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If you are looking for mainly white in STL, i would not choose Florisant, that area is turning into a PG County in the DC.
Thanks for that bit of info. I had heard it was going a bit down hill, but it seems a few neighborhoods are still nice and safe enough that you can still let your wife walk the dog after dusk. Is that correct or no? I was specifically looking at a neighborhood north of 270 that looked rather "midwestern".
As for the racism crap, that was NOT my intention. I simply wanted to state that because, lets face it, the internet is as diverse as it gets, yet people still picture the people on the other end just like themselves if not told otherwise. I basically just wanted people to be aware. Lets be honest, if a blue family moves into a predominately yellow, green, or orange area, they are going to feel out of place. That doesnt mean their racist, people just tend to get along with and relate better to people with their own cultural upbringing. Again, sorry if I came off as racist, I'm not, I just choose not to ignore something that OFTEN directly affects peoples culture just as much as the area they grew up and how much money they have, skin color. People always want to turn it into a racism thing, but its not. Its a culture thing.
So let me rephrase, I am looking to live in a area with a more tradition white American culture. I don't want gangs of any kind in my neighborhood, be it white supremacist, bloods, ms13, yakuza or whatever. If that means I'm green and end up living in a yellow/blue/green area, whatever. I just wanted people to have a reference, as what may be "ideal" for a family who recently immigrated from X country obviously wouldnt be for me or a family that immigrated from Z country.
(The colors and x and z are not meant to signify any specific culture, just examples of things that are the same but different, and can be changed and by mixing, just like people)
Last time I checked, Philly is not exactly kum-bay-ah either (and yes I have BEEN there recently). There's a reason why its population breeds some of the roughest sports fans out there (largely a mix of that Italian / Irish heritage there along with a bit more blue collar vibe than NYC).
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Originally Posted by slengel
the level of ignorance on this forum is astounding. chicago is among the most segregated cities in the united states. there are plenty of mostly white neighborhoods in the city of chicago, who are you kidding. lincoln park, lakeview, bucktown, etc. come to mind immediately. "st. louis shares the old school mentality about race"?? are you kidding me. st. louis is a metro area of almost 3 million people, with all the dynamics one would expect from a major market. give me a break. chicago is as midwestern as bread and butter, so leave your delusional "chicago is more like the east coast" crap out of it. that is absolutely not true (take it from a philadelphia native). the metro areas of chicago and st. louis are very similar in culture, they just vary in scale. chicago is not like a "different world" and neither is st. louis. you can find mostly white neighborhoods in both cities and plenty of suburbs of both. if you are a racist, neither city is going to be ideal, as the minority populations in both places are large and highly visible. you people make it sound like st. louis is some rural town in mississippi or something. enough of the ignorant spewing of information about a city (st. louis) many of you just do not know.
Last time I checked, Philly is not exactly kum-bay-ah either (and yes I have BEEN there recently). There's a reason why its population breeds some of the roughest sports fans out there (largely a mix of that Italian / Irish heritage there along with a bit more blue collar vibe than NYC).
leave it to an insecure chicagoan to be offended when someone says chicago is midwestern. thanks for proving my point.
say what you want about phila, doesn't bother me a bit. unlike chicagoans, philadelphians don't give a damn what other people think about their city. self-conscious much?
Chicago is Midwest. So is St. Louis. In my mind. If you don't agree and think Chicago is "east coast like" move out to DC. Youll change your attitude real quick. People in DC/VA are stuck up and down-right mean in comparison to Chicago.
Well, you never will get a mostly "white" neighborhood unless you live upscale suburbs of Chicago. Think Hinsdale, and the like. The most diversity you'll find there are italian vs. irish (maybe a few Indians mixed in there).
Otherwise, you will get a (mostly black or hispanic) presence if you live pretty much anywhere else. The north side is pretty integrated and the south side south of 95th street is turning more black, and I think the traditionally Irish and polish areas will be mottled in the coming years.
St. Louis definitely has it when it comes to "white only" areas. So since race seems to be such a huge hang up for you (sad, but hey to each their own, just don't preach hate to your kids), I'd stick with St. Louis.
Wrong, Chicagoland has PLENTY of mostly white neighborhoods that are blue collared to middle-class. I hate to seem like I'm returning with what I'm accused of "Chicago-hating" but you know as well as I do, that despite the size of Chicagos core with its world class amenities, Chicago is easily on par with segregation as its midwestern urban-suburban peers.
The entire SW side/SW suburbs are easily 80-85% from Oak Lawn/Evergreen Park/Alsip/Burbank/Tinley/Orland, etc., etc.
As well as some near west suburbs that are more "blue collared" like Westchester, Brookfield, etc.
Plus far NW side areas like Norwood Park/Edison Park, River Grove, etc.
