white family moving to Humboldt park. advice? (Chicago, Cicero: real estate market, hotel)

[14thandYou]

Originally Posted by sarahdeanne

On the suburb vs. neighborhood question: My experience with suburbs (here in the Tulsa area) is that they are more protected and removed from the city, cleaner roads, better schools, you have to drive, the houses all look the same and everyone shops in shopping centers surrounded by oceans of asphalt. We deliberately avoid them.

There are certain trappings of suburban life that I can understand wishing to avoid, but it's unclear to me why attributes such as "cleaner roads" and "better schools" are things to be deliberately avoided. Do you honestly seek out neighborhoods with trash-strewn and pothole-riddled streets and failing schools?

[Brian45919]

Originally Posted by ole69

so you're telling me we lived in west Town when we were on Humboldt blvd. north of north? I don't think so.

Oh yes, I think so, Humboldt Blvd north of North Ave. is the dividing line. If you lived on the east side of the street you were in West Town. If you lived north of Bloomingdale, you were in Logan Square.

http://www.cityofchicago.org/content..._WEST_TOWN.pdf

[ole69]

Originally Posted by aragx6

^Depends which side of Humboldt Blvd you were on, because, iirc, Humboldt blvd. is the actual eastern boundary line between West Town and Humboldt Park community areas.

Originally Posted by Brian45919

Oh yes, I think so, Humboldt Blvd north of North Ave. is the dividing line. If you lived on the east side of the street you were in West Town. If you lived north of Bloomingdale, you were in Logan Square.

http://www.cityofchicago.org/content..._WEST_TOWN.pdf

I stand corrected then.

[xavier xerxes]

Originally Posted by ole69

You have a weird interpretation of "favorite". I bought in Logan Square and am quite happy with my investment. Also, you act like taking the bus is Armageddon, which is ridiculous. I prefer it to the crap El.

I dont know why you would prefer Ukraine Village over Logan Square.
Buses are blech. Logan Square in general is better off and has more gentrification
ofcourse due to EL stops.
You dont have increase in real estate value based on bus lines.
Wow prefering Bus over EL......

[sarahdeanne]

Originally Posted by 14thandYou

There are certain trappings of suburban life that I can understand wishing to avoid, but it's unclear to me why attributes such as "cleaner roads" and "better schools" are things to be deliberately avoided. Do you honestly seek out neighborhoods with trash-strewn and pothole-riddled streets and failing schools?

I am speaking about Tulsa here, because that's what I know but the detriment of "seeking out" cleaner roads and better schools, rather than living inside the city and working to improve a neighborhood's schools, appearance, and roads is that if the majority of families do it, it leaves mediocre schools and roads in the hands of those who care very little or can't afford the time to do anything about it. Thus the "okay" part of town becomes the "bad" part of town, the suburbs get bigger, the big box commerce takes over and all deteriorates from there meanwhile our idea of a "good neighborhood" evolves into something gated, and devoid of character where the streets are named after trees but there aren't any to speak of because everything's been leveled in favor of housing developments and parking.

THAT is why we seek out neighborhoods in a condition that is salvageable, even if it is a little messy. We do not wish to see whole areas (people included) abandoned in favor of starting over. It's not good for Tulsa and it's not good for me

As has already been pointed out however, Chicago is very different from here and I am still learning about the impact and implications of choosing where to live there

[ole69]

Originally Posted by xavier xerxes

I dont know why you would prefer Ukraine Village over Logan Square.
Buses are blech. Logan Square in general is better off and has more gentrification
ofcourse due to EL stops.
You dont have increase in real estate value based on bus lines.
Wow prefering Bus over EL......

Do you give everyone this much grief over their preferences? I am not asking YOU to prefer them. I liked UK village because it was easy to walk everywhere (up to Division, or just sticking around Chicago Avenue), I got on well with the Ukrainians and Poles with whom I share heritage, and for work, it was 20-30 minutes on the #66.

I can never find a seat on the El, and have found it to be less reliable than buses overall. With the Buster app, I don't find myself waiting too long at a bus stop either.

[ole69]

sarahdeanne, are you still in Tulsa? Are you involved in any of that "Polishing the Pearl" community cleanup business down by the old Nitro/Eclipse on 6th and Peoria? A guy I went to high school with is helping run that, or was

[sarahdeanne]

ole69- I am not directly involved. I work some with the KW neighborhood association and at the school. Have seen a lot of progress in the Pearl district, still more to do! I have seen that the Eclipse is up and running again, but have not to any events there yet. I think you would notice a difference if you came back (after 5 years?) what do you think of the transition to CHI-town? are we in for a shock?

[ole69]

I've heard downtown has really transformed. When I used to drink at Arnie's as a wee underage lad, it was still on Cherry Street.

I don't think you're in for a shock. I went from Tulsa to New York to Chicago with a few places in between, and I'd say that Chicago, while a big city with all the headaches and elevated costs and higher crime you'd expect, is relatively easy to adapt to. And as has been discussed, a lot depends on the neighborhood you pick.

A word of caution: Chicago drivers are easily as bad as Tulsa drivers.

Also, if you were ever at the Eclipse in the mid 90's, you may have seen the awful band I was in.

[sarahdeanne]

What band? I was actually only in there a couple times but my husband may know it. He had one of his own.