youngish & ruthlessly childfree cpl moving from MI, adv pls (Chicago: real estate, apartments)

[Mokey]

My husband and I are leaving Oakland County (Detroit Metro area) Michigan within the next 18 months.

We are looking to buy a house in a neighborhood or suburb that is very walkable and *dog friendly*, though not necessarily family-centric (we don't have kids and no plans on having them and frankly tired of 'mommy parking' spots and being rammed in the ankles by doublewide strollers wielded by mothers acting like they have done the world a favor by having children (which may just be an Oakland county Michigan phenomenon, I really don't know).

I'm under 30, he's under 40, upper middle income. We'd like a youthful neighborhood where we'd be able to leave home and walk somewhere for dinner, drinks, music, a loaf of bread or whatever.

If you're familiar with the Detroit area, we're looking for a place similar to Ferndale or Royal Oak - houses, apartments, music, dogs, young & walkable. (If you're wondering why we don't just stay here, well, we need to be closer to the airline hub in Chicago. Plus we've lived here for awhile now and its time for a change.

What about Oak Park, does it fit the criteria at all? We will be going to Chicago to this weekend to scout for neighborhoods/towns. We haven't actually been able to spend any time there before, so if anyone has any ideas at all please post back.

Thanks so much.

[oakparkdude]

Oak Park might fit your criteria. We've got a lot of kids here, since one of our draws is our excellent school system, but there's a decent downtown area which is walkable and has lots of restaurants, coffee shops, a movie theater, and retail.

You might want to check the nearby town of Forest Park also. Its main drag (Madison Street) has a lot of trendy bars and restaurants. Plus, the property taxes in FP are a lot lower than OP (schools aren't as good), so your real estate dollars will go further.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Mokey

My husband and I are leaving Oakland County (Detroit Metro area) Michigan within the next 18 months.

We are looking to buy a house in a neighborhood or suburb that is very walkable and *dog friendly*, though not necessarily family-centric (we don't have kids and no plans on having them and frankly tired of 'mommy parking' spots and being rammed in the ankles by doublewide strollers wielded by mothers acting like they have done the world a favor by having children (which may just be an Oakland county Michigan phenomenon, I really don't know).

I'm under 30, he's under 40, upper middle income. We'd like a youthful neighborhood where we'd be able to leave home and walk somewhere for dinner, drinks, music, a loaf of bread or whatever.

If you're familiar with the Detroit area, we're looking for a place similar to Ferndale or Royal Oak - houses, apartments, music, dogs, young & walkable. (If you're wondering why we don't just stay here, well, we need to be closer to the airline hub in Chicago. Plus we've lived here for awhile now and its time for a change.

What about Oak Park, does it fit the criteria at all? We will be going to Chicago to this weekend to scout for neighborhoods/towns. We haven't actually been able to spend any time there before, so if anyone has any ideas at all please post back.

Thanks so much.

Oak Park will definitely fit the criteria. I don't know what your budget is but a servicable house not too close to Austin (very troubled Chicago neighborhood) or the Eisenhower Expressway (the "Iron Stream") will set you back at least $400k. Homes in the nicest northwestern sector run $750k and up. Oak Park has very high taxes, which people are willing to pay because of the schools. But as you have no kids or plans for them, that may be a drawback.

Oak Park's southern neighbor Berwyn may remind you a little of Royal Oak -- many old houses, some winding streets and hills versus a flat postage stamp layout, etc. Definitely young and on the upswing. Like Forest Park, it is considerably cheaper than Oak Park. I think the housing stock in Berwyn is better than Forest Park, and probably a little less costly. The schools are probably a little better in Berwyn too -- again, not that you care. FP's Madison St. is indeed fantastic, I will say. The town turned it into a "Main Street" a few years ago and it really helped. Berwyn is now doing the same thing with Cermak Rd. Hopefully the results will be similar.

[Mokey]

Thank you Sukwoo for the suggestion about FP; we'll scope it out while we are in the OP area.

Thank you so much BRU67. We will definitely check out Berwyn and your suggestions helped us with a pros & cons list.

You've really helped us a lot. As I said, we haven't ever been in Chicago long enough to check it out at all. We would have been going into it blind without your help. We really appreciate it.

[azndragon60640]

if you have no kids then move to lincoln park a chicago neighborhood has alot of nightlife and resturants.