And these are just edge neighborhoods and inner suburbs.
Sure those areas are becoming more diverse and less segregated, but so are equivalent areas of St. Louis, etc.
Besides some uspcale suburbs like Oak Brook are actually more diverse than the aforementioned as the Asians add more diversity than the aforementioned. Once you get away from Chicagos core area (downtown plus near neighborhoods, and much of the north side within a couple miles of the lakefront) neighborhood life resembles that of its midwestern urban peers easily.
the level of ignorance on this forum is astounding. chicago is among the most segregated cities in the united states. there are plenty of mostly white neighborhoods in the city of chicago, who are you kidding. lincoln park, lakeview, bucktown, etc. come to mind immediately. "st. louis shares the old school mentality about race"?? are you kidding me. st. louis is a metro area of almost 3 million people, with all the dynamics one would expect from a major market. give me a break. chicago is as midwestern as bread and butter, so leave your delusional "chicago is more like the east coast" crap out of it. that is absolutely not true (take it from a philadelphia native). the metro areas of chicago and st. louis are very similar in culture, they just vary in scale. chicago is not like a "different world" and neither is st. louis. you can find mostly white neighborhoods in both cities and plenty of suburbs of both. if you are a racist, neither city is going to be ideal, as the minority populations in both places are large and highly visible. you people make it sound like st. louis is some rural town in mississippi or something. enough of the ignorant spewing of information about a city (st. louis) many of you just do not know.
Location: Pittsburgh (via Chicago, via Pittsburgh)
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the OP should explore both options by thoroughly visiting Chicago and different options he has there, and doing the same for STL. Period. Bickering morons on this site won't get him anywhere.
So, yeah your thread got way derailed, and I can't blame anyone for that. But in an attempt to help you, I'll try to stay on point.
If nightlife is not your thing and housing costs are a priority I wuold definitely closely consider St. Louis. Frankly, for $150,000 you're not going to get much in Chicago's suburbs and you'll likely have a property tax bill of easily three times that of St. Louis.
I've lived in both cities and love them damn near equally, but for you it seems an easy answer. 75k will feel like significantly more in St. Louis than 90k would in Chicago.
So, yeah your thread got way derailed, and I can't blame anyone for that. But in an attempt to help you, I'll try to stay on point.
If nightlife is not your thing and housing costs are a priority I wuold definitely closely consider St. Louis. Frankly, for $150,000 you're not going to get much in Chicago's suburbs and you'll likely have a property tax bill of easily three times that of St. Louis.
I've lived in both cities and love them damn near equally, but for you it seems an easy answer. 75k will feel like significantly more in St. Louis than 90k would in Chicago.
Thanks for the straight forward answer and keeping to giving simple advice. My wife and I are kind of leaning that way as well.
Wrong, Chicagoland has PLENTY of mostly white neighborhoods that are blue collared to middle-class. I hate to seem like I'm returning with what I'm accused of "Chicago-hating" but you know as well as I do, that despite the size of Chicagos core with its world class amenities, Chicago is easily on par with segregation as its midwestern urban-suburban peers.
The entire SW side/SW suburbs are easily 80-85% from Oak Lawn/Evergreen Park/Alsip/Burbank/Tinley/Orland, etc., etc.
As well as some near west suburbs that are more "blue collared" like Westchester, Brookfield, etc.
Plus far NW side areas like Norwood Park/Edison Park, River Grove, etc.
And these are just edge neighborhoods and inner suburbs.
Sure those areas are becoming more diverse and less segregated, but so are equivalent areas of St. Louis, etc.
Besides some uspcale suburbs like Oak Brook are actually more diverse than the aforementioned as the Asians add more diversity than the aforementioned. Once you get away from Chicagos core area (downtown plus near neighborhoods, and much of the north side within a couple miles of the lakefront) neighborhood life resembles that of its midwestern urban peers easily.
The area is changing quicklly though. Alsip is 40% minority, Oak Lawn is almost 25%. Westchester is 33% and Brookfield is 20%. You have to get out to those fast growing white areas around Orland or Tinley where it's still currently 85% white. I would think booming places out southwest like Bolingbrook would be really white, but I see it's almost 60% minority. I always pictured Schaumburg and Carol Stream to be lily white areas in my head, but the census says they're now 33% minority.
I'd be curious to see the change in minority population in the suburbs. Obviously there are large swaths where it's heavily white, but it's changing pretty fast. Especially when you look at hispanics, who are moving all over the metro area.
In the 2010 census there are now 2,300,000 blacks/hispanics/asians living in the suburbs and 1,800,000 living in the city. About a million of those are in the collar counties of Illinois (not counting the central Cook County, which has over half of the total population or areas in Indiana).
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