city or suburbs for our family? (Chicago, Evanston: for sale, apartment, rent)

[3colokids]

Good afternoon. I posted this on Chicago city side as well but that thread got hijacked and basically did not get my question answered. So I'll try here:

We may be moving to Chicago in a few months from the Denver area. We have three kids, 12,10,8 who have always gone to very good schools. Currently we live in a lovely subdivision tucked into the foothills with an open space behind our house and a lot of deer, bunnies, foxes and the occasional coyote and elk as well as many hiking trails. I don't think we want to try to duplicate what we have now because I'm excited about the idea of being in or close to the city. I believe that when you live in a particular place you should take advantage of whatever is unique about that place.

Still, I am stuck as to where we might want to live. Should we take try to find a house in the city and take advantage of all the city has to offer or look to some pretty nearby suburb, with a nice village vibe or an easy drive to the lake? Schools are very important and we can't afford private. I have done both the choice/magnet/lottery system in Denver and the down the street neighborhood schools in our current location. My son is in seventh grade but is actually in an advanced placement class that is doing ninth grade math.

We would be in th 450K to 550K price range (possibly a tad higher but taxes are higher so it would be a squeeze) I stay at home and do some freelance work, my husband would be working near the Tribune Tower.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[oakparkdude]

What's your tolerance level for crime? I ask because some of the more inner suburbs feel very urban and have better schools than Chicago, but may have more crime than you feel comfortable with.

[60439]

I would recommend Lemont, IL. Great schools, small town atmosphere and affordable housing. When looking at an area look at the size of the student population in the schools. I found that most suburban towns had schools much larger than I would be comfortable sending my children into. Plus taxes are lower in cook county suburbs than dupage or will. We moved to Lemont 5 years ago and it was a great choice. Good access to i-55 and I- 355. Metra station in town for trips to the city. As an example, on my street in Lemont (walter street), there is a large new three story victorian that is for sale. 5/3.5 baths over 4500 square feet and this area is walking distance to train station, shopping, restaurants, public library and schools. I think it offers a great value that many people overlook and Lemont is a hidden gem, check out Lemont at Home Page.

[3colokids]

Crime? Hmmm. Good question. We used to live in a very nice neighborhood in Denver and were constantly having our cars broken into or things disappearing from our porch. It got to be a real pain. I have to admit I like that where we are now there is virtually no crime. But with everything there are trade-offs. I guess I would worry about my kids' safety and crimes againstpersons more than crimes against property.

When we moved to our subdivision we took a lot of heat frompeople about "selling out" and not being hip and cool because we left the city. I found that attitude really annoying. I figure there are nice people and jerks in every neighborhood and zip codes do not define people.

I posted here because no one knows us. The two families with kids we know who live in Chicago or once did both lived in the city. They both gave us that suburbs-are-dreadful bit but I've learned that is a very fashionable attitude. I take it with a grain of salt. That's why I have been trying to get the pros and cons of both.

[HOWELL_STREET]

... Without looking up the definition of diversified, I hope I am using it correctly in my context.

In all probability, your previous original post on the "Chicago" Forum could have been moved by the moderator. Our moderator is "MDZ" and she does a very nice job in monitoring everything. So send a private message to MDZ to see what happened to your 'OP' on the CHICAGO FORUM.

Now to your basic questions. I SINCERELY / HIGHLY recommend that where ever you settle down - - in the Chicago area - - that you FIRST rent a single family home or apartment. With that method, you won't become entrapped into an area you have chosen because you are new to the Chicago area and somewhat in experienced with Chicago. I am not trying to be derrogatory but only trying to save you some future headaches or heartaches.

IF not careful, you can get trapped into a high crime area - - or an area that has extreme taxation - - or an area that has absolutely NO public transportation. Also an area where housing is out of site in price with no possibility of recouping your investment in the future.

Other than actually visiting the Chicago area in person, we can collect several pages of comments - - and all of them from very sincere people - - regarding what 'they', 'me' or 'you' think is the best for your particular assets and conditions.

So make it a point to visit, first, down town Chicago - - then maybe Bucktown or Wicker Park and others right near Chicago.

