moving to Chicago - where to live

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by bella84

For the most part, I agree with what you've said. However, there are other good neighborhood CPS schools, particularly on the northwest side of the city. They are not in located in trendy, urban neighborhoods, so the rents are more affordable than some of the others that happen to be in those trendy, urban neighborhoods.

...no real advantage to living way out on the NW side compared to a decent suburb like Brookfield...

The OP probably has 6 weeks or so to get settled in and with a 6 yr old it makes a HUGE difference to start out in the right school. I would strongly endorse them considering something like the option I linked to. Brookfield could be a very smart option. It is easy commute via Metra or even driving to get to Chinatown, pretty straightforward get to from either Midway or O'Hare, has a really lovely zoo for family fun, many interesting restaurants and nightspots near by, good schools, nice mix of families. I generally think the NW side of Chicago is OK too, but the hoops one has to jump through to determine what schools are acceptable and which are abysmal is too much to accomplish in the brief time the OP has...

[linicx]

There is also a Chicago Water Taxi from downtown to Chinatown, too. Although many use it as work transpiration, it will probably be more fun to take the whole family with you. It is cheap enough. The cost of parking in Chicago is shocking at times.

[linicx]

The biggest problem they will encounter is the traffic from home to work, and the drive time in foul weather.

So what are the names of these decent 'hoods in Chicago with good schools you speak of, and where are they located in relation to Chinatown? You are giving a person not familiar with Chicago or its many neighborhoods vague information.

[bella84]

I don't know tha names of all the neighborhoods specifically, some but not all. I was mostly trying to point out that good CPS schools do exist and caution the OP against believing the myth that CPS as a whole is all bad. If anyone would like to look for schools, you can use this search tool: CPS : Elementary schools : Elementary Schools. A Level 1+ rating is the highest rating a school can get (it means it's good, based on the data, if data is what you use to define good). Here is an explanation of the rating system: http://cps.edu/Performance/Documents...iefingDeck.ppt. After finding good schools, one could presumably figure out the name of the neighborhood it is in.

[nana053]

Too many schools to look through. How many are not zoned, but tested into? Better to find the neighborhood and then look up the particular schools in that neighborhood.

Much easier to live in a suburb with good schools and know your child gets into the neighborhood school.

[bella84]

Originally Posted by nana053

Much easier to live in a suburb with good schools and know your child gets into the neighborhood school.

Sure, if easy is what you're looking for. I'd much rather live where I want to live (which, for me, is not the suburbs) than live somewhere I personally consider unpleasant just because it's easy. In this case, it's for the OP to decide based on his/her preferences.

The search tool I provided a link to can be sorted by level. So, you can look at all of the Level 1 or Level 1+ schools grouped together. It also states under the heading "type" if it is a neighborhood school, magnet school, regional gifted center, charter, etc. Neighborhood schools accept anyone from the neighborhood, no testing required. A quick count shows about 90 neighborhood schools with a Level 1+ rating. Plenty of options for those who may not test into a particular school requiring it.

[nana053]

That is a good tool. He could put in his work address, give a radius of 3 to 4 miles, say and a rating of 1 or 1+ and neighborhood schools and see what schools come up. Then I guess he could see about rents in the areas around those schools. Still with a 6 year old, it depends on what kind of neighborhood he is looking for as well.