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I've lived in Lincoln Park for over 10 years. It's an extremely dense neighborhood ...
Winter activities: museums (Museum of Science and Industry, Children's Museum, Nature Museum), ice skating at Millennium Park and Maggie Daley Park, Zoo Lights at Lincoln Park Zoo, sledding, Willis Tower Skydeck (The Ledge), John Hancock Observatory, Christkindlmarkt, etc.
Clearly you don't have kids. I am not a huge advocate of living inside Chicago with school aged kids but the families who I know that are successfully doing so are NOT relying on "tourist" type activities to help get through the winter. There are programs from the Chicago Park District that include indoor hockey and figure skating at the McFetridge Sports Center Rat Hockey & Open Skate | McFetridge Sports Center which also offer "suburban style" indoor tennis & yoga. There are also private ice rinks near United Center which have surged in popularity with the Blackhawks three championships -- Johnny's IceHouse - Home
So too are there private businesses that supplement the Chicago Park District with instructional and competitive indoor soccer, basketball, and other options -- Youth Programs - Windy City Fieldhouse
The relative popularity of these things is hard to judge, with many private school families having no extra funds for such things and the lower income families stuck in public schools also priced out, but from what I understand there is a market that includes some of the families who want a more suburban style range of activities while still living inside Chicago; this certainly includes a fair number of well paid city workers who are required to maintain residence inside the city limits...
Clearly you don't have kids. I am not a huge advocate of living inside Chicago with school aged kids but the families who I know that are successfully doing so are NOT relying on "tourist" type activities to help get through the winter. There are programs from the Chicago Park District that include indoor hockey and figure skating at the McFetridge Sports Center Rat Hockey & Open Skate | McFetridge Sports Center which also offer "suburban style" indoor tennis & yoga. There are also private ice rinks near United Center which have surged in popularity with the Blackhawks three championships -- Johnny's IceHouse - Home
So too are there private businesses that supplement the Chicago Park District with instructional and competitive indoor soccer, basketball, and other options -- Youth Programs - Windy City Fieldhouse
The relative popularity of these things is hard to judge, with many private school families having no extra funds for such things and the lower income families stuck in public schools also priced out, but from what I understand there is a market that includes some of the families who want a more suburban style range of activities while still living inside Chicago; this certainly includes a fair number of well paid city workers who are required to maintain residence inside the city limits...
I believe raising kids in Chicago is one of the best things you can do for them. You can raise them inside a diverse, cosmopolitan atmosphere that teaches them more life lessons that their peers in the suburbs just won't get. For example, I grew up in a relatively upper middle class life style. However, I was around kids who were insanely wealthy, and those who had next to nothing. Those from the North Side, and those from the South Side. Those who could speak 5 languages after traveling the world, and those who were just learning english for the first time, and we all got along just fine. Constantly being around people unlike me led me to get out of my comfort zone, and grow more as a person. I take CTA by myself, walk most places, and more independent and sure of myself than those who grew up in car dependent mcmansion estates(nothing wrong with this upbringing, I just feel there are pros and cons to every situation). Also, with so many amenities and things to do, kids in the city turn to drugs and alcohol for pleasure MUCH LESS than in the suburbs.
I agree that I personally wouldn't want to raise kids in Lincoln Park. Honestly, I would urge you to look in the North Center and Lakeview neighborhoods for a family area that will give you access to great public schools that will feed into even better high schools. I would also recommend logan square or bucktown, but your kids would have to test into regional gifted schools if you wanted decent public schools. I went to a catholic grade school but transferred to a CPS selective enrollment school, and my transition was just fine. If you have any hesitations on raising your kids in a city/urban environment, feel free to PM me.
Having taught in CPS, suburban public and private schools I must STRONGLY refute the idea that there is ANYTHING that can be gained from growing up in Chicago that is in any way more difficult to learn in a desirable suburb. The fact is the range of incomes and such is often BROADER among the kids who do grow up in areas where things like basic safety is a non-issue. While the actual number of low income students is much larger in CPS than any desirable suburb the FACT is that essentially EVERY nice town has a handful of affordable apartments where smart, hard working parents who want a great education for their kids can settle in. My own children walked to school / rode the bus with some kids from such backgrounds and learned first hand to never make assumptions about who could / could not afford anything.
The trend for smart parents in every part of the region has been to find a balance that is neither too biased toward the over protectiveness of "helicopter parents" nor the neglect that is still all too common in some area; rather than contrasting desirable parts of Chicago with car-centric areas the real choice that is a strength of the region is the MANY excellent options in rail-centric communities with traditional layouts. In many such towns there are still plenty of true middle income families, local stores and even chains where teens can be be seen working in traditional jobs bagging groceries or scooping ice cream, and an increasingly wide range of even recent immigrants who add their own ethnic flavors to things.
Finally anyone who suggests there is any positive data about drug abuse in urban environments is nuts, overdoses in Cook Co have EXPLODED by more than 331% and this rate GREATLY exceeds the still troubling surge of such deaths in the surrounding counties -- ICJIA | A state and national overview of the opioid and heroin crisis
I think you are at best, out of touch, for someone who effectively proclaims they 'grew up in the city'.
