Moving from east coast to midwest! (Chicago, Naperville: condo, violent crime, house)

[mlogan0301]

Hello Everyone,
I am new to the board and wanted to know where to find employment and/or job recruiters in the Chicago area. I am open to the surburbs as well, as long as I am no more than an hour away from Chicago. I have applied to numerous jobs in the area, and actually have an interview this coming Friday, 9/19 in Chicago and another on 9/25 in Joliet. I am very excited about these opportunities, but always want to keep my eye open for other opportunities in case one of these does not pan out.

I am currently working on my Master's Degree in Forensic Psychology and I have my Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice. I am interested in working with juveniles and/or adults, although prefer to work with juveniles, because I find that they are less likely to re-offend as adults if they receive the proper counseling early on. I would like to assist and assess criminal behavior and patterns. I do not mind at all working in a correctional facility. If anyone on the board has any first hand knowledge in regard to employment in these areas, please let me know. I have tried various career employment sites on the internet, but always want to expand my horizons of employment opportunities.

In addition to this, I am a single mom, and would like to know about some of the areas that surround Chicago and Joliet, that are family friendly and that have good schools. I apologize in advance if I am not in the right spot for asking these questions, and I did look in the general Chicago thread for all things involving relocating to Chicago but did not find exactly what I was looking for. If I over-looked it, my sincere apologies for this.

I have been in contact with someone who would like to sell her condo in an area called Auburn Gresham. Does anyone know if that is a good neighborhood or not? She also told me that there is a school near her called Scott Joplin. Does anyone have any information on that school. I looked the school up online, and they seem to have pretty decent test scores, but I wanted to know if anyone had any personal experience dealing with that school or knew of anyone who has personal experience dealing with that school? I do know that the school is predominately African-American and that is fine with me. I understand or at least have heard that schools in the suburbs are better than schools in the city, is this true? If, so are the inner-city schools getting any better?


Also, what is the area of Midlothian, Joliet and Glendale Heights like? Are those two areas considered suburbs? Also, are they kid friendly?

Is it true, that if you can make it through Chicago's winters, you will absolutely love the city?

I thank you all for you assistance.

Melody

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by mlogan0301

Hello Everyone,
I am new to the board and wanted to know where to find employment and/or job recruiters in the Chicago area. I am open to the surburbs as well, as long as I am no more than an hour away from Chicago. I have applied to numerous jobs in the area, and actually have an interview this coming Friday, 9/19 in Chicago and another on 9/25 in Joliet. I am very excited about these opportunities, but always want to keep my eye open for other opportunities in case one of these does not pan out.

I am currently working on my Master's Degree in Forensic Psychology and I have my Bachelor of Science Degree in Criminal Justice. I am interested in working with juveniles and/or adults, although prefer to work with juveniles, because I find that they are less likely to re-offend as adults if they receive the proper counseling early on. I would like to assist and assess criminal behavior and patterns. I do not mind at all working in a correctional facility. If anyone on the board has any first hand knowledge in regard to employment in these areas, please let me know. I have tried various career employment sites on the internet, but always want to expand my horizons of employment opportunities.

In addition to this, I am a single mom, and would like to know about some of the areas that surround Chicago and Joliet, that are family friendly and that have good schools. I apologize in advance if I am not in the right spot for asking these questions, and I did look in the general Chicago thread for all things involving relocating to Chicago but did not find exactly what I was looking for. If I over-looked it, my sincere apologies for this.

I have been in contact with someone who would like to sell her condo in an area called Auburn Gresham. Does anyone know if that is a good neighborhood or not? She also told me that there is a school near her called Scott Joplin. Does anyone have any information on that school. I looked the school up online, and they seem to have pretty decent test scores, but I wanted to know if anyone had any personal experience dealing with that school or knew of anyone who has personal experience dealing with that school? I do know that the school is predominately African-American and that is fine with me. I understand or at least have heard that schools in the suburbs are better than schools in the city, is this true? If, so are the inner-city schools getting any better?


Also, what is the area of Midlothian, Joliet and Glendale Heights like? Are those two areas considered suburbs? Also, are they kid friendly?

Is it true, that if you can make it through Chicago's winters, you will absolutely love the city?

I thank you all for you assistance.

Melody

Ok the towns you named are worlds apart from eachother. Glendale Heights is a NW burb of which for whatever reason is rapidly turning Latino and having a large influx of illegal immigrants moving into the town. I have a number of close friends that live there right off Rte 64 and Bloomingdale Rd and according to them, a number of break ins have been occuring in their neighborhood now as well as car break ins. No violent crime yet, but still... Who wants to live in an area where you have to worry about your house and car being broken into all the time? They are actually considering moving out of the town as there are so many problems starting to occur there now. Now, I'm sure there are plenty of nice areas around the town, but I am up there on a regular basis and have to agree with my friends as I have seen the area changing over the past 6 years for the worse.

