Neighorhood around Schurz High School (Milwaukee and Addison)

[sipes23]

Originally Posted by jonnynonos

My question was directed more to people who maintain that even some parts of the NW side are strongholds of middle class or non-elderly Polish neighborhoods. If it's true where do the kids go to school?
...
But I could be wrong and am interested if there is a much stronger, and affordable, Catholic school presence than I'm aware of.

Some of the neighborhood schools are pretty good in Jefferson Park. The elementary schools are educationally solid (Farnsworth and Hitch are the ones I know about, but Onahan is also supposed to be good). Taft is supposed to be good, though quite a bit over capacity. Decent enough that I sent my daughter to Farnsworth. Are the perfect? No, but they're far from the disaster that the news would lead you to believe.

I'm not sure that the Catholic schools are a healthy as all that though. I could be wrong, but I hear that there are some consolidations coming up.

Originally Posted by NOLA101

To me it's the worst of both worlds. Not really urban, but without the advantages of the suburbs. You need a car, there's no street life, you can't walk to cool stuff, yet the schools stink and it looks suburban.

Why not just move to some random suburb like Morton Grove and get all the advantages of such an area, without the drawbacks? My theory is that these "in between" neighborhoods survive solely because of the city worker residency rules.

As someone who moved to the JP from the 'burbs, I feel the other way around. There's just enough density and diversity to make the neighborhood interesting, but the streets are quiet enough for the kids to cross on their own (well, obviously not the majors). I've got a car available, but I can get away without it. I'm near enough to the blue line that I can walk to it, but not so close that I've got to deal with the urban outdoorsman the instant I leave the house.

For me, it's the best of both worlds. Sadly, I'm leaving. I love living in Jefferson Park. Your mileage may vary.

[jonnynonos]

Taft is the only non selective school you could make an argument for but it only serves Jefferson Park and a few of the northern, smaller neighborhoods, not Portage Park, Dunning, etc.

[UrbanCheetah]

Originally Posted by jonnynonos

Taft is the only non selective school you could make an argument for but it only serves Jefferson Park and a few of the northern, smaller neighborhoods, not Portage Park, Dunning, etc.

Portage Park is a mixed bag for elementary, you have some that are poor quality, mediocre and good. High schools, again that is not NWside issue more of a city wide problem IMO.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by CWPP

It's only been a year but we see no evidence of "decline." . . .

If one year is the yardstick you're using, perhaps you should know there's already been more people shot in Portage Park this year than all of last year.

Originally Posted by UrbanCheetah

Portage Park is a mixed bag for elementary, you have some that are poor quality, mediocre and good. High schools, again that is not NWside issue more of a city wide problem IMO.

Which are the "good" schools in Portage Park?

[NealIRC]

Originally Posted by sipes23

As someone who moved to the JP from the 'burbs, I feel the other way around. There's just enough density and diversity to make the neighborhood interesting, but the streets are quiet enough for the kids to cross on their own

I agree. Jeff Park is a safe neighorhood for kids to run around.

But some years ago, Chicago put a curfew for minors, and even switched back an hour for up to 16 year-olds. Why? Because.. of Englewood. Suppose Englewood deserved a curfew, due to drive-by shootings and people recruiting kids into gangs or to sell drugs, or to buy them.

Which I argue is unfair for Jeff Park, and because of Englewood, the "whole city" has to have the new curfew laws.

Does anybody know how the Jeff Park aldermens felt?

I honestly thought why not give Englewood and such neighborhoods the new curfew laws, rather than have to effect the whole city. And of course, certain people would argue it's not fair.

At the same time, it's not fair if the entire United States have to have a curfew due to some bad areas in some states.

Aren't there anybody in Jeff Park trying to fight the curfew laws? Or at least when they tried to put it in effect.

[Drover]

I don't think I've ever lived in any city or town that didn't have a curfew for minors, or at least those under 16 or so.

[ninjamyst]

We are actually looking at Jeff Park now by the CTA bus garage on Elston. I grew up in Edgebrook and would love to move back to Central / Devon area but most of the houses there are old and expensive.

[glassy]

Originally Posted by CWPP

My partner and I bought a house in Portage Park about a year ago. We are decidedly urban people; no suburb (save maybe Oak Park) would really be an option for us. At the same time, we're not really interested in the expensive, aggressively yuppified neighborhoods closer to the lake (we don't have much in common with Chad and Trixie). Finally, we wanted a single family home (a condo was not an option--everything bad about renting with the added bonus of a busybody condo board). We rented for years in Logan Square and Avondale and would have loved to put down roots there, but LS has become totally unaffordable and everything in our price range in Avondale was (often literally) uninhabitable.

So, Portage Park. We got an affordable brick bungalow in great shape, with way more space than the two of us need. Nightlife is negligible but as we enter middle age that becomes less and less important. It is urban enough for us in that we can easily access public transit and walk to amenities like the deli and dry cleaners rather than drive. We can also walk to a few restaurants (The Portage, Leadbelly, Llegno) and coffee shops (Perkolator, Portage Grounds, Mia's) as well as the park itself. We have one car but it stays parked all week and gets used mainly for groceries. We don't have kids but I understand that a few elementary schools nearby are highly rated. I think that's a draw for young families who may still bug out or choose Catholic schools once the kids are old enough to attend Schurz.

It's only been a year but we see no evidence of "decline." I think the empty storefronts around here are due to the fact that it used to be a shopping destination for people outside the neighborhood, which changed with the development of all the shopping centers out in Norridge. The neighborhood is just too low-density to support the amount of older retail space available. There are Polish folks old and young, as well as many young Latino families. There also appears to be an increasing number people like us--professional folks who want a single family home in the city and can't afford a $1M house in North Center or Lincoln Square.

So far, so good. Some compromises (Mainly distance to downtown--my bike commute is 10 miles, but I'm in better shape now as a result) but certainly not the worst of both worlds. In many ways, it is just the opposite.

I have had the same experience in Portage Park. We moved here to have a SFH that is not in the suburbs (24 hour public transportation is important to us). Sure the density of restaurants/bars/shops is nowhere close to other neighborhoods, but we have several favorites we can walk to and they are consequently never so full of hipsters/bros that you can't move. We are craft beer nuts and one of the best draft lists in the city is walkable. Not to mention Lake Effect and Breakroom right on a straight crawl on Montrose. I see signs of minor gentrification with Leadbelly, Perkolator, and Community Tavern. I hope it never gets gentrified like Wicker Park/Logan Square. I like the people I meet in the bars and restaurants. Generally speaking they are down to earth and friendly. We have been warmly welcomed everywhere, and as a gay couple we were a little leery at first.