Moving back to Chicago (for good) (Lincoln, Washington: to rent, new home, neighborhoods)

[FAReastcoast]

Ok, so this is sort of another "what neighborhood should I live in thread";
But here is my situation....

Born and raised New Yorker (from Washington heights, manhattan) lived in Chicago for a little over a year in 2011-2012, met a girl in Chicago, we moved back to NYC (west village), the now wife wants to move back to Chicago.....for good.

I've moved around a lot over the past 8 years, and now want something more stable. I know Chicago well from a high rise / bachelor point of view, but less so as a married man who needs a house. No kids now, nor guaranteed in the future, but want the option so schools are a factor, other requirements are:

Parking for 3 cars
Urban neighborhood, but quiet residential streets
Stable, I don't want to be an urban pioneer
EL access is preferred, but not a requirement (mostly for resale)
Again, good schools

Basically, where are young families moving? My friends in Chicago mention southport corridor, but I'm not l that familiar with the area. I'm heading out to Chicago on Saturday to start the house hunting (my realtor is sending listing pretty much everywhere, just want an idea on specific hoods to narrow down .

Sorry if this is sloppy, I'm typing on my phone.

Thanks

[chet everett]

Budget ?

Btw "parking for three cars"??? What the ? http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documen...tive-money-pit

[FAReastcoast]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Budget ?

Btw "parking for three cars"??? What the ? Seinfeld's Automotive Money Pit | The Smoking Gun

My wife and I both plan on buying cars, and I have a "fun car" that I take out to the track on occasion.

I realize 3 car garages are rare in the city, but I can store my weekend car, so a 2 car garage would work. Want to avoid street parking.

Fwiw, I lived at roughly state/Goethe when I was in Chicago

[marothisu]

Yeah, what is your budget for this? The 3 cars thing is a little ...yeah. Sounds like you need to rent out a single family home, am I right? You may find it interesting, but a lot of new homes are being built in Bridgeport because there's actually a number of vacant lots there, and also some areas of West Town like around UK Village (both tear downs and on vacant lots). Another area of town with el access and families, single family homes but some sort of urbanity is Irving Park (on the blue line).

[FAReastcoast]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Yeah, what is your budget for this? The 3 cars thing is a little ...yeah. Sounds like you need to rent out a single family home, am I right? You may find it interesting, but a lot of new homes are being built in Bridgeport because there's actually a number of vacant lots there, and also some areas of West Town like around UK Village (both tear downs and on vacant lots). Another area of town with el access and families, single family homes but some sort of urbanity is Irving Park (on the blue line).

We are looking to buy, not rent. Irving Park seems a little far from downtown, we are both 31 and want to have easy access to downtown and I'm not sure i could convince the wife to live in Bridgeport.

Budget varies based on neighborhood, and square footage we decide we need. A safe bet would be in the $1.7-2M range.

[FAReastcoast]

I guess my initial instincts tell me Lincoln Park, but I am looking to see where else might be worth looking in to. Not sure how family friendly wicker park or old town would be, as those were the other two neighborhoods I was thinking about...

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by FAReastcoast

We are looking to buy, not rent. Irving Park seems a little far from downtown, we are both 31 and want to have easy access to downtown and I'm not sure i could convince the wife to live in Bridgeport.

Budget varies based on neighborhood, and square footage we decide we need. A safe bet would be in the $1.7-2M range.

Okay, so basically money is no issue to you if that's your budget. How about something like Roscoe Village off the Brown Line? Lot of families there and you can definitely find a good place in your budget there. I know a few people who own homes in Roscoe Village and are of the type where money is basically no issue. They could live anywhere in the world basically. The good thing about Roscoe Village though is there's a lot of decent to good food places and bars in the area, but it's still quiet. It's a good balance in some areas IMO. The ride from there to the Loop might be around 20-25 minutes.

There's some good primary schools on the north side for sure. You have already identified Lakeview as well and they are mixed in there too.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by FAReastcoast

I guess my initial instincts tell me Lincoln Park, but I am looking to see where else might be worth looking in to. Not sure how family friendly wicker park or old town would be, as those were the other two neighborhoods I was thinking about...

Lincoln Park is good too. Wicker Park can be family friendly actually, though I'm not sure how good the schools are over there. There's actually more SFH being built in UK Village to the south than Wicker Park right now.

I actually mined data from the City of Chicago on New Construction Building Permits. If you take a look at this, the Blue markers are Single Family Homes. You can see which parts of town people are building a lot in. There's multiple pages of this too, so on the left hand pane, you'll have to go to the bottom to other pages to view more. This is from November 1, 2012 until just a few days ago. The most action for SFH is basically Bridgeport, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Roscoe Village, UK Village, and parts of Humboldt Park near Logan Square

http://goo.gl/maps/WdjLB

[FAReastcoast]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Okay, so basically money is no issue to you if that's your budget. How about something like Roscoe Village off the Brown Line? Lot of families there and you can definitely find a good place in your budget there. I know a few people who own homes in Roscoe Village and are of the type where money is basically no issue. They could live anywhere in the world basically. The good thing about Roscoe Village though is there's a lot of decent to good food places and bars in the area, but it's still quiet. It's a good balance in some areas IMO. The ride from there to the Loop might be around 20-25 minutes.

There's some good primary schools on the north side for sure. You have already identified Lakeview as well and they are mixed in there too.

Well money is always an issue, but, anyway....I am not that familiar with Roscoe village, but is there a bit of action going on there? We def don't want something too sleepy, though we don't want frat boy central either. Something similar to West Village/Chelsea would be our ideal.

[FAReastcoast]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Lincoln Park is good too. Wicker Park can be family friendly actually, though I'm not sure how good the schools are over there. There's actually more SFH being built in UK Village to the south than Wicker Park right now.

I actually mined data from the City of Chicago on New Construction Building Permits. If you take a look at this, the Blue markers are Single Family Homes. You can see which parts of town people are building a lot in. There's multiple pages of this too, so on the left hand pane, you'll have to go to the bottom to other pages to view more. This is from November 1, 2012 until just a few days ago. The most action for SFH is basically Bridgeport, Lakeview, Lincoln Park, Roscoe Village, UK Village, and parts of Humboldt Park near Logan Square

http://goo.gl/maps/WdjLB

Good link. Thanks.