Moving from Newjersey to Chicago.

[GreatLakesDrifter]

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[Sbudsky]

ktv555-- You mention that you are from India. I imagine you are aware of this, but Chicago has a huge Indian and Pakistani population which is concentrated on Devon Avenue in Rogers Park. The area has become the city's Little India and has wonderful India restaurants, shops, and grocery stores. The Rogers Park area, just north of Devon, is a great place to raise a family (it's where I grew up)-- it's very culturally diverse, generally safe (although there are some iffy pockets), pretty affordable. It's pretty far north from downtown, but relatively easily accessible by CTA if you live near the train.

As a side note, are you other posters seriously arguing that families with kids unequivocally shouldn't live in the city because of the schools? Yes, there are many crummy schools in Chicago, but parents who want their kids to have a good education can easily get their kids into magnet programs. I was born and raised in Chicago, went K-12 in the Chicago Public School system, and consider myself to be pretty successful, as are most of the friends I graduated with. I am grateful that I got to grow up in a multicultural environment and wouldn't trade that for the world, even if my school had a couple fewer AP classes than they offer in Naperville.

[MozLee]

There are plenty of child-friendly areas in the city that are safe, filled with school aged children and parents, and that are close to the El. However, saying that, CPS (Chicago Public Schools) is an absolute disaster. If you applied for your child to get into a certain public school, he/she might end up having a phenomenal educational experience. However, you must apply to get into the top schools and if your child does not get accepted, you will have to go to the local public school. I'm a teacher and could elaborate if asked me to, but it really can be a mess.

If you'd like to be in a good, safe, child friendly area that gets you to the Loop easily on the El or a bus, I'd look into Lakeview (can be expensive, but you can also find great deals if you look, watch out for Wrigley Field as it's one big party in that area for 20s somethings, Nettlehorst School is a great school there, a lot of restaurants and things to do) or Lincoln Square (VERY family friendly, cheaper than Lakeview, a little further north and west, a lot to do, nice parks).

There are plenty of other places you could look, but I guess we'd need to know more about how much you'd want to spend on rent/mortgage. I also don't want to comment on areas I don't know as much about- these 2 neighborhoods are both north of the city and I have only lived north and west.

[MozLee]

From Sbudsky- "You mention that you are from India. I imagine you are aware of this, but Chicago has a huge Indian and Pakistani population which is concentrated on Devon Avenue in Rogers Park. The area has become the city's Little India and has wonderful India restaurants, shops, and grocery stores. The Rogers Park area, just north of Devon, is a great place to raise a family (it's where I grew up)"


I completely agree with this post! This might be a great area for you to look in and is much more diverse than the two areas I suggested.

And good point on the other posts- she asked for our guidance, not an argument!