Chicago's North Shore suburbs - Kenilworth

The North Shore's newest, most affluent and most educated village

This knol focuses on helping you decide whether Kenilworth, Illinois is a place you'd like to live in. ZIP code: 60043

Overview
Schools
Shopping, dining, nightlife
Transportation
Housing stock
Photos and video
A work in progress

Overview

The Village of Kenilworth is the North Shore's newest (incorporated in 1896), smallest (six-tenths of a square mile), most affluent and most highly educated community.

The Census Bureau estimates Kenilworth's 2005 population at just over 2,200, and its median family.income at $261,401. Ninety percent of adults (25 ) graduated from college, and nearly half have a graduate degree. African-Americans, Hispanics, Latinos and Asians account for less than 3 percent of Kenilworth's population.

For all their affluence, Kenilworth residents seem to revel in not fitting North Shore stereotypes. A glimpse of the activities at the Kenilworth Club provides a clue: bingo nights, a bowling league, scout troops aplenty, and ladies' softball – for starters. The Kenilworth police department's shooting range is open by reservation to residents who need to sharpen their skills. The American flag flaps proudly from light-poles and porches all over the village each summer. And the Memorial Day program (video) would make any small town in Kansas turn green with envy.

In brief, Kenilworth exudes the aura of a genteel small town from a bygone era. In a controversial move aimed at preserving Kenilworth's historic aura, a majority of the Village Trustees recently voted to pursue adding most of the Village to the National Register of Historic Places.

Schools

Most children in Kenilworth attend either the K-8 Joseph Sears School or New Trier High School, both of which are within easy walking distance from any point in the village. Sears and New Trier consistently rank among the top schools in the state and nation.

Shopping, dining, nightlife

Kenilworth has no restaurants, bars or nightlife and probably never will. In 2004 the village adopted an ordinance that discouraged Starbucks from pursuing plans to open a location on Green Bay Rd. Shopping in the small commercial district is limited to a bike store and an antique store. Neighboring suburbs provide an abundance of upscale shopping options in regional centers.

Transportation

Downtown Chicago is 35 minutes away on the Metra / Union Pacific North Line. Stepping into the distinctive stone train station (video), designed by Franklin Burnham, is a trip back in time.

Housing stock

For current market informaiton, see the Kenilworth Snapshot at Trulia.

Most of the homes in Kenilworth pre-date World War II, and reflect the popularity of Prairie School architecture and the arts and crafts movement at the time they were built.

Median home prices are approximately $1.5 million, but the average is closer to $2 million. In mid-June 2007 the 34 homes listed for sale ranged from a 2 bedroom, bath-and-a-half English cottage in East Kenilworth priced at $559,999 to a 2.2 acre lakefront estate with indoor pool, tennis court and guest house priced at $12.9 million.

The stretch of Kenilworth west of Green Bay Rd has smaller homes, many of them priced under $1 million, on smaller lots. A pedestrian tunnel enables children to each Sears School without crossing the busy street and railroad tracks.

Photos and video

View a selection of Kenilworth photos at Flickr, and a video playlist at YouTube.

A work in progress

This knol is a work in progress that will be updated and expanded. Please add your comments and suggestions for making this and related knolls more useful to anyone considering a move to the North Shore..