Is there anywhere south that is safe for young family? (Chicago: transfer, neighborhood)

[urza216]

In spite of what you may have heard, most suburbs south of Chicago are safe for young families. Could you be more specific?

[ChicagoMeO]

I dont know about Griffith now but i lived there in 1990. it was a nice town. I moved out and went back there to check it out. Ridge Road is a main street that goes thru a lot of northwest Indiana towns. Use the Google map to see what the area looks like. Now, I would be careful about anything too close to Gary and Griffith is right next door. My co-worker who lives in Lansing - close by - says that where I lived right near Griffith has been run down with transplants from the terrible Chicago projects. now when i traveled on Ridge Rd a few months ago, it sure has changed and is being run down, the little stores look beat up now. Someone else might have a different opinion but i think Griffith is too close to the run down area since when i lived there a long time ago. I would look in Munster or maybe Highland, which is west of Griffith. I would not live in Griffith because it might be run down next, being close to Gary.

[snoylekim]

Let's see ...south we have Homewood-Flossmoor, NW Indiana has Highland, Schererville, Munster all previously mentioned where there are decent schools, etc .. I work with quite a few commuters from NW Indiana to downtown, and it's not really that bad , especially if one can afford the Skyway .. a bit more Southwest we have Orland Park, The Palos Triplets , Tinley Park .... The city is tougher not knowing the OPs budget, but anywhere within West Loop, South Loop, Bridgeport, and Hyde Park are OK from a commuting standpoint .. schools require a bit more tactics and the COL gets a little higher.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by JBVirtuoso

I'm no expert on the the towns in Indiana, but I'm not sure they're really what you're looking for. The South Shore train doesn't go through the nicer towns like Dyer and Munster. The Indiana towns in general have less in the way of amenities than Chicago neighborhoods or some of the inner ring Chicago suburbs.

Meh, there are towns in NW Indiana with the same amenities as the suburbs and suburban-ish city neighborhoods being mentioned here. Some of the "inner ring suburbs" are actually in Indiana, since the city borders the state.

Certainly there's nothing in NWI with the urban feel of South Loop or even Hyde Park, but you can find everything that you can find in, say, Beverly, and certainly Homewood or Floosmoor.

Posting to the NW Indiana forum and the suburbs forum would be a good idea for the OP if they're not set on living in the city and haven't done so yet.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by Newhorizons1

To be honest I am reconsidering the move because all i hear is doom and gloom!!

If you're talking about the level "gloom and doom" on this forum, I find it to be very bizarre and not at all an accurate reflection of the city as I know it. It's as if they're talking about a completely different place. Much of it appears to come from people who used to live here and couldn't hack it for some reason and had to move to someplace boring where they have nothing better to do but trash their former city on the internet.

[summer22]

In the city: Mount Greenwood and Beverly.
In the south suburbs: Homewood, Flossmoor, maybe Crete. There might be some good pockets left in/around South Holland, but you don't hear much about that area.
In NW Indiana: Highland, Munster, St. John, Dyer, Crown Point are all good Lake County suburbs... even Portage, Chesterton, Porter, Valparaiso in Porter County if you don't mind a longer drive into the city.

My top suggestions are in bold... as far as parks, schools, and safety, they're all great choices. Mount Greenwood I think is the area that everyone's overlooking so far. It should be a little less expensive than Beverly. A big portion of the population is Chicago teachers, police, and firefighters who have to live in the city. It's spacious, with great parks and a Chicago address (which means access to the Chicago library system and other high quality city services and public transit.) It's a real neighborhood where people get to know each other, shop locally, and its safe to walk at night. You're also minutes away from suburban shopping in Oak Lawn and points southwest. You also have fairly easy access to I-57.

[Warsie]

Originally Posted by summer22

Mount Greenwood I think is the area that everyone's overlooking so far. It should be a little less expensive than Beverly. A big portion of the population is Chicago teachers, police, and firefighters who have to live in the city. It's spacious, with great parks and a Chicago address (which means access to the Chicago library system and other high quality city services and public transit.) It's a real neighborhood where people get to know each other, shop locally, and its safe to walk at night. You're also minutes away from suburban shopping in Oak Lawn and points southwest. You also have fairly easy access to I-57.

I wonder why

OP wanted "Diversity" and Mount Greenwood is uh.......provincial. That's a nice way to phrase it.

OP, as you wanted "Diversity" why don't you try north Bronzeville, or Pill Hill? They're basically middle-class black neighborhoods.

What's that neighborhood north of Hyde PArk? Ahh. Kenwood. Also middle class black mainly I think.

EDIT: OP, are you....descended from the European "settlers" of the US? What is your race/ethnicity?

[urza216]

Originally Posted by Warsie

I wonder why

OP wanted "Diversity" and Mount Greenwood is uh.......provincial. That's a nice way to phrase it. So if the question is "are you white?" then this is a terrible way to answer it. I'm white and defended from Polish immagrants who started their new life in Chicago. And I don have to go that far back either..

OP, as you wanted "Diversity" why don't you try north Bronzeville, or Pill Hill? They're basically middle-class black neighborhoods.

What's that neighborhood north of Hyde PArk? Ahh. Kenwood. Also middle class black mainly I think.

EDIT: OP, are you....descended from the European "settlers" of the US? What is your race/ethnicity?

The majority of white Chicagoans are Eastern European (Polish, irish, Italian, etc.) and not descended from the Europoan settlers.

The OP said he appreciated diversity. It's a little bit of a stretch to assuming that saying that is code for "I'm lookin for a black neighorhood".

The two most nationally recognized icons of the south side of Chicago are prabobly Midway Airport and U.S Cellular Field. There's something disturbing about both of these icons being located in neighorhoods with a "racist" reputation. You can criticize the enclave all you want but they still live on the south side of Chicago.... Not that I don't think you might be right about SOME of the residents. I'm just saying..

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by urza216

The majority of white Chicagoans are Eastern European (Polish, irish, Italian, etc.) and not descended from the Europoan settlers.

1) Ireland and Italy are not in Eastern Europe.

2) Poland, Ireland, and Italy are all in Europe. How is it that settlers from those countries aren't European?

[Warsie]

Originally Posted by urza216

The majority of white Chicagoans are Eastern European (Polish, irish, Italian, etc.) and not descended from the Europoan settlers.

I quoted settlers as that term is the more PC term for White colonization of the Americas

The OP said he appreciated diversity. It's a little bit of a stretch to assuming that saying that is code for "I'm lookin for a black neighorhood".

How..."diverse" does she want it then

The two most nationally recognized icons of the south side of Chicago are prabobly Midway Airport and U.S Cellular Field. There's something disturbing about both of these icons being located in neighorhoods with a "racist" reputation.

LOL. In the case of Midway, it's well...north of Midway which is.....uhh weird - not sure about "racist" though a white woman stared at me once and moved her...purse when I walked by her on the bus one time on Archer west of Cicero....

You can criticize the enclave all you want but they still live on the south side of Chicago.... Not that I don't think you might be right about SOME of the residents. I'm just saying..

Well I specifically picked on Mount Greenwrood....because you know....stuff