There are always local debates on this...many pros and cons for both the city and then the suburbs...hard to sometimes see which is actually "better"...I can however say though if I want to talk about Barrington, the crime rate is lower even than other suburbs much less lower than the city and the schools are good...the homes are great too...if I ever wanted to live there, I would have NewCastle Realty help me out since they are one of the tops for Barrington Real Estate and they also think of the clients first...some realties are just for the money they will get..but I have heard that this realty thinks about the clients......