Looking for a great place for a young latino family in the 'burbs.

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by B2O2C

My husband and I are talking about moving to the Chicago area but would rather not live in the city. He grew up on the South Side and still has family there, I grew up in NYC. We currently live in Central Florida. We don't have children yet, but are planning on starting a family soon.

We are looking for some suggestions for suburbs that are:

*not too far from the city as we would like to visit often
*diverse enough for us to be accepted by the community (we are very Latino looking Latino's with a very common last name)
*A "safe" neighborhood where the price of property isn't incredibly high, though we accept it will be much higher than we are used to here in FL.
*And preferably, with access to the Metra... though that's not absolutely necessary.

Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks so much!

Probably the largest latin community that I know of is on the south side in Blue Island. BI has excellent mass transit stops at I believe 3 maybe 4 locations which will take you right into the heart of the Loop (Metra / Blue Island Station Information), it is also close to the Loop via car by being located right off the Dan Ryan Expressway which since it's completion a few years ago moves right along now even during rush hour as the thing for quite a ways is some 7 lanes wide on each side (4 express, 3 local lanes). There is a hospital located right in the town, plenty of shopping nearby in Crestwood and Orland Park which can be reached within 20 minutes by taking 127th Street west to Harlem to 143rd Street west to "The Mall" (meaning basically La Grange Road now).

Here is an example of some of the types of houses that are located in BI. http://www.city-data.com/picfilesc/picc26878.php True not all the homes look like that, but there are plenty of older homes that with a little elbow grease can look as magnificent as that. Check it out. Here is something to look at on the google streetviews. This is their little downtown they have. Google Maps

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by B2O2C

Booo... after a lot of talking and thinking we decided to put the move on hold for now :-( I'm in school and moving in the middle will create way too much hassle. Not to mention we're hoping the time will come when selling our home won't be impossible. Thanks so much for all your suggestions and it has really helped.

WHen you decide to move, check out Mt. Prospect, Arlington Heights & Prospect Heights. We live in AH but kids attend Prospect Heights Dist 23. Switched from private school last year and very happy with district. Nice mix of different ethnicities including a relatively large hispanic community. Good luck with school.

[deechee]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

WHen you decide to move, check out Mt. Prospect, Arlington Heights & Prospect Heights. We live in AH but kids attend Prospect Heights Dist 23. Switched from private school last year and very happy with district. Nice mix of different ethnicities including a relatively large hispanic community. Good luck with school.

Of those, I'd safely go with Arlington. It's an established community, and it's not in the middle of "turning over"

[rezelev]

If you're still doing your research on a move to the Chicago suburbs--you might look into Franklin Park--it's very close to Chicago, the highways and the metra. Small community with elementary schools, and two local high schools. Housing is very affordable. The town has a new mayor as well.

[rezelev]

Good Luck to you and yours!!

[cohdane]

Another town if/when you decide to move: Highland Park/Highwood. There is a very large Mexican population up here. The parks are beautiful, lots of family festivals and easy access to the beaches of Lake Michigan.

Plus... the schools are excellent. Some of the top rated in the metro area. FYI, Highwood is less expensive, but feeds into Highland Park Schools.

If you ever need more info, send me a message.

GOOD LUCK!

[bulldawg1594]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

WHen you decide to move, check out Mt. Prospect, Arlington Heights & Prospect Heights. We live in AH but kids attend Prospect Heights Dist 23. Switched from private school last year and very happy with district. Nice mix of different ethnicities including a relatively large hispanic community. Good luck with school.

none of those cities have large hispanic communities.