Thinking about moving to Plainfield, IL (in spite of the name)? See below to see if it’s the town for you.
Pro #1
Plainfield’s proximity to a major highway. Depending on where you live in Plainfield you can be on I-55 within 5-10 minutes. This makes it easy for commuters and/or people who have obligations in Chicago or downstate Illinois.
Pro #2
The quality of Plainfield’s public schools. According to this Niche.com article, https://www.niche.com/places-to-live/plainfield-will-il/ – District 202 ranks 75/100 school districts in the state of Illinois. For reference, Illinois has 853 school districts and Niche.com ranked Plainfield’s an overall B+. This is based on graduation rates, teacher quality, and test scores.
Pro #3
The continued housing and development in Plainfield. M/I Homes, DR Horton, Pulte, DJK, and Lennar are all building in Plainfield at the moment – in fact, most of them have more than one new construction community in Plainfield. New construction is great for the town’s infrastructure and helps to increase property values – who can be mad at that? PS – if you’re thinking about building a new home in Plainfield – give me a call. I have the inside scoop on all the builders and would be happy to steer you in the right direction so that you don’t waste your time.
Pro #4
The crime rate. Crime never seems like a pro, but when it’s low – it is! Disclaimer – I cannot guarantee safety anywhere, but in Plainfield, you have a 7/1000 chance of being the victim of a crime. That’s better than 75% of communities in the US.
Pro #5
Downtown Plainfield. Plainfield is an average size town in the Southwest Suburbs, but compared to its counterparts it has a pretty bustling downtown. It’s not sprawling, however, it’s jam-packed with events (especially during the summer months), there are cute shops, tons of local eats, and even a brewery.
Pro #6
Plainfield’s affordability. Compared to its neighbor – Naperville, and some other suburbs with the caliber of schools and proximity to Chicago – Plainfield is affordable. While maintaining that affordability, it’s also seen continuous growth in home prices, meaning residents are gaining equity. Home values in Plainfield have increased by 27% in the last 2 years.
Con #1
The lack of popular chain restaurants and major retailers. Over the last few years, I’ve seen a pattern of popular amenities and restaurants decide to build in other towns such as Oswego, Joliet, or even the smaller town of Shorewood. Plainfield is one of the only towns in the area without Portillo’s (a crime in my book) AND we also don’t have a movie theatre.
Con #2
The plethora of cornfields. This is more of a personal con, but Plainfield is rural! There’s still a lot of farmland and back roads and when you compare this to other neighboring cities such as Bolingbrook, Aurora, or Naperville, it does seem less “built-up” or established.
Con #3
The lack of reliable public transportation. There is no Metra train, and as someone who used to commute to Downtown Chicago – it would often take me 30 minutes or more to reach a Metra station. There is a Pace Bus for commuters, but the schedule wasn’t as great or as frequent as The Metra train, and it isn’t as reliable.
Con #4
The restructuring of the schools. Plainfield restructures its district zoning for schools more than any other town that I know of. As its grown, it has happened several times, where neighborhoods will feed into different elementary schools, high schools, and middle schools throughout the years. If you’re buying for a very specific school, I’d be leary of buying in Plainfield because you can’t be sure that the neighborhood that you purchase a home in is always going to feed into that school.
Con #5
The traffic. Two major highways feed into Plainfield – Rt 59 and Rt 30. They bring a lot of truck traffic into the area, and since there isn’t reliable public transportation many people are driving through – especially during rush hour.
That’s It!
I Hope this helped make your decision about moving to Plainfield easier! If you have any questions about Plainfield or real estate in general – please feel free to reach out!