Kid-friendly options in Chicago

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by ChicagoNikki

I think you might be surprised how walkable some of the suburbs near Chicago are. Before moving to Chicago my now husband and I both lived in Evanston. I was able to get more done on foot living where I did then (in the downtown Evanston area) than I do now living in Chicago. I could live closer to stores and restaurants in the city, but it would cost more than I could afford to spend when we moved here. Evanston seemed like a bargain for a condo/apartment by comparison.

Evanston is one of the outliers I'd say. There are definitely walkable suburbs here, but you aren't going to be walking many places the further you go out of that. Places like Barlett, Schaumburg. St. Charles, Naperville, etc are not very walkable.

[chet everett]

The core of towns that have a traditional rail-centric focus are generally quite walkable -- Naperville would certainly fall into that category, but as it has well over 100000 residents and barely 10% of them are within a mile of the core folks tend to associate the farther out subdivisions with there curvy streets and lack of walkable shopping options with the more car-centric patterns. The core of a town like St. Charles, which is centered on the historic Fox River is rather walkable too, though again for probably 90% or more of folks with an address in St. Charles they probably live is a development where a car is a necessity... Heck even Evanston has well north of 50,000 residents and just a handful of transit stops.

I tend to recommend folks that have a desire for walkable towns with spots for dining, shopping and a casual neighborly place for a beer or other adult beverage should try to focus on the more compact towns along the rail lines -- Hinsdale has three stops but only about 13,000 residents so that puts the residents per stop at VERY comfortable ratio for walking ...

Given that the deadline for the desirable selective admissions schools inside Chicago has passed I would recommend that anyone needing to take advantage of schools for fall of 2013 consider the deplorable conditions of the majority of public schools inside the a Chicago city limits. No doubt those do not have children are unlikely to consider the tremendous burden that a relocating family faces when trying to arrange for a decent school along with all the other hassles there with dealing with Chicago's subpar offerings for childcare/ recreation, and the carefree attitude of those who care only of the ample opportunities to meet other singles often forget how un-family friendly Chicago can be. Of course even those couples in committed relationships that appreciate the little islands of safety that gentrification have carved out of areas that were once contributing to Chicago's recourse setting violence typically have far more ability to "spend their way to safety" than a family that has to spread one income over a whole household...

[marothisu]

There's walkable parts to most cities..the ones I mentioned even, Chet, as you have pointed out. But as a whole they are not walkable. Only small portions of them are and you'd most definitely need a car in any of those places. They aren't the country, but they're a far cry overall from big time urban centers.

[chet everett]

The smaller more compact towns are pretty much 100% walkable, but those are also some of the pricier options in the 'burbs.

The OP has not weighed in with more detailed price range / potential downpayment situation. It is not uncommon for folks that need to get their kids in school to realize that nicer suburbs really are a better value than having to rely on costly private schools -- the combination of factors that result in CPS enrollment being far more of a challenge than choosing nice place to live , taxes, commute times and safety all help folks come to that conclusion.

While there are certainly folks that do just fine raising kids in nicer parts of Chicago the "lead time" that seems necessary is about a year or two before school starts. Ideally living even longer gives parents time to learn the ropes of the challenges of CPS. There are HUGE price premiums for nicer single family homes in the desirable near-to-the-lake city neighborhoods and even in those costly neighborhoods the schools that serve residents are massively over utilized. In contrast the suburbs with similar housing costs typically have much smaller class sizes / better overall situation as the taxes have been used to improve local schools...

[marothisu]

On average, the schools in the suburbs that you WILL get into are better, I agree. If you think you have a semi prodigy child or even more money to spend on private schooling, then you don't need to go that route.

[chet everett]

I don't think the kids' natural abilities need to be anything other than "ordinary" for parents to want well run schools but otherwise I'd agree with you. Happy Holiday Bowl Weekend!

[nutra]

Your needs sound similar to mine (two cats, expecting our first child) and I happen to be moving BACK to Chicago after a hiatus elsewhere (I last visited in May though).

Prior to moving I lived on the Gold Coast off of Goethe and if I lived a little further north (within stroller distance) of Lincoln Park I'd suggest you consider that area too.

If I was you I'd consider the South Loop, I personally am ONLY moving back to experience all that is Chicago so I understand your desires.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by nutra

Your needs sound similar to mine (two cats, expecting our first child) and I happen to be moving BACK to Chicago after a hiatus elsewhere (I last visited in May though).

Prior to moving I lived on the Gold Coast off of Goethe and if I lived a little further north (within stroller distance) of Lincoln Park I'd suggest you consider that area too.

If I was you I'd consider the South Loop, I personally am ONLY moving back to experience all that is Chicago so I understand your desires.

Congratulations on your pregnancy! You'll probably have 5+ years to really get dialed-in with the best options for selective admissions kindergarten and such.

The South Loop has some really appealing features like access to the museum campus, Grant Park for music festivals and walk-to-work convenience. There have been a large influx of folks with children and CPS has had to build some new schools to meet demand.

Good Luck!

[williepotatoes]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Congratulations on your pregnancy! You'll probably have 5+ years to really get dialed-in with the best options for selective admissions kindergarten and such.

The South Loop has some really appealing features like access to the museum campus, Grant Park for music festivals and walk-to-work convenience. There have been a large influx of folks with children and CPS has had to build some new schools to meet demand.

Good Luck!

I was just rolling thru that area and south of there a few hours ago. I'm always awestuck at how seriously residential that place is these days. People walking dogs, kids all over the place and real full size grocery stores. Twenty years ago, most of that space was a dark wasteland by nightfall.

[chet everett]

The mix of quiet old fashioned mid-rise warehouses and old fashioned "piece work" factories was rapidly replaced with a mix of residential high rises and some pretty solid townhome developments. As I recall the City of Chicago planners actually encouraged developers to build some larger / more dense projects in an effort to get enough people to support the kinds of business (grocery stores , coffee shops, diners...) that give an area vibrancy. That has been mostly effective though the shear number of units that came on the market as prices peaked resulted in an awful lot of folks on the wrong side of bubblicious prices...
That sort of imbalance in values was not as bad as say Vegas where entire high rise towers are in foreclosure but it has created a situation where lenders are very circumspect compare to year ago..

Originally Posted by williepotatoes

I was just rolling thru that area and south of there a few hours ago. I'm always awestuck at how seriously residential that place is these days. People walking dogs, kids all over the place and real full size grocery stores. Twenty years ago, most of that space was a dark wasteland by nightfall.