Where to live in Evanston with kids (Chicago, Naperville: low income, apartments)

[ChiMove]

Hi!

My family is planning to move to Chicago in December this year, and Evanston is the top suburb on our list right now. (Others are Palatine, Naperville, Homewood, SKokie)

(schools look good, train access to downtown, home prices for rent are in our budget (though a little high ), nice sidewalks for walking of 25lb dog and walking in general)

My questions are - where are the "good" areas to live in Evanston, and where are the areas to run away from? I'd like to be able to send my daughters out to walk the dog in the evening and not be worried tooo much.

Also, I'd like my daughters to go to either Haven or Nichols middle school - do you know where in Evanston we would need to live to attend these schools? I have one already in middle school and one in 4th grade, so need to know what their "feeder" schools are also.

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

[lakecountylifer]

I don't know the school district boundaries, but I would stick with North Evanston in the Central Avenue area from the Lakefront heading west----focus on north of Central. You'll love Evanston. Great restaurants, parks, access to the L, great lake front, etc. etc.

[chiados]

Attendance maps are available at Attendance Area Maps

We live in south Evanston which feeds into Nichols. We like this area of town a lot with its more urban feel than NW Evanston. In our experience, there are fewer rough areas of Evanston than the impression you'll get from most folks on this board, and there are lots of good people and young families in the southern part of town.

[terramama]

Which areas should you avoid? Well, it’s complicated. But I'll give it a shot.


Here’s the boundary map for Haven, which also lists all the elementary schools that feed into Haven. Looking at this map, you’ll see that the word Kingsley makes sort of a tip of a triangle that’s bounded by McCormick Boulevard to the west and Green Bay Road to the east. I’d want to avoid any area within that triangle to the south. Everything west of McCormick Blvd. will be fine.

Some areas here may feel a little more suburban, especially those areas near Willard Elementary. The Willard School area is nice, there are lovely parks, and neighborhood people seem friendly when I’ve been there, but you’ll be a little more dependent on the car here. You’ll need to drive to the lake from most of these areas, except for those areas that are closer to the Orrington Elementary School district.


As the above poster mentioned, staying fairly close to Central will give you a walkable neighborhood feel, but I personally don’t think it’s necessary to limit your search to north of Central. The area around Lincolnwood Elementary is really lovely, there's a community garden nearby, you can walk to Central Ave., and it's close to the Ecology Center. But it does feel a little more suburban than the areas around Nichols Middle.


http://www.district65.net/parentsand...s/Havenmap.pdf


Here’s the map for Nichols Middle School attendance area and almost anywhere here will give you more of a dense, walkable, urban feel.

Generally speaking, I would want to avoid anything south of Main or west of Ridge Ave. Some people would probably disagree and want to be north of Greenleaf or even Dempster, but I find the immediate area around Nichols Middle School to be a great community that’s within an easy walk to everything Evanston has to offer, including the lake and all the downtown amenities, including a few bookstores, the movie theater, coffee shops, the library, and restaurant/cafe options.

In some areas of this map, I’d also probably extend my reach west to Asbury Ave. or a even a couple of blocks farther to the west. (This is the area around Dewey Elementary and it’s really a nice, solid neighborhood but does get a little closer geographically to some of the dicey areas around Dodge.)

If looking south of Main, as a newcomer, you’d probably want to focus on areas east of Chicago Ave. I’ve lived here a while, though, and have come to embrace the feel of some of South Evanston that most people want to avoid because of its closer proximity to Howard Ave., which is the real trouble spot. (It’s the street that borders with Chicago.)


http://www.district65.net/parentsand...Nicholsmap.pdf



Hope this helps rather than confuses.

[terramama]

Originally Posted by chiados

Attendance maps are available at Attendance Area Maps

We live in south Evanston which feeds into Nichols. We like this area of town a lot with its more urban feel than NW Evanston. In our experience, there are fewer rough areas of Evanston than the impression you'll get from most folks on this board, and there are lots of good people and young families in the southern part of town.

