white family moving to Humboldt park. advice? (Chicago, Lincoln: condo, townhomes)

[chitownperson]

This is a very bleak view of the future, Chet. Which inner ring suburbs do you think will suffer?

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by chitownperson

This is a very bleak view of the future, Chet. Which inner ring suburbs do you think will suffer?

When I drive around and continue to see massive disparity in the kinds of employment that continues to be added to places along the toll road corridors vs formerly viable manufacturing corridors inside Chicago and adjacent old line suburbs I cannot help but think the sort of "income polarization" that others worry about is just going to get worse.

Folks with well paying jobs in the finance and related office centric fields of the Loop / downtown will continue to jump on trains and shuttle between surprisingly convenient suburbs where walkable amenities, great commuter rail and impressive school suite their family oriented lives as well as having "back up employment" relatively nearby in auto-centric office parks. Hipsters and the hard core urbanites will inhabit the desirable spots that have been "gentrified" over the past decades. Beyond that ---???

I mean plenty of folks talk about "peak oil" and a plateau in that commodity but what about "peak jobs" -- my sense is that we may be sitting on the front row of a new era where creation of new jobs never really outpaces destruction of old jobs. Heck the birth / death trends of Europe are already on the wrong side of that equation...

I might be wrong. Kids who grow up with few / no siblings in wondrously diverse urban settings or hipster areas or even upscale suburbs with charm may be some how primed to move into inconvenient towns with homes inartfully laid out or sandwiched between stripmalls. Who knows...

[speedygonzales]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Once upon a time I too had all kinds of hope for crummy areas, but a more sober analysis of just what anomaly the multi-decade run up in national real estate represents gives one pause. The south suburbs, the south east side, the well worn inner ring suburbs, the post WWII ranch heavy near northwest burbs, former industrial area along the north lake front of the Fox River... Just too many places that have too much entropy to fight...

What exactly does this have to do with the city and more specifically Humboldt Park?

[sarahdeanne]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

And if she goes into buying a home thinking "The schools are not that important becaus I home school" and then her situation changes and she is now thinking "Wow, I want to send my kids to middle school (or high school) but the local schools really suck; now what do I do?" that would be called penny-wise and dollar foolish. Or a short-sighted decision.

We are looking to rent. For 1 year and then re-evaluate. My children are very young (oldest 5) and I won't be looking at schools for at least 3 years. We will not be buying anywhere before then. Thanks though!

[sarahdeanne]

Originally Posted by charadeiam

Well I'll go ahead and say it since no one else will: Those latinos and blacks you're so fond of--they don't like you. To them you are just some naive white folks who are probably carrying an iphone or laptop and who probably have some expensive stuff in their apartment. Your kids will go to school with kids who have grown up WAY faster than them to put it mildly. The city has an unspoken agreed upon segregation that works fine. If you must live in Humboldt, the area around Iowa/Campbell which is largely Ukrainian is probably best. Or you can do the unthinkable and live with your own kind in Wicker Park, Lincoln Park, Ukrainian Village, Bucktown, River North, Old Town, etc.

You are wrong. I am sorry for your experience. I have many Latina and black friends. Chicago may be different from here but I know everyone doesn't have the same view you do. Here's another naive question: If the "unspoken and agreed upon seperation" works fine, then why do you think latino and black children must have "grown up WAY faster... to put it mildly"? Do you think it works just fine that my kids deserve to live in a better area and go to better schools because I'm white? That sounds like a way outdated and ridiculous point of view. By the way, what neighborhood do you live in?

[sarahdeanne]

Originally Posted by prairiestate

Well, do you need to be white? If not, that could help a lot if you move there.

LOL. I'm working on it.

[sarahdeanne]

Again thanks for the input everyone. I am coming back to Chicago next week to visit the areas we've discussed and sign a lease somewhere. This thread has been interesting, and informative to say the least. I appreciate everyone's time. On my short list are these areas: Plisen, Ukrainian Village, Bridgeport, Tri-taylor-UIC, North east side of Humboldt park, Logan Square, Brewyn (??), uggh ok the list is still not too short. So many opinions so little time I am thinking of adding a new requirement that my husband will be able to bike to work in <30min. His office is near Adams and Lake.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by sarahdeanne

Again thanks for the input everyone. I am coming back to Chicago next week to visit the areas we've discussed and sign a lease somewhere. This thread has been interesting, and informative to say the least. I appreciate everyone's time. On my short list are these areas: Plisen, Ukrainian Village, Bridgeport, Tri-taylor-UIC, North east side of Humboldt park, Logan Square, Brewyn (??), uggh ok the list is still not too short. So many opinions so little time I am thinking of adding a new requirement that my husband will be able to bike to work in <30min. His office is near Adams and Lake.

Berwyn would be very difficult to bicycle to in that time frame.

[quigboto]

sarahdeanne: Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by sarahdeanne

I am thinking of adding a new requirement that my husband will be able to bike to work in <30min. His office is near Adams and Lake.

I'd give him longer than 30 minutes to find Adams and Lake.