Moving To Chicago From So. California (Champaign, Urbana: rent, crime, find a job)

[ezek413]

My wife and I are visiting Chicago (Hyde Park) area this coming week, because we will be continuing our educational endeavours there. We will try to become acquaited with both the city and the University of Chicago (Hyde Park).

Now I was born and raised in California, and I expect a severe lifestyle change when we do move. With that being said we want to stay as close to the school as possible, we will be selling both of our vehicles and using zip car and public transit for our commuting. We have a daughter (5 months) who will be coming with us.

No family, friends, just the three of us out there. Now I did not intend to make this a personal statement or Bio, I just wanted to paint a picture for those of you who could help with the transition.

Is Hyde Park a decent area to live with family? Is travel to downtown safe and reliable for future employment? Any other areas you might recomend for living? Cubs or Whitesox?

Any info would help and be much appreciated. Thanks for your time!

[Kevin J]

Given the age of your daughter, and that one or both of you will be attending the university, living in Hyde Park would be the most convenient thing for you. If you're still there when she is ready to start school, you may want to reevaluate, since your best options will be private schools.

Hyde Park has plenty of families because of the university. The majority of university faculty and many university staff members raise their families in Hyde Park or Kenwood, the neighborhood just north of Hyde Park where the Obamas lived (note that they sent their elementary school-aged daughters to the private school run by the university).

The 'park' in the Hyde Park name is well deserved, because there is more green space nearby than most neighborhoods in the city. The lakefront park is to the east, the green belt called the Midway (an artifact of a world's fair held there in the 19th century) is to the south, and Washington Park, one of the largest parks in the city, is to the west. Note, however, that safety in Washington Park is sometimes an issue, so you probably won't be using it much.

Despite all the greenery, Hyde Park/ Kenwood is still a city neighborhood, so it has more crime and congestion issues (e.g. parking) than you'd find in a typical suburb. It's also surrounded by depressed neighborhoods on the south, west, and north, so it is a bit of an island. Nevertheless, it's a very liveable area and many people love it. It's very convenient for commuting downtown for work. There is an express bus that will get you downtown in 20-30 minutes and the Metra commuter train (that costs a little more) that will get you there in about 10 minutes. To take advantage of either the express bus or the train, you'd want to live in east Hyde Park rather than to the west towards the university campus. Walking to campus from the east would still only take 20-30 minutes and campus buses are available too.

Most of your everyday shopping needs can be met in the neighborhood, even if your choices are limited. But dining and entertainment options are where the neighborhood is lacking. There are some decent restaurants in the neighborhood, but you'll probably get pretty tired of them after the first six months. There's a second-run/film series movie theater on campus that's open to the public, but to see a first-run movie, you'll need to go downtown. Concerts, lectures, and student theater productions on campus are open to the public too, and there is a professional theater company affiliated with the university that has does a full season in its on-campus theater.

If you decide that Hyde Park isn't for you and you still don't want to have a car, you should consider the South Loop. It's pricier than some parts of the city, but it's just south of downtown and the same Metra train line that I mentioned above would get you to Hyde Park in 10 minutes (it would then be another 10-15 minute walk to campus, though).

Other city neighborhoods will involve a lengthier and more complicated (e.g. more than one bus, transferring between train and bus) if you want to stick to being carless. If you keep a car, commuting from any of the north side neighborhoods on the lakefront would be convenient. This would include neighborhoods such as Lincoln Park, Lakeview, and Andersonville/Edgewater.

[jdiddy]

The local independent weekly in Chicago had an issue devoted to Hyde Park/Kenwood. Read through some of the articles, they should help you get a taste of the neighborhood.

Search the Reader: hyde park | Chicago Reader

[Chicagoland60426]

Kevin J;13603749]Given the age of your daughter, and that one or both of you will be attending the university, living in Hyde Park would be the most convenient thing for you. If you're still there when she is ready to start school, you may want to reevaluate, since your best options will be private schools.

Kenwood Academy H.S. is a decent public school.

[Kevin J]

Originally Posted by Chicagoland60426

Kenwood Academy H.S. is a decent public school.

Yes, but their 5-month old child will have to get through grades K-8 before possibly going to Kenwood.

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by ezek413

My wife and I are visiting Chicago (Hyde Park) area this coming week, because we will be continuing our educational endeavours there. We will try to become acquaited with both the city and the University of Chicago (Hyde Park).

Now I was born and raised in California, and I expect a severe lifestyle change when we do move. With that being said we want to stay as close to the school as possible, we will be selling both of our vehicles and using zip car and public transit for our commuting. We have a daughter (5 months) who will be coming with us.

No family, friends, just the three of us out there. Now I did not intend to make this a personal statement or Bio, I just wanted to paint a picture for those of you who could help with the transition.

Is Hyde Park a decent area to live with family? Is travel to downtown safe and reliable for future employment? Any other areas you might recomend for living? Cubs or Whitesox?

Any info would help and be much appreciated. Thanks for your time!