I do know that while some kids in my school of course like to go out and party and such, it is not nearly as widespread as those I know in suburban districts. I know people touched personally by the opiod crisis, and not a single had a 606 zip code. The worst is when they move their antics INTO the city, especially in the summer. North Avenue beach every year is disgusting by august because suburbanites come in for a day trip on the metra, get wasted, and refuse to clean up. Lollapalooza, a 4 day long musical drug fest, is jam packed with Chicagoland teens, causing thousands of dollars in damages. I can assure you I've spent 18 years in the city. Same house, same people. I am so grateful my parents decided that it was important for me to be raised in such an environment. We can differ on that, but just know the city really isn't a horrible place to raise kids like some here make it out to be.
Listen, nobody on this thread said anything about Chicago being a horrible place ...
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrs2
I do know that while some kids in my school of course like to go out and party and such, it is not nearly as widespread as those I know in suburban districts. I know people touched personally by the opiod crisis, and not a single had a 606 zip code. The worst is when they move their antics INTO the city, especially in the summer. North Avenue beach every year is disgusting by august because suburbanites come in for a day trip on the metra, get wasted, and refuse to clean up. Lollapalooza, a 4 day long musical drug fest, is jam packed with Chicagoland teens, causing thousands of dollars in damages. I can assure you I've spent 18 years in the city. Same house, same people. I am so grateful my parents decided that it was important for me to be raised in such an environment. We can differ on that, but just know the city really isn't a horrible place to raise kids like some here make it out to be.
... for families with sufficient means and knowledge to raise their kids. The issue is that YOU are making up stuff. It is utterly ridiculous to suggest that your own lack of experience with overdoses happening to those with 606xx zip codes is a reflection of anything other than your own isolation.
The sad fact that many folks flock to Chicago to get high does nothing but support fact the reality that ACCESS to the drug is easier in Chicago than anywhere else. There are consequences of that FOR THE WHOLE REGION and anyone who spreads some nonsense about Chicago making kids immune to drug addiction is treading a dangerous path...
If the OP wants to connect with parents who've faced the reality of raising kids in Chicago they'd do well to rely on facts not on the fantasy of a teenager.
Oh Brother..... stop steering people from Chicago already. Some people should move themselves out of the state being so negative always. That is NOT what the OP asked for. Any anti-Chicago rhetoric of going political.... and drugs are a small town epidemic today too. Rich and poor. I'm in small cities America and its here.
A 2-million budget just for housing.....buys anything the best of in Chicago.
Oh Brother..... stop steering people from Chicago already. Some people should move themselves out of the state being so negative always. That is NOT what the OP asked for. Any anti-Chicago rhetoric of going political.... and drugs are a small town epidemic today too. Rich and poor. I'm in small cities America and its here.
A 2-million budget just for housing.....buys anything the best of in Chicago.
What is your experience raising kids Dave? What states have you moved yourself out of? I gather you grew up in Philadelphia and from my experiences in that city it's clear there is no shortage of the typical problems that have made the contrast between haves-and-have-nots sharper over the years...
While a 2M budget will give access to very impressive housing in even the most costly parts of Chicago, there is no guarantee that such a home will also include any kind of environment conducive to the sorts of things that make for a good upbringing -- many of Chicago's high priced neighborhoods see tremendous numbers of kids detached from others their own age, heading to private schools in distant parts of Chicago. In contrast the sorts of "every kid can always find somebody to hang out" atmosphere that some folks associate with nostalgic periods of the past is very much still the reality in many of the traditional rail centric suburbs that are home not just to those who can afford $2M homes but also folks of much more modest means...
Though there are certainly patterns that cross economic lines when it comes to drug abuse there is nothing about growing up in Chicago or inside any other municipal boundary that comes up in the lists about what it takes to raise kids to be resistant to drug abuse --
The hard fact that must be acknowledged is no matter how rosy one's view of urban living is there is undeniably MORE STRESS involved in such a setting and for folks who fail to acknowledge the role of such things have on BOTH kids and their parents they are setting themselves for profound problems -- Urban Stress and Mental Health Money can buy some "insulation" against such stress but more and more studies show that one of the best ways to ensure mental health is simply to spend time in a more natural setting -- Stanford researchers find mental health prescription: Nature How Nature Changes the Brain | NYTimes.com Health Benefits of Nature
Fact is the very reason that "landscape architecture" exists has a lot to do with the acknowledgement that folks trapped in settings devoid of such things are inclined to poorer health -- Olmsted Theory and Design Principles
Oh Brother..... stop steering people from Chicago already. Some people should move themselves out of the state being so negative always. That is NOT what the OP asked for. Any anti-Chicago rhetoric of going political.... and drugs are a small town epidemic today too. Rich and poor. I'm in small cities America and its here.
A 2-million budget just for housing.....buys anything the best of in Chicago.
These Chicago bashers should spend more time in the suburban forum and less time in the Chicago forum.
On the flip side, anyone that scares that easily by some anonymous online comments probably shouldn't live in Chicago, or any major city, so they might be doing them and us a favor.
For a neighborhood with more of a suburban feel, but still with lots of city amenities , check out Old Irving Park. It's far less dense than Lakeview or LP, but more diverse on a SES scale. Access to blue line, Divvy station, bus, and an SRO.
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Listen, nobody on this thread said anything about Chicago being a horrible place ...
