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I'd never have a family; but I wouldn't have a problem raising a kid in the core of any city. To start, I wouldn't want to shield my kid from the world; nor would I want my kid to take my life over. Moreover, the kids who are raised in cities end up being empathetic, grounded, well rounded and cool people with smarts and street sense; in my experience, black and white. Sure you get the spectrum of personalities depending on where you are, but this idea that your kids are going to turn out either like the kids of "Kids" (im showing my age) or some wigger or some drug addict or whatever people think is laughable.
It really all depends on the neighborhood, and that is true of the suburbs, there are many suburbs I wouldn't raise my kid in.
In my city there are some suburbs that struggle with drug abuse and addiction in their youth population; and in many respects a lot of that is due to being in the suburbs. Being rich in the burbs is cool, but being middle/lower middle class is isolating, soulless, cultureless and opens kids up to the type of thing i'm talking about. And then to top it off, many of those kids end up infatuated with the city and run after it, sometimes unprepared and to detrimental effect....
Totally agreed. (well, I kinda want kids but it's not happening anytime soon)
I'd especially be concerned about my kids' well-being raising them in the suburbs now, as opposed to 20 years ago. I'd want them to get out of the house, explore, go to punk shows, sneak into parties, and not just game and watch videos all day. But there's just not much going on in most suburbs, and no easy way to get anywhere. I don't blame kids for just staying inside.
Downtown and Midtown really don’t seem very desirable to families.
Downtown maybe but there are families in midtown (both in condos and large sfh around Piedmont Park). Also many of the townhomes going for over 1 million near the East beltline are mostly families.
I would raise kids only in the suburbs if the city was Detroit, Philadelphia, Baltimore, St. Louis — of the cities I know at least something about. Chicago, San Fran, DC, and NYC (obviously) I’d go to the city. Maybe Minneapolis/St Paul.
Could go either way, suburbs or city, with Boston, Atlanta, Seattle.
Don’t know enough about day-to-day life in most Sunbelt, mountain West, or other Midwest cities to make a choice. It’s more than just public schools that would be determinative though. Overall QOL would count most.
In terms of Detroit, many families from say the University District, Palmer Woods, Sherwood Forest, Indian Village, East English Village, Rosedale, etc. may send their kids to Cass Tech, Renaissance, Mumford, Arts High or East English Village Prep for public high schools or to private schools in/outside of the city like U of D Jesuit, Loyola, Detroit Country Day, Detroit(Novi) Catholic Central, St. Mary’s(Orchard Lake), Cranbrook, etc. So, even in Detroit, families manage and make it work there as well.
This doesn’t include states that offer school of choice/open enrollment or have a special program like METCO in MA or Urban-Suburban in the Rochester NY area.
Downtown maybe but there are families in midtown (both in condos and large sfh around Piedmont Park). Also many of the townhomes going for over 1 million near the East beltline are mostly families.
Cities where I would definitely live in the city core with a family:
Boston
New York City
Washington, DC
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
Chicago
Atlanta
San Francisco
Los Angeles
San Diego
Seattle
Portland
Cities where I would not live in the city core with a family:
Hartford, CT
Buffalo, NY
Cleveland
Detroit
St Louis
Memphis
Indianapolis
Louisville
Baltimore
All other larger cities (over 300k or so) would be case by case, depending on neighborhoods.
I wouldn't sell the entire city of Buffalo short. Its public schools have strong magnet programs including a couple of the top rated schools in the state, there is an extensive and varied selection of charter schools in the city, and there are also multiple strong private schools in the city. Buffalo also has the "Say YES" program which provides all BPS graduates with free college tuition (or reduced tuition depending upon number of years in the system) to a large and growing number of public and private universities both within and outside NY State. There are several neighborhoods in the city, particularly in the North and South sides that are extremely family-friendly, safe, walkable, with yards and other amenities. Property taxes are low, and home prices and taxes allow parents to send their kids to private schools affordably. Our North Buffalo neighborhood is teeming with families, with kids going to a variety of different schools (public, private, and charter), and safe enough that there are many free-range children of all ages in the neighborhood (and I'm not talking about neglected children).
That said, I have experienced some suburban parents that still FREAK OUT about everything "city," but our neighborhood has been in high demand by families with children because of its desirability, amenities, and access to Buffalo public, private, and charter schools.
Also, when I lived in Houston TX (not to be confused with other places named Houston) we actually relocated from the suburbs to the core city in order for our child to attend one of the city's magnet school programs. Our child still says that was the best thing we ever did for her, as she was able to do things car- and parent-free that she never could do on her own in the isolated suburbs.
Last edited by RocketSci; 06-16-2023 at 01:40 PM..
I wouldn't sell the entire city of Buffalo short. Its public schools have strong magnet programs including a couple of the top rated schools in the state, there is an extensive and varied selection of charter schools in the city, and there are also multiple strong private schools in the city. Buffalo also has the "Say YES" program which provides all BPS graduates with free college tuition (or reduced tuition depending upon number of years in the system) to a large and growing number of public and private universities both within and outside NY State. There are several neighborhoods in the city, particularly in the North and South sides that are extremely family-friendly, safe, walkable, with yards and other amenities. Property taxes are low, and home prices and taxes allow parents to send their kids to private schools affordably. Our North Buffalo neighborhood is teeming with families, with kids going to a variety of different schools (public, private, and charter), and safe enough that there are many free-range children of all ages in the neighborhood (and I'm not talking about neglected children).
That said, I have experienced some suburban parents that still FREAK OUT about everything "city," but our neighborhood has been in high demand by families with children because of its desirability, amenities, and access to Buffalo public, private, and charter schools.
Also, when I lived in Houston TX (not to be confused with other places named Houston) we actually relocated from the suburbs to the core city in order for our child to attend one of the city's magnet school programs. Our child still says that was the best thing we ever did for her, as she was able to do things car- and parent-free that she never could do on her own in the isolated suburbs.
You do realize there's more to DC than the area around the National Mall, right? I mean you sound like a tourist. The entire Northwest sector is quite desirable minus the issues you mention with now A-rated schools primarily. Once white flight was reversed many things started improving, including the public schools.
Oh silly me, how could I have forgotten the $1.5m NW DC neighborhoods that only old money can afford. Must be nice for them.
For the average person in DC, your options at owning a single-family home are the outer suburbs with a 1-hour drive on I-95, the $hitty parts of DC (which constitute a bigger % of the city each year), or PG County. That's the unfortunate reality.
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