Single mother moving to Chicago (Niles, Flossmoor: rent, neighborhood, school districts)

[NilesoR]

Single mother of two children(7th grader and a preK) moving to chicago for a position at Jackson park Hospital. kindly share your insights about the surrouding area and where would be the closest good community to raise children
thank you

[4122]

What's your budget?

[NilesoR]

I havent really thought of that, would that be a deal breaker?
I want just need help figuring out a safe community and good schools first.

[marothisu]

The surrounding areas to that hospital aren't that great. I mean it could be worse but definitely better areas of town. You should definitely consider your budget - nearest good area of town is Hyde Park which is where the U of Chicago is. There are others further away - depends on what you want your commute to be and your budget.

[NilesoR]

I would place our rent budget between $1100-$1500. Never lived in a big city before, so quite nervous and tempted to find a suburb to "hide" if not for the horror stories I heard about traffic and parking, hoping to avoid all that by living within the city so we wouldn't need a car.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by NilesoR

I would place our rent budget between $1100-$1500. Never lived in a big city before, so quite nervous and tempted to find a suburb to "hide" if not for the horror stories I heard about traffic and parking, hoping to avoid all that by living within the city so we wouldn't need a car.

Chicago is a little different in that it has a big public transit system, so it's not like you have to drive everywhere if you don't want. Parking and traffic completely depends on the area you're in. For parking, you may get a place with a spot/garage or you may have to park on the streets. The traffic on the expressways on the south side near that hospital is actually not bad at all. I've never seen it busy like it is on the north side. From my experience, the roads on the south side aren't too bad with traffic for the most part.

As far as your budget goes, $1100-$1500/month for a 2 bdrm or 3 bdrm? If your budget can't fit you into a neighborhood you want, then yes suburbs are an option too as long as it's within your commute time. If you're talking about 2 bedroom though, you can find that in Hyde Park. Schools are another thing - the neighborhood is pretty scholarly considering U of Chicago is one of the top 5 or 7 colleges/universities in the US, but who knows about the K-12 schools. The neighborhood is safe too, though surrounded by some sketchy areas (though Kenwood to the north near the lake is pretty nice too and where Obama lives when not in the White House). Some of the surroundings areas are getting a little better lately, though still not amazing.

Anyway, here's some listings in Hyde Park:
* http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/52...03950029_zpid/
* http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/51...03949648_zpid/
* http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/52...zpid/?view=map
* http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/13...zpid/?view=map

The last 3 are close to an avenue which has a bus that will take you down to the hospital in case you didn't want to drive. The area is good though with the university there. A lot of different things to do through that. There's some restaurants and bars and stuff, but the area is pretty tame compared to other areas of the city, but it's still not completely boring. The area is one of the more racially diverse areas of the city too.

[nana053]

But with a 7th grader in school, I don't know that you want to live in the city. The schools are just not that great for that age.

[4122]

You can find much better school districts in the suburbs and there are a lot of suburbs that are cheaper than the city and have good schools.

[chet everett]

I am not the biggest fan of Flossmoor but it a much better value than Hyde Park and the school situation is much easier to deal with.

It is not a bad commute to Hyde Park and Metra is a solid option.

With kids as old as 7th grade very risky to move into CPS...

[marothisu]

^ Jackson Park Hospital is in South Shore so it's nearer than you think to Floosmoor. However, that's still 20 miles each way.