Professional African American family seeking diverse community (Chicago, Evanston: to rent, condo)

[ihynes]

I vote for Oak Park as well, and it's close to downtown.

[Chicago62]

If you are willing to move out of state go to Atlanta, thats a great place to live professionally and not have to deal with racial crap

[chicago_60611]

What suburb do you live in now? My wife and I are actually looking to move to the south suburbs, and are currently looking at Flossmoor/Homewood. In fact I'm about to post my questions in regards to this area right now. Lastly, in regards to Chicago62's comment--I've lived in Atlanta, still own property there, and have family and friends in and around metro Atlanata. Inasmuch as you won't have to deal with the "racial crap," (depending on where you live), there's a WHOLE lot of other issues they have. FYI. Atlanta is not as progressive as some would think

[Chicago62]

Well that's true but there is a large class of black professionals that would not require someone to feel like an outsider, thats all i meant about Atlanta. But yes there are some wackos down there that think the war of northern aggression is still going on.

[cuba libre]

Originally Posted by thankful1

I am an African American attorney (my husband is also a professional) with two young boys. We live in a nice home we built approx. 7 years ago in the south suburbs before we had children. We now want to live in a more culturally diverse suburban community where our children will grow with children from other races and ethnicities. Additionally, our $10k+ annually in property taxes does not seem justified given the mediocre performance of the local schools. We're looking to pay b/t $400-$450k for our new home. Needless to say, we want to live where we believe we will feel welcomed: after reading several posts here about white flight to Frankfort, Tinley Park, etc., I'm alarmed that these communities wouldn't be very welcoming. Of course I am prepared to be the minority in a new community, I just don't want to feel as if we don't belong. Any thoughts?

You have to decide which is a higher priority; better performing schools or more diverse schools. Usually, the two don't go together. If I were you, I would opt for the better school over the more diverse school. The two communities below are nice, friendly "mover and shaker" family communities.

You will always be welcome in the North Suburbs. You sound like you would fit in quite well in Libertyville, Mundelein, Wauconda, or Hawthorn Woods. I know many realtors in the area who could further advise you. Check these developments out.

Town & Country Homes (Liberty Lakes) in Wauconda. Homes range from the mid-200's to the upper 400's...
New Homes Illinois, Wauconda, Lake County, IL by Town & Country Homes @ Liberty Lakes Congressional

Toll Brothers - Hawthorn Woods Country Club. Homes are from the mid 400's to the upper 900's
Hawthorn Woods Country Club - Golf Villa Collection - New Homes in Hawthorn Woods, IL by Toll Brothers

[skontoller]

Why not take a look at some of the North Shore communities that border the lake?

SK

[ajolotl]

Not about this post specifically, which I like, but why does everyone seem to take these damn school report cards like their the gospel. Seriously, if a school is half full of Einsteins and half idiots and thus has average test scores, if you enter as a very smart student with involved parents do you just automatically become average.

Statistics obviously are much less useful when distributions are very inhomogeneous. When I was in high school in the late 70s our report card was probably pretty sucky, but all of the smart students took accelerated classes with the most brilliant peers and best teachers. By the time I went to college few were as well prepared as I was.

Not saying that school report cards aren't useful to consult, but people seem to go way overboard.

Originally Posted by cuba libre

You have to decide which is a higher priority; better performing schools or more diverse schools. Usually, the two don't go together. If I were you, I would opt for the better school over the more diverse school. The two communities below are nice, friendly "mover and shaker" family communities.

You will always be welcome in the North Suburbs. You sound like you would fit in quite well in Libertyville, Mundelein, Wauconda, or Hawthorn Woods. I know many realtors in the area who could further advise you. Check these developments out.

Town & Country Homes (Liberty Lakes) in Wauconda. Homes range from the mid-200's to the upper 400's...
New Homes Illinois, Wauconda, Lake County, IL by Town & Country Homes @ Liberty Lakes Congressional

Toll Brothers - Hawthorn Woods Country Club. Homes are from the mid 400's to the upper 900's
Hawthorn Woods Country Club - Golf Villa Collection - New Homes in Hawthorn Woods, IL by Toll Brothers

[cuba libre]

Originally Posted by ajolotl

Not about this post specifically, which I like, but why does everyone seem to take these damn school report cards like their the gospel. Seriously, if a school is half full of Einsteins and half idiots and thus has average test scores, if you enter as a very smart student with involved parents do you just automatically become average.

Statistics obviously are much less useful when distributions are very inhomogeneous. When I was in high school in the late 70s our report card was probably pretty sucky, but all of the smart students took accelerated classes with the most brilliant peers and best teachers. By the time I went to college few were as well prepared as I was.

Not saying that school report cards aren't useful to consult, but people seem to go way overboard.

I wasn't going "way overboard", I'm just saying you can't ignore school report cards. Try doing that when moving your family to Round Lake or Waukegan. Also, diversity and stong academics aren't necessarily synonymous, especially in Lake County. Some of the best public schools are 90% white, with Asians as the second largest ethnic minority (always). This is the case at Stevenson, Fremd, Lake Zurich, Libertyville, and most other top-ranked North Suburban schools. For anyone who can afford to live in these school districts, do so!

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by ihynes

I vote for Oak Park as well, and it's close to downtown.

I think the practice of racial steering on this board needs to end. I say move to the whitest town possible and help end segregation in Chicagoland.

That said, I won't be moving to Maywood or Harvey any time soon! And if I were a professional African American father, I'd probably move to Oak Park. I may move there as a white father too, however, so I'm not sure that means much. I just like Oak Park.

[At1WithNature]

Oak Park is the best bet. Otherwise try Olympia Field and even perhaps Matteson. What town did you build your house in?