I cross posted with you...I completely agree. South Evanston gets a really bad rap, but my son has started attending preschool in South Evanston, and I think it's a great family-friendly spot and doesn't feel so perfectly Stepford (for lack of a better analogy.) Main is a lively street in the afternoon and Eiden Park has become a favorite of ours.

[chet everett]

I sorta like to throw bombs, but I have to admit that Evanston probably does have more going for it academically than that other popular bastion of liberalness to the west.

Despite the fact that Oak Park has a smaller percentage of low income students at both Brooks & Julian middle school, neither school rates as well as Haven or Nichols. I suppose those twist these sorts of things would argue that CCSD 65 is more teaching to the test, while ESD 97 is more about enriching the whole child... For my money I'd pick a town that has better results than either of 'em and less oppressive taxes. I could probably get a nicer house and something with just a good a walkability score too, though someplace like River Forest would loose point for diversity and someplace like Northfield has no cachet among the "address conscious"...

[nana053]

Originally Posted by ChiMove

Hi!

My family is planning to move to Chicago in December this year, and Evanston is the top suburb on our list right now. (Others are Palatine, Naperville, Homewood, SKokie)

(schools look good, train access to downtown, home prices for rent are in our budget (though a little high ), nice sidewalks for walking of 25lb dog and walking in general)

My questions are - where are the "good" areas to live in Evanston, and where are the areas to run away from? I'd like to be able to send my daughters out to walk the dog in the evening and not be worried tooo much.

Also, I'd like my daughters to go to either Haven or Nichols middle school - do you know where in Evanston we would need to live to attend these schools? I have one already in middle school and one in 4th grade, so need to know what their "feeder" schools are also.

Thanks for any advice you can offer!

I love leaving on the East side of Evanston because access to the *el* and the beach and the four downtown areas is good.

Haven's feeder schools are Kingsley, Orrington, Willard and Lincolnwood

Nichols feeder schools are Dewey, Lincoln and Washington

Here's the attendence area maps for all the schools

Attendance Area Maps
You can dl the pdf maps for each school

A note (things may have changed since I lived in Evanston and my kids went to school there quite a while ago), I would NOT want my kids at Nichols because living in that area would be iffy, imo. If you decide to be in that area, I would stay east near the Lake and around the Main Street area.

For Haven, almost anywhere in the attendence area is find except the areas right around the high school. I like being east, but the west side is fine, just a bit further from the trains and the beach, but not terribly far.

That said, I actually liked Chute and switched my dd out of Haven in 7th grade (at the time it was 6th thru 8th the 5th grade was still in the elementary school). The main problem we had with Haven was the upscale kids excluding my dd because she did not have all the latest clothes and gadgets. She was much happier at Chute and is still friends with her 7th grade locker partner.

Dorothy

[ChiMove]

Thank you so much for all of the great helpful information, I appreciate the links and maps, they will come in very handy!

and now to find a house....:-)

[chiados]

The neighborhoods around Nichols are actually quite nice. Lots of old and large Victorian homes with apartments intermixed.

Contrary to what I read here, there are also plenty of nice areas west of Ridge/Asbury and south of Main St. As someone who actually lives in this area of Evanston, I can say from experience that many of these blocks are really nice with wonderfully friendly people.

Washington School has an excellent PTA and a diverse population. Dewey and Lincoln are also very well-regarded by friends whose children attend these schools.

[nana053]

This kind of freaks me out though.

Headless body and pipe bomb near school rattle Evanston - Chicago Breaking News (http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/09/witness-decapitated-body-found-near-evanston-school.html - broken link)

I lived near Orrington School and never heard of anything like this happening near my neighborhood. I think it really does depend on the neighborhood. Lincoln school was highly regarded when I lived in Evanston. My kids were preschoolers though when we lived there. We had moved to the northeast side by the time they were in school.