Hyde Park is a beautiful part of the city, however, it is an island surrouded by some of the worst of the worst in Chicago. It's like putting San Clemente in an area and surrouding it with Compton and Watts. Perhaps you should just come here, rent a car, and see it for yourself and figure out if the area is for you.

[chet everett]

Kenwood has suffered terribly from the diffusion of talent caused by the expansion of schools like Payton & Northside, and few folks in Hyde Park or surrounding areas that have the means to afford Lab consider it a good choice...

Even the success of transforming schools in the South Loop. like Jones, has hurt Kenwood, as the overall effect has left fewer good reasons to deal the downsides of Kenwood.

As to the broader issues of commuting to the Loop from Hyde Park there are a large number of professional in many fields that routinely rely on public transit as a well as significant number of people that do drive from Hyde Park to jobs through out the region. The time it takes to get to other than the south end of Loop, considering the distance covered, tends to make people easily bend their desires to rely on public transit -- a fifteen minute drive to someplace like Northwestern's Gold Coast campus could easily take more than three times as long via public transit...
Toss in the fact that you might be braving some fierce winter weather in a very unprotected way with a an infant vs driving in comfort and a Prius or other hybrid makes a whole lot of sense. I would hold off on going carless...

[chirack]

I would agree with holding off with going careless. Going down to one car esp. if one person is working in the loop may make sense. Hyde park does not have extremely bad parking. Some parkig problems but not as bad as downtown or linlcon park.

Oh, and I would say white soxs, just to be on the safe side on the south side....

[ezek413]

I just want to thank everyone for your time. Me and my wife just finished reading the advice given and we agree a lot with what has been said, we just visited both the campus and a bit of downtown (Millenium Park). We loved Chicago and Hyde Park, and if everything goes smoothly then we will be staying in Northern Hyde Park a few blocks from the Obama's off of Hyde Park Blvd. in some graduate housing (Fairfax).

The public transit was awesome except for a few sketchy areas and people on the Red line, I dont understand why everyone it seems is anti-social and minds their own business, I guess it makes sense when having to deal with a lot more strangers, but it seems less friendlier. Then again over here we all stay in our own bubbles and drive our cars everywhere, so we dont have to deal with the wierd folks.

Overall I love Chicago. SO much more to do and downtown is minutes away, and actually feels like a city, everywhere we went seen families walking around even at night, and early morning seeing people walking their dogs, joging and drinking their coffees. I mean we do that here too but its just different.

You think zipcar will solve the no car issue? Affordable places to buy furniture out there and how to move it? Any good Bible Teaching Christian Churches out there? Any decent places to start looking for work? I dont have my degree yet, so I am very open and want to find a job in a decent location. Winter gets how cold? Last How long?

Whitesox works for me, cant go wrong with the Pin Stripe, and Jose Guillen. Thanks for the help everyone again. You guys are really the only ones I have out there for help and advice.

[ABiologyTeacher]

Chicago people please add whatever you have to say about climate since I'm from C-U I can't speak first hand about the weather.

Get ready for rain, overcast, and snow (not anytime soon). Weather is rather unpredictable here, though I suppose that is anywhere. I comment as a person who lives in Illinois but not Chicago though the weather isn't that much different from where I live. Anywho, my mom was born and raised in Cali. Her biggest adjustment factor was the climate. As long as you can get a job (good luck) and a place that would be your only real concern.

I can only speak for my area which gets less snow (no lake effect). On average I'd say the winters (As early as Oct.- as late as March) are 20's-30's. Some years you can go out running in a tee and shorts in October/November (this year I could do that) It really varies year to year. The temp can be as low as -20 or so. Expect that to happen at several times in the winter. Wind is a big issue in how cold it feels and it is normally always windy in IL. Expect to get at least a couple of snow storms per season of at least a foot of snow or more.

March warms up but that means rain, rain, rain. Not as bad as Seattle or anything but more than So Cal. You don't need sprinklers here. March-mid August it can rain anytime, even if it looks sunny. All the rain makes for a humid summer. Fall is fairly pleasant and so is spring if you have an umbrella or a good rain jacket. I would suggest a jacket and boots because umbrellas don't last long with all that wind. I've had one brand new umbrella turn inside out on me within 5 minutes of use.

Personally, I love our seasons. I love the rain, snow, humidity, the changing leaves and of course Chicago. Great city with lots to do (Field Museum is my absolute favorite). Who knows maybe you'll stick around for the long term.



As far as travel...I would say travel is okay just be aware of your surroundings. Downtown shouldn't be a problem. Ah and on the Hyde Park thing. I was just in that area this weekend. I am a 23 year old petite female from the middle of nowhere. I felt safe walking around (by myself) but I dunno about surrounding other neighborhoods.

You know there's the Cubs too but I sport the white and black myself (kinda a rarity in cub-n-cardville Champaign-Urbana).

I hope what I'm typing is making sense since it is like 1 AM here.