Anyone grow up in the city/raising teens in the ciy (Chicago: upper-class, appointed)

[King Harold]

Chicago is a lot different than Manhattan and Sydney imo. (I lived in Manhattan for 5 years, and my sis lives in Melbourne so I've spent about 2 weeks in Sydney on trips to australia)

I don't think thee are many places to compare it to but I'd say growing up in Chicago would be most like growing up in Brooklyn or maybe even Queens. IDK for sure because I didn't grow up in Chicago. I've spent a lot of time there though.

[EffortPoaster]

Originally Posted by King Harold

Chicago is a lot different than Manhattan and Sydney imo. (I lived in Manhattan for 5 years, and my sis lives in Melbourne so I've spent about 2 weeks in Sydney on trips to australia)

I don't think thee are many places to compare it to but I'd say growing up in Chicago would be most like growing up in Brooklyn or maybe even Queens. IDK for sure because I didn't grow up in Chicago. I've spent a lot of time there though.

As someone who grew up in the city I can safely say that you're wife's experience is much more indicative of her personality rather than a typical city experience. I went to a high school that pulled kids from every inch of the city, and I knew tons of kids who were constantly out and about.

[UrbanCheetah]

Originally Posted by Surf123

Did anyone here grow up in the city/are raising a teenager in the city? Can you tell me about your experiences in regards to safety concerns? I am thinking about buying a home in Evanston which I know a little bit about but not a lot as i haven't spent a ton of time there. I have 2 children and I'm having a hard time deciding if this is the best thing for them or if I'm doing this more for myself. You see I love city amenities and feel that Evanston offers what I want. From what I see the high school there is good as well (I cannot afford private schools). However I am a paranoid person (due to other personal experiences in the past) and am concerned about my children's safety (as every parent is but again I tend to think the worst many times) - particularly when they become teenagers. I personally feel safe in the city and have street smarts but am wondering if maybe I'm putting my children at risk of who knows what. At a certain age you can't control every single move your child makes but I want to feel good when my child is out and about. I understand anything can happen anywhere but I feel like it seems more likely in more urban areas and wonder if teenagers are mature enough to react should trouble seek them. I'm Interested in someone sharing their experiences as a teenager themselves in the city or as someone who has raised a teenager in the city. Any advice on the matter would also be appreciated.

First, Evanston is a suburb. While I appreciate you asking these questions, and it's great that you are informing and educating yourself, city kids like myself, I hate these type of questions. Shows ignorance of people who weren't raised in the city. I am not saying it's your fault, we are all a product of the environment we were raised in, so I can place the blame on you, but there is this "fear" from people not raised in the city, about the city. Something you don't get at all if you were raised in the city, a mentality that doesn't exist to people raised in the city and one for the most part, unless you are going to the ghetto, is unwarranted.

I grew up in the city though. It really depends where you grew up in the city. I grew up on the border of Roscoe Village and Avondale, and I wouldn't trade if for the world. I went to great schools (Lane Tech), had an upbringing where I was surrounded by different cultures. My neighbors were Mexican, white, Puerto Rican, Filipino, Polish, etc. We all became very integrated. So much so that all my friends who grew up in the city, their group of friends are just as diverse as mine. My suburban friends? Pretty damn homogeneous group. My city friends are the following, 1 Filipino, 1 Mexican, 1 Chinese (and a lesbian), 1 white, 1 Puerto Rican, 1 Puerto Rican/Irish, 1 Italian (like real Italian), and 1 black. total mix.

One of my best friend's that grew up in the suburbs told me he likes city kids much better than his suburban counterparts. He has found people that have grown up in the city, just seemed more cultured and in tune with what's going on in the world around them, both literally and figuratively. He also told me he noticed that suburban peeps are a little too soft. That people raised in the city are more adaptable and let things roll off their backs much more easily.

I have seen some of that too. My city friends we just aren't so sensitive and soft. Doesn't mean we are rough around the edges, but we are street smarts and just more aware of the cultures and world around us than suburban people.

But again this depends where the kid is being raised in the city. My city raised friends mostly hail from the neighborhoods of Avondale, Irving Park, Portage Park, Albany Park, Edgewater and Mayfair, which are pretty diverse and stable neighborhoods.

Someone raised in Saugnaush, Hyde Park, Englewood, Austin, or the Gold Coast, well their experiences are probably very different. I am sure that going to Latin or Francis Parker is more similar to going to school in the suburbs than it would be going to Lane Tech, even though both are in the city. It really depends where in the city the person grows up. Chicago is a huge city, and some neighborhoods are like bubbles that have more homogeneous attitudes that reflect more suburban lifestyles and mentalities than urban ones.

