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Old 09-06-2012, 06:37 PM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,928,817 times
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IMSA is exclusively residential -- students must live on campus.

It is rather unique in that it only allows admission to students beginning 10th grade, so kids are only there three years (sophmore, juniors and seniors).

The main academic facility was originally built as the second campus of West Aurora High School, but the district was persuaded to sell it to the state; West Aurora did not experience the kind of growth in student population they once projected.

Alumni list is interesting -- Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Quote:
Originally Posted by Drover View Post
Is IMSA a boarding school?

A high school friend of mine went to IMSA. He's a prof at MIT now. Slacker.
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Old 09-06-2012, 10:36 PM
 
29 posts, read 38,880 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
The suburb I live-in affords me the opportunity to WALK three blocks to the HEALTH CLUB where I work out with a whole bunch of people, some of whom I know as neighbors and others that might live a town or two away.

I routinely have lunches of top notch homemade style Mexican, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Vietnamese, Phillipino, Indian, Greek, Polish, Bohemian, Italian or other cuisnes in well run resturants and rarely take more than than a few minutes getting their.

As for social life I can walk to a number of spots to catch a beer / watch a game with friends / neighbors. I can (and do) take my wife out to some of the same spots that rotate on my lunch schedule as well nicer spots that have a true Michelin Star in nearby suburb, as well take a quick drive into Chicago for its many fine resturants.

Cultural events are similarly easy to get to inside Chicago but there are also opportunities to see live performances in the nearby suburbs in a range of educational institutions, privatedly funded venues and public facilities.

Perhaps it is only your own blinders that have created the "exile" that troubles you ... I would think that someone that is has experienced the broadening power of selective admissions schools would be more open minded.

Not sure how you measure "energy" but I do not that more places near my sister's place in Lincoln Square do generally stay open later than spots near me. I plead guilty to rarely being out past 1AM on a weeknight.
I don't think I have blinders on. I'm actually pretty new to Chicago. I grew up in the stereotypical cul-de-sac hell kind of suburb, and lived for a long time in a southeast city that might as well have been a suburb for how walkable it was. I've travelled around the country quite a bit. The most tolerable suburb I've ever lived in was Palo Alto, which has a cute little walkable downtown. Evanston is pretty nice too. But these places are just too small! There's a handful of places within walking distance of anywhere you might want to live, and it's the same handful of places all the time. It's the same people all the time.

I think we have different definitions of "quick drive." For me, "quick drive" means a 5 minute cab ride. A cab ride of 10-12 minutes is at the very edge of how far I'm willing to travel anywhere. This gives me a roughly 3-4 mile radius around where I live, and I can literally count on one hand the number of times per year I leave that zone (besides going to the airport).

As for "energy" you measure it by activity. The number of people you can see out your window. The number of new places opening up in your neighborhood. The number of new people you meet just going about your day. The level of energy is exponentially higher in the city.
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Old 09-07-2012, 12:14 AM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,928,817 times
Reputation: 18723
Default Ah that explains things a bit...

Quote:
Originally Posted by chicagolawyer View Post
... I'm actually pretty new to Chicago. I grew up in the stereotypical cul-de-sac hell kind of suburb, ... for "energy" you measure it by activity. The number of people you can see out your window. The number of new places opening up in your neighborhood. The number of new people you meet just going about your day. The level of energy is exponentially higher ...
Yeah, makes sense that you grew up in some place that you didn't like. That is why you left. I think you still have lots of things unresolved / yet to experience.

While the Chicago region does have some suburbs that would fit the "stereotypical cul-de-sac" we are fortunate to have an extensive system of commuter rail that radiates out from the Loop like spokes of a wheel. Our geography is such that many / most of suburbs so arrayed are also quite walkable and really nearly indistinguishable from nicer parts of Chicago.

Back on the energy thing I can guarantee that just living inside MOST parts of Chicago is not really all that different from living in a suburb based on "activity. The number of people you can see out your window. The number of new places opening up in your neighborhood. The number of new people you meet just going about your day." as the vast majority of Chicago is, at best, stable if not declining by most of those measures. In fact even in the hippest parts of Chicago are unlikely to have a ratio of "new people" that rivals the flux in desirable suburbs as measured by the turn over of home owners. The data on homes sales as a percentage of total available units is pretty clear -- homes are selling much better in desirable suburban areas than inside Chicago.

Perhaps as you grow in experience about your new home you'll come appreciate how different it is from where you grew up.
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