UIC-Family of 4 housing (Chicago, Cicero, Berwyn: for sale, apartment, rent)

[clydetheglyde]

Hello all,

My family and I will be moving to Chicago this summer as my wife will be undergoing dental residency for two years. I have two children (ages 3 and 4.5). My eldest will begin kindergarten and my youngest is in preschool. We are looking for a 3 bedroom place.

My priority is safety and a good school for my eldest. My wife will have a car however she has no problem taking the L train to UIC on daily basis. We would like to live in a nice area, budget for rent is about 3-4.5k/monthly. We prefer not to live in an apartment.

Any and all insight is much appreciated!

[MSchemist80]

I wouldn't want to send my kids to CPS so the city is out. In terms of suburbs with good schools you are probably looking at Elmhurst which is a commute straight down I-290 to UIC. That can be pretty miserable most of the day but whatever. The alternative is to take the Metra to OTC downtown and take a bus or shuttle several miles w/sw to UIC's west campus.

UIC's professional campus is served by the pink line. That line just goes to Cicero which isn't a great suburb. You could find a place in Oak Park and she could take the green and transfer to the pink. I would be hesitant having a woman riding the green line through the west side and transferring at Ashland. There have been increasing incidents on CTA trains and platforms.

[balefire]

Agree with above.
Unfortunately the CPS magnet school exam and app deadline has passed.
Live downtown and goto private catholic.
Live in Metra suburb and drive despite traffic with Metra and Uber as backup.
Many colleagues live in Hinsdale and work at UIC with this plan.

[ToriaT]

Berwyn- buy a house very close to Cermak road. There are a couple for sale now. Take the Cermak bus to the Cicero Pink line, which is safer than other lines and goes directly to medical complex. Put kids in Catholic or private schools. There are also montessori schools in Berwyn and Oak Park. After your wife completes dental residency you can evaluate whether to stay there or to move. You will probably be able to sell your building for a profit. Then you can move anywhere but you could go to Riverside or Oak Park, Elmhurst or beyond. Of course you could also rent an apartment in a two flat building and you would have more than enough room.

[Don Cuccino]

The number of quality grade schools in Chicago has improved significantly in the past 8 years. I know this from personal experience. 10 years ago it was slim pickings. Now it's a lot different. Unless if you've had your kid in CPS recently you wouldn't know this. For your budget there's a lot of places you can live. West Loop, Little Italy, Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village, Lakeview. If you want to research a particular neighborhood school look at this website. This will give you a lot of info and you can see that many have been improving in the past 8 years.
https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/Default.aspx

Some nice suburbs I'd recommend would be Riverside, Lagrange, Oak Park. Anything further and your commute is going to be a royal pain, especially in the winter