City vs suburbs living (Chicago, Naperville: big house, public schools, college)

[BleedCubbieBlue]

The suburban life is old news. It's for the old timers that though the american dream meant moving out to burbs to raise kids. F that. I'm 30 years old, married and planning to start having kids in about 4 years. And guess what? I'm planning on staying in the city forever. The suburbs are just not that appealing anymore. There are plenty of safe neighborhoods in the city with great amenities for families. What about the schools you ask? Hopefully my kids can test into the magnet schools in the city. If not, i can always find a catholic school for K-8 and then send them to a Magnet high school. I went to Whitney Young and it was a great experience having friends of all nationalities and skin colors. Being a minority, i dont want to end up in a suburban school system where 95% of kids are white. Thats not the reality of the world. So yeah suburbs are OLD SCHOOL. Aint nobody got time for that.

[holl1ngsworth]

Lolz. Wat? Suburban school systems are 95% white?

[MassVt]

In 21st century America, NO school system wil be 95% white.

After a certain age, the importance of nightlife fades a bit. A place like Naperville is certainly big enough to have decent attractions like good restaurants, whcih will satisfy the needs of most people. And you certainly don't need to go to the big city to enjoy a good meal.

[chet everett]

As some one who taught in CPS and still has friends that work in the system the attitudes of "BleedCubbieBlue" are out of step with the currently realtities of the financial mess that years of kicking the can down the road have built up.

The operational costs of CPS are now facing DEFICITS of approximatelly ONE BILLION DOLLARS, while large portions of this are due to YEARS of failing to make required pension payments signficant portions of the red ink are not going to go away without MASSIVE increases in property tax AND major cuts to the services the schools deliver. The foolish decision to forego some payments has really snowballed with the poor economy and the subsequent hole in the pension funds right when the recovering investment markets could have booasted the solvency of these funds instead the fools that try to trick people have made the hole deeper. There are already many schools in even respectable parts of the city that are so overcrowded they no longer offer anything beyond the required minimums. Things are only ging to get worse.
How Did Chicago's Schools Get in Such A huge Hole? | Chicago Magazine


Folks need to pull their heads out of the 90s mindset too -- Chicago Archdiocese is closing schools, the lack of support they are experiencing is something that part of long term anti-religous trend Chicago archdiocese slated to close schools – Vidette Online

[BleedCubbieBlue]

Originally Posted by chet everett

As some one who taught in CPS and still has friends that work in the system the attitudes of "BleedCubbieBlue" are out of step with the currently realtities of the financial mess that years of kicking the can down the road have built up.

The operational costs of CPS are now facing DEFICITS of approximatelly ONE BILLION DOLLARS, while large portions of this are due to YEARS of failing to make required pension payments signficant portions of the red ink are not going to go away without MASSIVE increases in property tax AND major cuts to the services the schools deliver. The foolish decision to forego some payments has really snowballed with the poor economy and the subsequent hole in the pension funds right when the recovering investment markets could have booasted the solvency of these funds instead the fools that try to trick people have made the hole deeper. There are already many schools in even respectable parts of the city that are so overcrowded they no longer offer anything beyond the required minimums. Things are only ging to get worse.
How Did Chicago's Schools Get in Such A huge Hole? | Chicago Magazine


Folks need to pull their heads out of the 90s mindset too -- Chicago Archdiocese is closing schools, the lack of support they are experiencing is something that part of long term anti-religous trend Chicago archdiocese slated to close schools – Vidette Online

So you're telling me kids cant get a quality education at Walter Payton? Northside Prep? Whitney Young? I never said i'd send my kids to a neighborhood school. And for K-8 you're telling me Newberry, LaSalle, or STEM schools arent good?

[chet everett]

No, I said that the hole that has been dug by legislators that allowed CPS to partially suspend pension payments has created a deficiet of such enormous proportions that it is already hurting some schools even in nice areas. It is further true that the crunch that the Chicago archdiocese is in forces it to close schools thus removing another option.

I have no doubt that TODAY in 2014 it is still possible for a student entering 9th grade at Payton or Northside to do well enough to have a shot at nearly any college. I have less confidence that those same opportunities will exist in for a child even entering 7th grade at Whitney Young.