In regards to safety, I have never been jumped or robbed in my 30 years of living here and never as a kid. We used to roam the streets on our bikes, even ride our bikes to the lake as preteens/teenagers and never experienced danger. This was also in the 90's when the city was pretty damn violent, albeit in the poor ghettos really. I have never heard of my city friends being attacked, robbed or jumped either, but we did know of people that it happened to, so it wasn't unheard of. The point is it's not that common, at least not if you grow up on the northside of the city. The westside and southside yes, I myself would not be as comfortable.

[UrbanCheetah]

Originally Posted by King Harold

My wife grew up in the city, in Bucktown of all places. She says the main thing suburban and people from Wisconsin get wrong is they think the city is going to be too crazy for a teen. In reality Chicago life is boring for a teenager. All the stuff that 25 year olds think is cool about Chicago like bars and clubs... 15 year olds can't do any of that stuff anyway. Everything costs money and for the most part teenagers don't have any. She claims to have spent almost all of her free time reading books in her bedroom.

I think more Chicago kids end up kind of like neurotic shut ins rather than ending up like characters from Shameless. Even for low income, minority kids. I watched a documentary about some rapper kids from Englewood and they spent 90% of their time in their house. They didn't even know how to take the El or that the Bean even existed.

I don't think that is true. I grew up in the city, just two neighborhoods north of your wife and there was plenty to do. We had more to do than our suburban counterparts. Be it going to downtown to hang out and shop at Water Tower place, riding our bikes to the beach, or going to house parties throughout the city.

In high school I went to parties that were in the ghetto that were dangerous (I should have not gone) to parties that were in a mansion in Kenwood to one kid throwing a party at his parents condo in downtown. I loved it. Maybe your wife wasn't allowed to go out that much?

[King Harold]

Idk really, she seems normal to me.

[UrbanCheetah]

Originally Posted by King Harold

Idk really, she seems normal to me.

Based of my experience, city life for a teen is more fun than suburban life. It's easier to get around, and there is more to do and places to eat. In high school we always used to eat at Mongolian BBQ and Cafe Iberico. We did a lot in the city and it was easy because of the CTA.

[NealIRC]

Originally Posted by UrbanCheetah

Based of my experience, city life for a teen is more fun than suburban life. It's easier to get around, and there is more to do and places to eat. In high school we always used to eat at Mongolian BBQ and Cafe Iberico. We did a lot in the city and it was easy because of the CTA.

Say, do you know of any Mongolian grills? Is that the 1 on Devon and Western?

I eat at 4 Chinese buffets that have a Mongolian grill, 1 on the North side and 3 on the Southwest sides.

[HoneyGrahams224]

I grew up in the suburbs, and I can say with 100% certainty that if kids are looking to get into trouble, they will find it. Elk Grove was dull, boring, and quiet. That didn't stop kids at my high school from selling black tar heroin in the middle of the hallways (I am completely serious) or driving drunk and wrecking their cars/getting killed. I think a lot of parents were really permissive, and thought that as long as their kids were partying/getting messed up inside their house, it was safer than "being out on the street" or whatever. The neighborhood was pristine, but the main problem was drugs, drugs, drugs. Kids with lots of money and poor supervision. From a lot of studies I have read, being an involved parent who sets firm limits and boundaries will go farther in helping children succeed than what neighborhood you live in. Obviously you don't want to live somewhere where your kids will get beaten up at the bus stop every day, but also know that just because an area is "nice" doesn't mean that kids will find stupid stuff to get tangled up in.

[chet everett]

The plural of "anecdote" is not data.

If there were any trends suggesting that kids growing up in urban area were having more "satisfaction" with either their teenage years or anything that carried over to college / post-college life there would be studies touting such conclusions. Heck, given the tendency of "helicopter parents" to seize anything perceived as advantageous there would probably be huge numbers of articles extolling such studies, if any existed. Sure there are bloggers from Brooklyn that will extol the joyous wonders of their decisions to raise kids in the city, but the again one can find a Brooklyn blog about ANYTHING -- From people who smash their face against various breads Brooklyn Blogger Hopes Her Breadface Instagrams Inspire Laughter, Erections: Gothamist to ultra-Orthodox young men that lead a double life Heretic Hasidim – Narratively

One can even find blogs that rather convincingly lay out an argument that in the absence of any definitive data, such biases against suburban living are nothing more than an attack against children in general -- Suburb Hating is Anti-Child | Newgeography.com

[UrbanCheetah]

Originally Posted by NealIRC

Say, do you know of any Mongolian grills? Is that the 1 on Devon and Western?

I eat at 4 Chinese buffets that have a Mongolian grill, 1 on the North side and 3 on the Southwest sides.

I don't anymore . In the summer in high school me and my buddies would ride our bikes to the lake and always stop at the Mongolian Grill that was on Clark near Belmont, it was tradition. Sadly it closed down like 10 years ago, and I haven't been to one since.

I never understood why the Mongolian Grill in Lakeview closed, it was always so busy.