Moving to Chicagoland (Naperville, Evanston, Oak Park: rentals, home, neighborhoods)

[bobcitydoc]

Hello. Yes, I understand this is a tired question, but where should I live in Chicago? Working in Loop, have a 2nd grade daughter, we can afford about 3k for rent (as we are thinking of renting first before we figure out where to buy). Want to try to live in city, but need a half decent school and a neighborhood that perhaps has a few other 7-8 year old people to become friends with my kid. Prefer vintage over brand new and bigger over smaller. I have a working list (LP, Linc Sq., Lakeview, S. Loop, Roscoe V...)...any of these worth focusing on exclusively? Or, should I just move to Evanston or Oak Park and call it a day? That asked, what are some of the alternatives to Oak Park or Evanston that might be cheaper, and an adjacent, amenity free rider with good schools?

[marothisu]

Renting first in an area you don't even know is always the best idea. I think some other forum members here have children which are around your child's age. One in particular (Vlajos) lives in Lincoln Square and says some of the elementary schools are good. All your choices are good, though South Loop may be hit or miss, I don't know. Out of those choices, your money will stretch furthest in Lincoln Square/Ravenswood too.

[chet everett]

It is tough enough for kids that have already started school to go through a move let alone have to get uprooted if things don't work out for their parent's lease -- though in general renting can be a good way to experience a new area first hand, when kids are already in school I am more inclined to suggest trying to just put a whole more time into research and then make ONE move instead of bouncing around...

Depending on some pretty basic things like WHERE YOU WORK and what you ultimate needs / wants list include it may make a whole more sense to focus on parts of the region that are not burdened with the pitfalls of CPS, where even some of the nicer areas are plagued by schools that are overcrowded and suffer from the financial mismanagement of Chicago style politics.

Many people that want to be as physically close to Chicago as possible but have access to schools that are much more responsive to the needs of families in towns like Evanston or Oak Park.

For folks who work in the Loop and want a short commute a wide range of towns served by excellent commuter rail are within an easy ride of work. Many of these areas have a nice mix of shops, restaurants, casual spots to hang our with neighbors and many of the things commonly associated less with suburbs and more with traditional family focused urban settings.

[bobcitydoc]

Indeed, Chet, I agree on the multiple moves with a kid issue. Although she would be going into a new classroom, new teacher, many new classmates next year anyway (that is how I choose to soothe my nerves about this move anyway). We live in a safe, city-adjacent burb now, next to an equally screwed up city and school district (Philly), so I get that. I just do not have the time or current access to do much on the ground as far as researching a home purchase.

Anybody know much about the parochial schools in the Lincoln Square area? And as far as Oak Park, seems their are a number of available bungalows close to the city line. Although these look like they ascribe to the "house on a busy road syndrome", always available with a lot of turnover, as they are bought by people not from the area who don't have the money or propinquity to buy the right house... who move after a few years once they figure it out thus eating those equity killing transaction costs in a big, short bite... Plus, one never knows about a new job until you are there. One/three years and out leads to some pretty tough transaction costs on a home purchase (whereas 10 year ago it led to 50k in your pocket!).

So, if you had to bet on an suburban area with some half decent rentals to dip one's toe, and single families in the same basic area, with good transit to the Loop (DePaul's campus), any winners there? Don't need to live in the city, it is just that a lot of people have told me you can more readily do so on the north side of Chicago with a kid than in most of Philly without being a millionaire.

[Attrill]

With $3,000/month to spend you should easily be able to find a neighborhood with a good school in the city. You can also find a place in Oak Park or Evanston for that much, but be sure to research what school attendance area the rental would be in. Both towns have multiple elementary schools that vary in quality.

The best bet for researching elementary schools in the city is NPN.org. The people who post there actually have kids in CPS elementary schools, and can provide informed opinions (there are plenty of people here who have never set foot in a CPS school, never mind actually sending a kid to one, but will claim to know everything about it). CPSobsessed is also a good resource, that tends to focus on larger CPS issues.

Since your kid is entering CPS in the third grade your best bet is neighborhood schools - schools that accept students based on attendance area as opposed to testing (SEES) or a lottery (magnet). Be sure to use the official CPS maps to find attendance areas, and follow up with a call to the school to confirm what the map states as school attendance boundaries. Do not trust realtors alone on this. Some schools that I have heard good things about from friends (or have personal experience with) are Bell, Audubon, Ravenswood, Burr, Burley, and others I can't think of at the moment. There are plenty of good threads on NPN with good info on individual schools.

There's a fair amount of stuff to navigate to figure out CPS schools (i.e. neighborhood schools will accept kids from outside the attendance area if they have slots available), but there are plenty of resources out there to help you with it. We've been very happy with CPS so far (our daughter has been attending CPS schools for 5 years now).

[MPowering1]

Bob, so what you're saying is you want to rent in an area first, and then buy in that same area? That would reduce the need to change schools, if that's what you're saying. I know it's a lot of work to plot things out ahead of time, especially when you're not local, but I agree that getting your daughter in a school and keeping her there through the move is optimum.

A lot of the Catholic schools have closed so you may have to go a couple of miles to get to one. Using Lincoln Park, as an example, probably the closest school is St. Mary of the Angels. Tuition and books and uniform will probably run you around $6,500 for one child. High marks from the parents - but then - I find that's usually the case in Catholic schools (having sent mine to Catholic grade schools). In Lincoln Square you're looking at Queen of Angels and that would run over $7,500. This doesn't include Sunday contributions at mass which will be an expectation. Part of that Sunday contribution goes to the school with another portion going to the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Depending on the suburb, you may not need to resort to a Catholic school. Park Ridge, for example, has good public schools and it's easy to get to the city from there.

Close to Park Ridge but still in the city are neighborhoods like Norwood Park and Edison Park. I don't know what the public schools are like there - others can weigh in - but it's an easy commute to get downtown from those areas, as well.

[chet everett]

If you don't need to live within the corporate limits of Chicago and just want an easy commute to a job in the Loop there are plenty of choices where you can rent or even buy a very nice family home with convenient access to Chicago via Metra.

Town like Elmhurst, LaGrange, Western Springs, Glen Ellyn , Downers Grove, Naperville are all western suburbs that have lovely walkable cores and are within a 30 minute train ride -- thee are not "city adjacent" but all offer very stable housing, excellent schools in every part of town, plenty of quiet safe streets, and just an overall excellent quality of life for families. To be sure I would not recommend that some 20 something new college grad looking for a lot of people their own age target too many of these towns unless the work out here and want to be close to work, but for folks facing relocation with school aged kids...

I can't speak to current conditions inside every CPS school but as a former teacher that did work in several Chicago Public Schools with some friends that still do work in CPS I can state unequivocally the procedures for a relocating family to secure a position in a desirable school are complex and frustrating. Similarly my friends that work for private schools relate that the parochial schools in parts of Chicago with an abundance of families that are stuck without good nearby options often end up crowded and lacking in resources. Even folks that rely on paid membership sites frequent relate the often confusing and overly bureaucratic process that sees more schools in desirable areas overcrowded. With a monthly budget of $3K one can bypass this. Frankly unless one has a specific political agenda there is no good reason for a relocating family to jump through such hoops when the alternative is straightforward -- invest less time in locating a desirable suburb, enroll one's child / children in local school, have easy commute to work...