Wilmette vs. Evanston - are there parts of Wilmette similar to Evanston? (Chicago: low income, 2015)

[cbsmom]

It sounds like a fun, adorable neighborhood! We are keeping are eyes out for anything in our price range around Wilmette-- the houses we've seen pop up in that area in our price range are fixer uppers and we're already pushing our price range a little bit to the limit, so not sure we can afford to fix up a place.

[Crib]

It's a really cute neighborhood! We live in evanston on the border but have been included in many of the "soma" (although I've never heard it referred to that way) activities. A good mix of people that 'were looking in Evanston but wound up in Wilmette' . We're in the same boat as you trying to get that open-minded, progressive, liberal vibe either in Evanston or Wilmette. But leaning towards Wilmette. Which is how I came across this thread! Maple Park is a great park for the kids. Are you working or at home with the kids? The one thing I will say is I wish there were more stay at home moms in the area, but since housing is so expensive that's why many of the moms work too. I'm from winnetka so I find it very interesting that you've studied both winnetka and evanston schools- thanks for sharing

[cbsmom]

Hi Crib! Are you in Evanston now, looking to move to Wilmette? I'm at home with my daughter now, although when she goes to school I'll likely work part-time (while she's there).
Since the time that I started this thread, I've actually gone and toured a couple of the Evanston schools (Orrington and Willard), and they are really great schools (much better than where I taught, which was many years ago, so that school may actually be much better now that some of the not-so-great teachers and the principal retired. Still a more traditional district, but a lot of people prefer that to progressive, anyway, haha. Wilmette schools are, of course, all great, and have more resources (they're building a state-of-the-art interactive library in each of their schools within the next few years).

[EffortPoaster]

Wants "progressive" and "liberal, tree-huggy, artsy atmosphere" and, just a guess, probably preaches about all the 'AMAZING diversity' that living in Chicago provides, but can't wait to leave the city to go to the whitest of the white UMC+ enclave in all of the Chicagoland area.

At least the "good schools" excuse gives great ammo to the cognitive dissonance. Smh at SWPLs.

[cbsmom]

ha! Is that aimed at me?
a) not white, so shrug at your 'SWPL'.
b) not sure Evanston qualifies at all as whitest of the white. I don't preach about the diversity in Chicago, since it's a pretty darn segregated city. Wilmette not as diverse as Evanston, sure, but not whitest of the white.
c) love when people like to judge other people's desires to live elsewhere. Leaving the city because I'd love to live in a small hippie town completely away from Chicagoland, or in Spain. Not possible right now, so I'll move to a smaller, slightly quieter area for now. Keep those silly judgmental comments coming!

[EffortPoaster]

Originally Posted by cbsmom

ha! Is that aimed at me?
a) not white, so shrug at your 'SWPL'.
b) not sure Evanston qualifies at all as whitest of the white. I don't preach about the diversity in Chicago, since it's a pretty darn segregated city. Wilmette not as diverse as Evanston, sure, but not whitest of the white.
c) love when people like to judge other people's desires to live elsewhere. Leaving the city because I'd love to live in a small hippie town completely away from Chicagoland, or in Spain. Not possible right now, so I'll move to a smaller, slightly quieter area for now. Keep those silly judgmental comments coming!

Lol, same story as usual. SWPL is a signalling effort, doesn't particularly matter if you're white or just 'white'.

Wilmette has basically no diversity, so yes, it is the whitest of the white, and this is the same as northern Evanston, so go ahead and tell yourself whatever you need to. I just find it hilarious that you've used the word "progressive" a bunch of times throughout this thread, but you can't wait to get out of the city to move to an area that is completely secluded and 95+% white/asian. If that's not cognitive dissonance then I don't know what is.

[cbsmom]

oh, EffortPoaster. Just because it's the city doesn't make it diverse. Some schools are wonderful and diverse (yep, like Whitney Young). Others are incredibly segregated- becoming more so every day as more and more wealthy people flock to the "good neighborhood" schools. The selective enrollment process still has a ways to go to encourage more diversity and enrollment from kids from Tiers 1 and 2.
And progressive has nothing to do with location or being white. It's a philosophy of education, and one that most districts (including CPS, except for a couple stand out schools that we couldn't afford because they're in that upper crust layer of neighborhoods) don't espouse. I checked your other posts - Your fiancee/wife has gotten an education degree and a license, so I'm guessing she knows what progressive means, in terms of educational philosophy.
If you have a problem with my wanting a smaller, quieter, liberal town and a progressive school for my kid, shrug. But you're bordering on being a troll when you jump on someone you don't know, whose values you don't understand, and try to pass it off with a bitchy "SWPL".

[EffortPoaster]

Originally Posted by cbsmom

oh, EffortPoaster. Just because it's the city doesn't make it diverse. Some schools are wonderful and diverse (yep, like Whitney Young). Others are incredibly segregated- becoming more so every day as more and more wealthy people flock to the "good neighborhood" schools. The selective enrollment process still has a ways to go to encourage more diversity and enrollment from kids from Tiers 1 and 2.
And progressive has nothing to do with location or being white. It's a philosophy of education, and one that most districts (including CPS, except for a couple stand out schools that we couldn't afford because they're in that upper crust layer of neighborhoods) don't espouse. I checked your other posts - Your fiancee/wife has gotten an education degree and a license, so I'm guessing she knows what progressive means, in terms of educational philosophy.
If you have a problem with my wanting a smaller, quieter, liberal town and a progressive school for my kid, shrug. But you're bordering on being a troll when you jump on someone you don't know, whose values you don't understand, and try to pass it off with a bitchy "SWPL".

You've used "liberal" and "progressive" in multiple contexts throughout the thread, so please don't try to play it off by acting like you're only referring to education; it's just sloppy. Really, I don't care where anyone lives or chooses to raise a family, but it's not trolling to point out the hypocrisy of the situation.

[cbsmom]

Sigh. Of course I want a liberal community. Of course I want a progressive school. I've repeated that many times, as you said. Progressive community/school and Evanston or Wilmette are not mutually exclusive. It's ridiculous to claim it's hypocritical.

Feel free to PM if you want to get into a deeper discussion about city neighborhoods, CPS, Evanston, Wilmette, the schools therein, educational philosophy, why someone would want to move out of a big city to a smaller community, diversity or lack thereof in various Chicago neighborhoods and suburbs, etc.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by EffortPoaster

Wants "progressive" and "liberal, tree-huggy, artsy atmosphere" and, just a guess, probably preaches about all the 'AMAZING diversity' that living in Chicago provides, but can't wait to leave the city to go to the whitest of the white UMC+ enclave in all of the Chicagoland area.

At least the "good schools" excuse gives great ammo to the cognitive dissonance. Smh at SWPLs.

There are plenty of practical reasons to leave the City of Chicago that have nothing to do with schools. Living arrangements can be quite challenging for families, the cost of living in safer areas is a challenge, and frankly it's just a hassle getting your kids to and from schools and activities. And then there are just the normal hassles that every resident has to deal with. I thought I loved living in the city after 20 years of "urban life", but now... I don't think I'll ever go back. I guess we'll see how I feel when the kids have left the nest.

Either way, the expectation that everyone stay put in the broken City of Chicago or else be shamed is completely ridiculous. It doesn't work for everyone. If you have kids, it rarely works for anyone.