Why there aren't any condos for middle class families?

[Vlajos]

Where did the OP go?

[andrewesque]

Originally Posted by FlyiMetro

Why is it that people assume the suburbs is where all the GOOD SCHOOLS are, like all the schools in the core are Eastside High with no Mr Clark?? Many factors go into creating and maintaining a good school.

I didn't say that all the good schools are in the suburbs, only that they were likely to be in the suburbs. I agree 100% that a lot goes into maintaining a good school. But from the point of view of a family/parent, the most important initial thing is identifying which schools these are and how to enroll in them, and in most cases this is a way easier prospect in the suburbs than in the city.

Almost all large American school systems (Chicago, NY, LA, Boston, etc.) have byzantine enrollment procedures. Eg, gifted schools have complex enrollment procedures, your "neighborhood school" may be nothing of the sort (i.e. there is no zoned school whatsoever), testing right and left, magnet/charter schools have totally different rules, etc. The answer from jeanmari on this Ask MetaFilter thread gives you an idea of the difficulty involved for just elementary school.

Compare this to the suburbs, where small school districts and typically homogeneous socioeconomics mean it's easy to identify good schools. Enrollment is easy: go to the school office, bam, your kid is in and you're good to age 18.

I would love for large American cities to have excellent public school systems; I think it would do a lot to revive our central cities. But it's idealistic to imagine that all parents are willing to go through the rigmarole of enrolling in city schools. There are good ones, there are excellent ones: it just takes a lot of work to identify them, and for many middle-class families the easiest solution is to just move to the suburbs and enroll in your local New Trier or Hinsdale or whatever you have.

[Larry Siegel]

(Originally Posted by FlyiMetro) Good question. Urban core condos are often marketed to the young rich crowd. Affordable Condos would be great for Chicago. I know the high prices are to keep the ghetto people out, but the middle class normal people can not afford them either.

Originally Posted by jsk1983

Aren't the high prices a result of market forces?

JSK, you *cannot* debate someone who is this poorly informed.

Chicago condos are among the most affordable in the country (compared to other large cities). Yes, the price, whatever it is, is the result of market forces.

[sydbarrett]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Where did the OP go?

Out trolling some other website most likely.