Moving to Chicago with 2 kids (Oak Park, Park Ridge: employment, school, utilities)

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by valedan

...What about the Edgebrook, Sauganash area? Zip code 60646...

Those neighborhoods are among the cream of the crop in the city. The biggest hurdle is getting from the Metra Station downtown to Water Tower Place.

Also look into Wildwood,Edison Park,Norwood Park,South Edgebrook...

[valedan]

thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I am starting to have a better idea of the possibilities.

[Ace Rothstein]

Originally Posted by valedan

thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I am starting to have a better idea of the possibilities.

Just keep in mind the commute between the downtown Metra stations and Water Tower. It's either a bus ride in traffic or a very lengthy walk, which isn't so bad on nice days.

[Attrill]

Here's the list of CPS elementary schools. The neighborhoods you listed all have decent public school options, although you need to look at the attendance boundaries of the schools themselves, and not the neighborhoods (most neighborhoods have multiple schools, and attendance boundaries cross neighborhood lines).

In addition to the normal neighborhood schools there are loads of Magnet, Charter, and Gifted schools as well. Applications for the 2011-12 school year just started and continue through mid-December. You'll probably have better luck getting your 3 year old into a selective or magnet school when they turn 5 and enter Kindergarten, but it would be worth trying for your 7 year old as well.

[valedan]

More indoor activities during Winter?

[valedan]

What about apartments in Lincoln Park, Edgewater, Uptown, Lakeview? Are these neighborhoods kids friendly?

[lenniel]

Originally Posted by valedan

What about apartments in Lincoln Park, Edgewater, Uptown, Lakeview? Are these neighborhoods kids friendly?

If your budget is 3K/month, you could buy a 'decent' SFH in North Center, Roscoe Village or Lincoln Square. All of these communities have homes ranging from 500K (decent) to 3M (extremely nice) but they are all very family oriented with parks, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, etc and also have generally pretty good acess to public trans to get you downtown in 40 mins or so.

[nikitakolata]

Originally Posted by lenniel

If your budget is 3K/month, you could buy a 'decent' SFH in North Center, Roscoe Village or Lincoln Square. All of these communities have homes ranging from 500K (decent) to 3M (extremely nice) but they are all very family oriented with parks, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, etc and also have generally pretty good acess to public trans to get you downtown in 40 mins or so.

I agree. Given how bad the real estate market is for sellers and the OP's budget, buying seems like a good option. There is a lot that can be bought for $3k/month, especially now.

Water Tower is not a horribly long walk from the Chicago brown line stop... if it were me, I would be looking at houses in Lincoln Square. I love that area and it seems very family-friendly. I'll admit I don't know a lot about the schools there, though, since I have no kids.

I think anyplace along the red or brown line would be pretty good options commute-wise. Heck, even Evanston with the purple line isn't a bad commute to Water Tower and there's a lot the OP could buy up there very close to parks/schools.

[chet everett]

The OP mentioned a desire to have a short commute, in my mind that makes Sauganash and Edgebrook worse than many suburbs.

Similarly, although it may be technically possible to purchase a single family home in many parts of the city itself with a mortgage payment of $3k/mo it is not a stretch to say that factoring in taxes and utiliities would quickly cause that number to soar. Even if one were content to rent a place in one of the dense parts of the city the space one would have is far from stellar.

A realistic vision of what is possible with two kids and a job near North Michigan Ave ought to include the fact that it is more common for people of just about every income level who have children to find a far easier access to better schools, more familily appropriate spaces / activities, and a pleasant / shorter commute via schedule commuter line vs CTA.

To be sure, there are some folks with children that choose to live in Chicago itself. Generally those that have lived in the city for several years prior to having children can develop the contacts that make it feasible to jump through the hoops of the awkward process of attempting to avoid the often miserable Chicago Public Schools. Given that the OP already has one school age child that puts them at a distinct disadvantage. Given the fact that express trains from the BNSF routinely make it to Union Station in less time than CTA El lines make it from the corners of the City of the core, and the fact that getting to North Michicgan Ave is mostly quick from Union Station it would be wise to investigate that option. Unlike suburban ares in some sprawl prone areas the towns along the BNSF mostly boast walkable town centers with a useful and appealing mix of shopping, dining, entertainment as well as superior schools, libraries, park districts and other amenities long associated with raising families.

The geographic layout of Chicago and it's adjacent towns is mostly rather compact. The ability to get to / from work with a shorter commute than in many other locales is one of the regions strengths.

The relative uncertainty that Chicago's political upheavals hold, as well as the serious financial issues that threaten to soon make Chciago property taxes much higher are real negatives, and merit a careful consideration of what real value a city address confers...

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by chet everett

The OP mentioned a desire to have a short commute, in my mind that makes Sauganash and Edgebrook worse than many suburbs...

What in the world are you talking about? The Edgebrook and Forest Glen Metra stations serve both. I can think of dozens upon dozens of suburbs with a worse commute to downtown than those two neighborhoods.