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Old 01-13-2014, 07:00 AM
 
58 posts, read 138,689 times
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My husband and I are looking to find a nice little starter home, and are considering a few inner-ring suburbs as well as some NW neighborhoods of the city. Edison/Jefferson/Norwood Park are all attractive options, and we think we could find a satisfactory little 3BR in those areas within our budget (hoping to stay around 350k - might not give us a million options, but I think we could find something cozy). My question is this: we are in our late 20s and are hoping to start a family soon. Are those neighborhoods too old for us? We would like to be in a community with lots of babies/young parents in their 20s and 30s. Thanks for the insight!
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Old 01-13-2014, 08:12 AM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,323 posts, read 23,923,075 times
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Eh, age is just a number. If you are looking to settle down and start a family soon, I don't see why it would be a barrier to living there honestly. That's just my opinion though.
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Old 01-13-2014, 10:24 AM
 
Location: Edgewater
86 posts, read 159,444 times
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If you're worried about age, why not check out Old Irving? Seemed to be reasonably priced when I was looking and there were youngish looking family types out and about.
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Old 01-13-2014, 01:30 PM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,379,084 times
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If you want / need to live inside Chicago you will find Edison / Jefferson / Norwood Park to have pretty solid housing stock but no real "hub" of social interactions with other families -- lots of city workers that are forced to live there have ended up sending their children to the various parochial schools that are part of the churches that serve those neighborhoods. The CPS facilities have some of the better performance numbers in the system for non-selective admissions schools but the "over utilization" has been an issue, there is / was an annex scheduled to open that may change that...

I may be wise to cross shop neighboring areas like Park Ridge if you want more interaction with others that will using the public school / library / community resources (park district / libraries etc...) but current property taxes are likely a few thousand per year higher for similar priced housing...
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Old 01-13-2014, 11:00 PM
 
Location: Chicago
4,688 posts, read 10,106,669 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Magpie1127 View Post
My husband and I are looking to find a nice little starter home, and are considering a few inner-ring suburbs as well as some NW neighborhoods of the city. Edison/Jefferson/Norwood Park are all attractive options, and we think we could find a satisfactory little 3BR in those areas within our budget (hoping to stay around 350k - might not give us a million options, but I think we could find something cozy). My question is this: we are in our late 20s and are hoping to start a family soon. Are those neighborhoods too old for us? We would like to be in a community with lots of babies/young parents in their 20s and 30s. Thanks for the insight!
We moved to the NW side (Norwood Park) in similar circumstances to you, also looking at other NW neighborhood and some inner ring burbs. One of the nice things about this part of the city is that the good attendance boundary schools mean any homes for sale are likely to be bought by young families. In our immediate area, the 4 homes that sold last year were all bought by couples similar to us (either no kids yet or toddler aged). Its not like a Northside neighborhood overflowing with baby strollers (many who will move elsewhere in the next 5 years), but to me that was part of the appeal, it being a mature, stable neighborhood that we could set roots in without much effort in terms of kids, schools, transportation, etc.

That said, as we don't yet have kids, our socializing is mainly leaving the hood and going back into the city, (which is also part of the appeal of the area, particularly if close to the blue line).
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Old 01-14-2014, 09:51 AM
 
8,276 posts, read 11,917,264 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
If you want / need to live inside Chicago you will find Edison / Jefferson / Norwood Park to have pretty solid housing stock but no real "hub" of social interactions with other families -- lots of city workers that are forced to live there have ended up sending their children to the various parochial schools that are part of the churches that serve those neighborhoods. The CPS facilities have some of the better performance numbers in the system for non-selective admissions schools but the "over utilization" has been an issue, there is / was an annex scheduled to open that may change that...

I may be wise to cross shop neighboring areas like Park Ridge if you want more interaction with others that will using the public school / library / community resources (park district / libraries etc...) but current property taxes are likely a few thousand per year higher for similar priced housing...
I would think that Park Ridge prices would be beyond the "starter-home" range, anyway, unless it's a condo..maybe...
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Old 01-14-2014, 07:46 PM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,379,084 times
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There are a fair number of homes in Park Ridge well below $350K, and in many cases they are rather similar, perhaps even nicer to what might find in the neighborhoods of Chicago's NW side for similar purchase price, but the tax structure tends to be a factor...

Of course the upper end of homes in Park Ride is signficantly higher.
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Old 01-14-2014, 07:51 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,323 posts, read 23,923,075 times
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I think Irving Park/Old Irving Park is a good piece of advice too for the OP in case they are worried about all the other stuff.
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Old 01-14-2014, 08:07 PM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,379,084 times
Reputation: 18729
If you actually bother to check out what is on the market you may be surprised --

CHICAGO, IL 60630 | MLS# 08444629 | Redfin

vs

1223 N Potter Rd, PARK RIDGE, IL 60068 | MLS# 08479832 | Redfin

Taxes are really only thing that give one pause...
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Old 01-14-2014, 08:21 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,323 posts, read 23,923,075 times
Reputation: 7420
^ I never brought up suburbs into this. I was merely saying that if they're worried about the age thing, then another neighborhood in the city close by is Irving Park. The Park Ridge house is also nice, but it's obvious you are on purpose picking frumpy looking homes to show for the city. I've seen it in other threads.
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