If instead the child was begining kindergarten or first grade at Poe or McDade I would have even more concerns about those programs suffering cutbacks over the coming 6-7 years before that child were to enter a "prep" or middle school Option and for anyone that does not yet have kids and is probably nearly a decade away from enrolling their kids I would have truly grave concerns that CPS (and for that matter the City of Chicago ...) will face true default on their debts and court ordered recievership that will make draconian changes.

This is not mere "fiction", this is playing out in neighboring states -- Hail Mary? Robert Bobb details latest 'draconian' deficit plan | MLive.com Continue to put your head in the sand and say "but it worked for me" and ignore the facts that once Chicago had a manufacturing base that has largely departed, once we had local ownership of important businesses that increasingly does not exist, once we had some glimmer of honesty from our polticians where now we have only a "shell game"...

Look, even smarter more "civic minded" people have looked at this problem and tried to "sound the alarm" but for whatever reason folks that could be working to make changes to the poltical structure prefer to "chill" as the city the claim to live is swirling the spiral of doom -- Groups blast CPS budget as 'shortsighted,' based on gimmicks | SunTimes.com

[BleedCubbieBlue]

Originally Posted by chet everett

No, I said that the hole that has been dug by legislators that allowed CPS to partially suspend pension payments has created a deficiet of such enormous proportions that it is already hurting some schools even in nice areas. It is further true that the crunch that the Chicago archdiocese is in forces it to close schools thus removing another option.

I have no doubt that TODAY in 2014 it is still possible for a student entering 9th grade at Payton or Northside to do well enough to have a shot at nearly any college. I have less confidence that those same opportunities will exist in for a child even entering 7th grade at Whitney Young.

If instead the child was begining kindergarten or first grade at Poe or McDade I would have even more concerns about those programs suffering cutbacks over the coming 6-7 years before that child were to enter a "prep" or middle school Option and for anyone that does not yet have kids and is probably nearly a decade away from enrolling their kids I would have truly grave concerns that CPS (and for that matter the City of Chicago ...) will face true default on their debts and court ordered recievership that will make draconian changes.

This is not mere "fiction", this is playing out in neighboring states -- Hail Mary? Robert Bobb details latest 'draconian' deficit plan | MLive.com Continue to put your head in the sand and say "but it worked for me" and ignore the facts that once Chicago had a manufacturing base that has largely departed, once we had local ownership of important businesses that increasingly does not exist, once we had some glimmer of honesty from our polticians where now we have only a "shell game"...

Look, even smarter more "civic minded" people have looked at this problem and tried to "sound the alarm" but for whatever reason folks that could be working to make changes to the poltical structure prefer to "chill" as the city the claim to live is swirling the spiral of doom -- Groups blast CPS budget as 'shortsighted,' based on gimmicks | SunTimes.com

Meh. Peace out. going to lollapalooza now. Goodnight Chet.

[MassVt]

Originally Posted by BleedCubbieBlue

Meh. Peace out. going to lollapalooza now. Goodnight Chet.

Good night, David.

Takes me back to the '60s...

[Ace Rothstein]

Originally Posted by BleedCubbieBlue

So you're telling me kids cant get a quality education at Walter Payton? Northside Prep? Whitney Young? I never said i'd send my kids to a neighborhood school. And for K-8 you're telling me Newberry, LaSalle, or STEM schools arent good?

Those schools are VERY difficult to get into.

[chiMT]

Suburbs generally offer a more peaceful environment with more "space" for living and development. Cities offer more activity and variety.

Of course, one person's peace can be another person's boredom. I moved to the city because I was very bored of suburb life. But after living in Chicago for several years I can see that one day when I have a family, a suburb may be more appealing.

There's nothing saying you can't still go into the city whenever you have free time. Instead of being in the midst of the hustle and bustle, you can choose to go visit the city when you feel like it. I feel like, once I got what I wanted from the city life, that will be a nice option.

I must say that I'd rather live in the Chicago city my whole life than a suburb in the middle of nowhere (as opposed to nearby a large city). The Chicago suburbs are cool like that.