conservative family oriented suburb might find River Forest a great fit! River Forest is home to Dominican University, which is a private school with a good business school. Concordia University also makes its home in River Forest, which is a progressive private school known for its education and Lutheran studies programs. Both schools have fine and performing arts to share with the community and make their resources available to an extent for residents of the area. Oak Park high school used to be one of the top public schools in the state several years ago. While I do agree that OPRF high school is just "ok" now there is a problem with students attending the high school from outside of the area. This would not be a problem, except, many are not paying the out of area tuition to attend the high school. They get around this by placing their primary residence with a relative living in Oak Park, but their parents live outside of the area. OPRF residents pay a high tax rate to support the high school, so why should a student from outside of the area get to attend without paying tuition? OPRF does invest much of its resources in security, as there have been threats of gang issues from the inner city threatening students of the school. I can attest to all of this because I am an OPRF resident and graduate of the high school. For those not wanting their children in the public school system, there are good private grammar schools and high schools in River Forest and Oak Park Trinity High School, located in River Forest is a very good all girls Catholic college prep school. Fenwick High School, located in Oak Park, is a Co-ed Catholic high school, which are great alternatives to the public high school. Both schools require entrance examinations and have been in operation for over 100 years. Overall, River Forest is a quite upscale residential community geared for raising children and for those who commute to downtown Chicago. [read more...]

Oak Park High School is okay. It did not even make the list for the top 100 schools in illinois. Do not blame the children from the inner city or the austin area. You are obviously talking about the black children. My son is african american and from the inner city. He goes to school in Oak Park and he has made the honor roll. Get your facts straight. You make Oak Park Schools sound like they are the top schools in the state. Not! Do your research.Oak Park is a very diverse community. You dont have to be extremely smart to attend the schools, because majority of the students arent extremely smart.If they were the schools would of made the list of the top 100 best schools in illinois.OPRF High school is okay. Whitney Young High school is a school full of inner city student and also black children. This school was number 3.[read more...]

River Forest is a pleasant upscale older commuter suburb immediately adjacent to City of Chicago. Single-family housing prices are extremely high, and the real estate taxes are amongst the highest in the metro Chicago area. Houses tended to be quite large, older, and with architectural character. Many streets are graced with mature trees. Perimeter/major streets of River Forest contain multi-family condominium and apartment buildings that are significantly less expensive and house a ethnically and economically diverse population. River Forest's elementary school system is very good, but crowded and in older facilities. High school is shared with Oak Park, a more ethnically and economically mixed adjacent suburb; high school is very good for high-achiever students, but probably a poor choice for average-ability and moderately-motivated students. High school also has significant problem of address-fraudulent City of Chicago low-income students "crashing" the school from the adjacent city neighborhood of Austin.[read more...]