[outsider1]

I'm slightly familiar with Detroit and for some reason feel that you might be looking for something like Andersonville or maybe even Ravenswood. Lincoln Park is a really great place but you might feel a little intimidated in the beginning since it may seem "overly gentrified".

[BRU67]

Not to mention the slightly inconvenient fact that a million dollar house in Lincoln Park is considered a "starter home," hehe. I don't think a house in Andersonville or Ravenswood would be affordable either. Perhaps you could dredge up something from the briny depths of the market, but it would be tough. Condo, absolutely. House, no. They also said they want to be near the airport. The commute to O'Hare or Midway from the far North Side would be miserable. Both airports are very easy to get to from Oak Park/Berwyn/Forest Park, as is the Loop.

[Attrill]

I agree that Lincoln Park is definitely pricey, for most people a house would be out of the question. I think Andersonville and Ravenswood would be worth looking into.

Oak Park is similar to Ferndale, but compared to areas like Wicker Park it is not the hot spot for restaurants and bars. There's a stereotype in Chicago that people move to Oak Park once they have kids (for the schools), I have three friends who have moved from the city to Oak Park and had kids within a year, so there is some truth to the stereotype . Despite that, Oak Park is laid back and you don't get many people who think that having kids is the only purpose in life. There's plenty to do in Oak Park, but there are neighborhoods in the City have a higher density of things to do.

The commute to O'Hare from the Northside is a piece of cake if you're close to the Blue Line - it can be a quarter the time it would take from Oak Park. Even away from the Blue Line taking a bus from a neighborhood like Lincoln Square (not Park - Square) to the Blue Line will still take less time.

The neighborhoods in the city that probably best fit your request for "youthful neighborhood where we'd be able to leave home and walk somewhere for dinner, drinks, music, a loaf of bread or whatever" would be Wicker Park/Bucktown/Ukrainian Village. Check out Division St. between Ashland and Western and Wicker Park (the area around the intersection of Milwaukee and Damen). That area is probably the most youthful area in the city (without being overrun with sports bars). Houses are hard to find under $500,000 in that immediate area, but areas like West Town (Chicago/Grand/Milwaukee/Damen) and the south end of Logan Square (Fullerton/Armitage/Western/California) have houses in the $350-400,000 range. They may be more urban or younger than what you're thinking of, but they have a lot more going on than Oak Park and are convenient to the airports.

And unless you have a lot of luggage, or are flying out at odd hours, taking the El to the airport is almost always faster than driving.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Attrill

And unless you have a lot of luggage, or are flying out at odd hours, taking the El to the airport is almost always faster than driving.

Yeah, maybe if they ever patch up all the g-ddamn slow zones...

[Mokey]

Boy, we picked a doozie weekend to go to Chicago weather-wise, but unfortunately it was the only time my husband and I could both spare a few days for the trip. We could have driven there in the time it took the plane to leave the tarmac, but at least our flight wasn't canceled.

We weren't able to spend as much time checking out neighborhoods as we thought (in addition to the flight delay, a visit to Devon street was also on the agenda).

We did check out Oak Park and Berwyn. We didn't like Berwyn; we tried to, but we really didn't like it. Oak Park's downtown only seemed like a block or two. We were very impressed the three bookstores and on a single block. It's understandable why people with kids move there. There wasn't enough for the two of us to justify the home cost and taxes, as BRU67 kind of guessed. Thank you, though.

We really love Chicago and the Chicago area. However, after looking forward to the the trip for six weeks or so and having daydreams of how life would be in another city, I think when we actually spent time there, we both came to the realization that as great as Chicago is, it is still as cold and cloudy as Detroit for at least 4 months, probably more. We both probably knew this deep down, but didn't admit it until we were there. I'm afraid we're both so tired of the cold, gray sky that it doesn't matter how spectacular the city is.

The big move discussions for the past two months have gone like this :We can move pretty much anywhere there is a major airport. My husband has hus own business, but he has to fly all the time. My husband wants to move to the Las Vegas area. I hate the idea, (too close to California, too many ex Californians... I am a liberal but I am not a CA type liberal) I wanted to move to Austin, but then he'll have a layover in Dallas, so I had to fold.

We both roughly agreed on Chicago, and we arranged a trip...just wanted to give the big picture...

So the next trip is in eight weeks, to Las Vegas... (rolls eyes).