Next town I saw listed is Joliet. Joliet is another town that is very complex. The town... I'm sorry, city, has both good areas and areas that are simply aweful. Areas that are known to be more or less "kid friendly" would be on the west edge of the city near I-55. That area is pretty nice and safe. Central Joliet though would not be my choice, esp if you're going to be raising a child.

Midlothian... Midlo is a SW burb nestled between areas that are simply the pitts on the east side of the town to rich areas off on the west side of the town. Schools in Midlo are pretty average at best, not the best, but not the worst either. Midlo is becoming more of a mixed community these days, but does have it's share of problems developing. Not so much in the way of violent crime, just plenty of "white trash" flooding into the town. I had the not so pleasureable experience of living off 145th and Abbottsford for a month and I'm sorry, but I thought I was in white trashville USA. Kids running around in the street in diapers or naked, dad sitting out on the sofa on the front porch drinking beers (more like a few cases) while his kids played in the street, mom yelling at dad in domestic disputes on a regular basis, cars up on blocks in driveways, people just letting their yards go to hell in a hand basket, garbage strewn all over. Overall it was not a pleasureable experience. Not the entire town is like that, but that area was and still is unfortunantly. I know I wouldn't want to bring my child up in that kind of environment.

Out of the three burbs you listed, I would probably pick the west side of Joliet as that is at least pretty new. I really don't have a warm fuzzy feeling though about recommending any of the three, especially for raising a child.

If you're going to raise a child, perhaps consider Lockport, Plainfield, New Lenox, if you are working in Joliet. If you are looking for areas more around Midlothian, maybe look at Crestwood, and I would highly recommend Oak Lawn as that town has held itself to a fairly high standard to not let itself just go to the dogs, not to mention that it is fairly close to both Joliet and Chicago via car.

[sbd78]

If you choose to live in Joliet, I would stay out of Joliet's school system, they don't have the best reputation. There are areas in the far west side of Joliet that fall in Plainfield and Minooka's school districts, I would concentrate on those areas as the schools are much better.

[Steve-o]

Check out Naperville or Plainfield. Theyre decently close to Joliet, and FAR nicer. Naperville is usually in CNN's Top 10 cities to live in in the USA.

And Glendale Heights is a Western burb, not NW like someone said. Id avoid Joliet, Glendale Heights and Midlothian altogether, theyre just not very desireable at all.

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Check out Naperville or Plainfield. Theyre decently close to Joliet, and FAR nicer. Naperville is usually in CNN's Top 10 cities to live in in the USA.

And Glendale Heights is a Western burb, not NW like someone said. Id avoid Joliet, Glendale Heights and Midlothian altogether, theyre just not very desireable at all.

WELL EXCUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSE ME. Mr. White Castle man.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by NYrules

WELL EXCUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSE ME. Mr. White Castle man.

lol

I was Mr. Taco Bell. Get it right!

[mlogan0301]

Thanks, I will check out Crestwood, New Lenox and Naperville. I appreciate all of your help.

[Honeyberdy]

Try Wheaton. It's the county seat of DuPage County, so you might be able to find a job in the DuPage County Government Center on the very north of town. It is an upscale area with a good downtown. The school system is one of the best in the area, including Wheaton College. Library which is one of the nation's top 10. The Metra tracks go right through the town, with two stations within the city limits. I really like this town, and if this town does not interest you, you should look in Naperville because both are very similar.

[mlogan0301]

Originally Posted by Honeyberdy

Try Wheaton. It's the county seat of DuPage County, so you might be able to find a job in the DuPage County Government Center on the very north of town. It is an upscale area with a good downtown. The school system is one of the best in the area, including Wheaton College. Library which is one of the nation's top 10. The Metra tracks go right through the town, with two stations within the city limits. I really like this town, and if this town does not interest you, you should look in Naperville because both are very similar.

Ok, thank you! I have been hearing some great things about Wheaton as well. I will look into it.

[Honeyberdy]

I hope you enjoy looking at Wheaton. A 22 acre site of a current middle school is in the process of being redeveloped. I hope that this opportunity further enhances this already great downtown area. Wheaton is very well landscaped, and has been named a Tree City, USA for several years. The school system is some of the best in the state, ensuring good education. There are things to do for both the young and the old around Wheaton, which is why there is a diverse population. Anywhere South of Roosevelt Road is generally cheaper and newer than the north side, which is closer to the downtown. Wheaton is also very family friendly. I see many children/teenagers around the downtown area. This gives Wheaton a "community" feel. The two Metra stations/proximity to Chicago is also very good.