Rent in Lincoln Park

[namomof3]

Originally Posted by grapico

I 2nd that...also the areas are plenty hip... for younger people that don't want to be around all the LP non sense.

Hmmm... sounds like us! We are a young family yet value safety above all! I am not looking for good bars-- I rather have good parks~

[linicx_missing_link_DNA]

Moderator error: Message Truncated

[slow_nerve_action]

Originally Posted by namomof3

Thank you I will look into those! I am also looking into Oak Park IL, and Forest Glen, Edgewater neighborhoods. I gotta make a chart I suppose. Safety is my main concern... I know I am not going to get the top-notch schools like Naperville however, that's where parenting comes in and the enrichment cultural learning experience Chicagoland offers is pricesless~

Well, that's why we moved back from the burbs into the city. Safety was our main concern too, and Lincoln Square has the lowest violennt crime rate in the city.

You'll be surprised at the quality of some of the CPS elementary schools nowadays.

Oak Park is good in theory. Its just that rental authority " strongly suggests" where you should move.

[Jandur]

Originally Posted by namomof3

Hmmm... sounds like us! We are a young family yet value safety above all! I am not looking for good bars-- I rather have good parks~

I'll disagree somewhat with the whole "LP is nothing but loud college kids" stereotype. If you live near DePaul thats more likely to happen, but if you are a family with solid income, and live in a decent building you're pricing out most college student neighbors. My building has recent grads, "yuppies" and families with 1-2 kids. It's not loud at all.

Lincoln Park is pretty diverse, at least in my neck of the woods near clark/diversey. Old people, families, college students, whatever.

[slow_nerve_action]

Originally Posted by Jandur

I'll disagree somewhat with the whole "LP is nothing but loud college kids" stereotype. If you live near DePaul thats more likely to happen, but if you are a family with solid income, and live in a decent building you're pricing out most college student neighbors. My building has recent grads, "yuppies" and families with 1-2 kids. It's not loud at all.

Lincoln Park is pretty diverse, at least in my neck of the woods near clark/diversey. Old people, families, college students, whatever.

Very true...if you own your place, or if you have a one or two bedroom place. Renting a larger unit is a crapshoot....especially for a three or four bedroom unit buildings. Those units are usually shared by folks just out of school whose lifestyles might not meld well with a young family.

I'll agree with you on one part, though. As a DePaul alum who spent four years living in some of the finest dives of Lincoln Park, I can say usually its not the DePaul students that are the loudest, but those recently out of school, and had moved to the city. Off campus DePaul parties are often in the RP or Roscoe Village, where the space is a bit more, and the cops a bit more leniant.

[WhaThe]

If you have not been in the city in a long time, do not restrict yourself to LP.

Wow, those two words. Lincoln Park. Right after Chicago and South Side. It's like the whole world knows them and thats the whole of Chicago.

[uptown_urbanist]

We'd initially focused on other neighborhoods (and will continue to investigate those, too), but we're a family with a preschooler considering Lincoln Park; initially the posts on the "drunk college kid and/or recent graduates" vibe scared me, so I'd like to hear a few more opinions on that -- are there specific areas we should be looking at or avoiding? My main reason so far for looking more closely at LP is because I like (on paper, anyway) the sound of Oscar Mayer School's Montessori program, and the fact that it's guaranteed admission for neighborhood kids. I admittedly have a lot of research to do (and luckily we have some time before our move, and will probably live in short-term housing for a few weeks while checking out different neighborhoods), but the goal is to move once, ideally somewhere with a decent neighborhood school (in a dream world Montessori, although I've seen the odds of getting into one of the Chicago magnet Montessori programs -- hence the move to the neighborhood with the guaranteed admission option for when we need it!)

So... to piggyback on this post, if a family IS considering Lincoln Park and is interested in Mayer specifically, any advice or feedback? Does anyone have experience with the school? And what happens if a neighborhood school has too many applicants from the "guaranteed" area? Is it really a safe thing to assume that if we like the neighborhood school (in LP or in any other neighborhood) that we really will get a spot?

[slow_nerve_action]

Originally Posted by uptown_urbanist

So... to piggyback on this post, if a family IS considering Lincoln Park and is interested in Mayer specifically, any advice or feedback? Does anyone have experience with the school? And what happens if a neighborhood school has too many applicants from the "guaranteed" area? Is it really a safe thing to assume that if we like the neighborhood school (in LP or in any other neighborhood) that we really will get a spot?

NOTHING is guaranteed with the Chicago Public School system, especially when it comes with magnets and lotteries.

Here's a good resource:
CPS Obsessed

A good start on some of the silliness:
New fast tract to CPS top-flight schools? :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Education (http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/2007536,CST-NWS-skuls24.article - broken link)

and more:
Catalyst Notebook :: Audit of Chicago selective and magnet school admissions finds lax oversight, sparks curb of principal power

We just went through the same CPS school hunt this spring, and were more impressed with Lincoln than Meyer. The neighborhood around Lincoln would be slightly more family friendly, as Meyer is close to DePaul, and west of Halsted is more of the "fresh out of college" housing", though some quiet streets exist around Southport.

The best "neighborhood school", where your kid gets a good education, and you don't have to go through this selection silliness looked to be Bell in the North Center neighborhood.

[uptown_urbanist]

Thanks for the feedback and resources; I'll look into all of that. I have a lot of research to do, but figure it's worth trying to put in as much as possible BEFORE we move; we're trying to get that right blend of neighborhood we like AND a school we like, and it is, frankly, a bit overwhelming.