The experts on down town Chicago 'hang' out on the "CHICAGO FORUM" and that is the first one you chose. IF you start considering the CHICAGO SUBURBS, you can return here for some mighty nice folks who will do there best to help you with your quest. That's why I hang out here in the CHicago Suburbs - - because I don't know as much about the city of Chicago as others.

At this point, your question is over whelming to EVERYONE familiar with Chicago and that's because Chicago is a very vast area... with also very complex problems, catch 22 issues and many others.

Carter Glass,
Wheaton, IL

[oakparkdude]

Well, based on what you've written, it sounds like ideally you'd like to live in a crime free neighborhood with good schools in the city. These areas do exist but not in your price range. Assuming you want to maintain some urban/"hip" vibe in your neighborhood you'd probably happier in one of the inner suburbs. These towns were built in the pre-WW2 era, so grew up based on street car lines, not automobile commuters. Consequently, they tend to be denser and more pedestrian friendly. I'm most familiar with Oak Park because I live there, but others include Evanston, Riverside, and Lagrange. These towns all have good schools and short (less than 20 minutes) commuter rail trips to downtown Chicago. Evanston is probably out of your price range. Oak Park is in your range but has some issue with property crime. Riverside and LaGrange I'm less familiar with. They will be a bit less urban, a bit less diverse. There are lots of other burbs out there once you go further away from the city. A lot of them have a small core of pre-WW2 neighborhoods surrounded by large areas of more recent sprawl.

[SloopyJ]

Originally Posted by 3colokids

I believe that when you live in a particular place you should take advantage of whatever is unique about that place.

A lot of folks are surprised at what good housing costs in Chicago. As much as I admire your desire to experience the unique aspects of the city, $500K and a need for public schools rule out the best parts of the city for you and the best inner-ring burbs, assuming you want a house or townhouse with 3-4 bedrooms. So you will probably have to decide what your priorities are(commute? lakefront? suburban downtown? train station? is an old/small/fixer-upper house OK?) You will get lots of opinions here on good suburbs, but aside from the city, Evanston, or Oak Park, few have a unique personality or could be called uniquely Chicago.

[Steve-o]

Try Evanston, its a great town and close to the lake, and you shouldnt have a problem finding something within your price range. Im not sure about the schools though, but Id imagine theyd be good.

[3colokids]

Thanks. I continue to read about Oak Park, Evanston, Riverside and when the time comes I will certainly check them out. I was just looking for suggestions in case I might have overlooked some hidden gem.

I know it sounds like I want everything but then who doesn't? Three of the last four houses we bought have been fixers. I'm addicted to HGTV so that is not outside the realm of possibilites. I will probably also check out some places like Irving Park. I think the suggestion about renting is a good one. My only hesitation would be changing schools yet again. We did it a year ago when we came to our current neighborhood and we will have to do it again if we relocate to Chicago.

A lot will depend on what we sell our house for (if this even happens) and how much my husband makes. I assume his salary will be higher than it is here. I would like to not try to factor in my salary since I am just getting started in my business and don't know where it will lead. OUr goal is to try to make it on a salary and a half if that makes sense.

[Lookout Kid]

Sorry for participating in the "hijacking" of your post in the city forum. But if I were to think about what makes Chicago special, it truly is the city life and the lakefront. Most of the far-flung suburbs of Chicago could be suburbs of any American city. The Illinois "Prairie" doesn't realy exist here unless you get out of range of the sprawl developers, and the other natural features are smaller lakes, which have largely been bought up and are quite expensive.

So, in terms of inner suburbs that are close to the city and in your price range for a SF home, I'd second the recommendation of Oak Park. It's truly a gem, and offers tremendous access to the Loop. You would definitely be looking at a smaller home in that price range, though. And there is an annoying property crime problem in Oak park--even though the police force is extremely prolific! Other nicer inner suburbs are River Forest, Riverside, La Grange, Evanston, Park Ridge, etc. I'm less familiar with the south suburbs--and many of the inner suburbs on the south side are pretty nasty.