Chicago

[frankie teardrop]

Lakeview and Lincoln Park. But, I wouldn't really describe any city as, "family friendly".

[littlehamr]

i think logan square is "family friendly."  it's becoming more gentrified but you can still find relatively cheap places, plus there's a lot of trees/greenery.  there's a ton of rugrats running around.  i love that neighborhood!

[Erin S]

i think logan square is "family friendly."  it's becoming more gentrified but you can still find relatively cheap places, plus there's a lot of trees/greenery.  there's a ton of rugrats running around.  i love that neighborhood!

I've been looking at Logan Square somewhat. I'm not 100% opposed to moving to one of the suburbs, but its not my first choice. We're both working-class and I'm in college. I don't expect any neighborhood we move to to look like Evansville, but I don't want to live somewhere where I have to worry about my car/home getting broken into. My uncle lives in Chicago and he said that Beverly (?) was pretty nice, but I don't know too much about it.

The biggest problem I can see with living in Logan Square is that we'd have to send our son to private school. He's not gonna be school-aged for another 3 or 4 years, but if I end up staying in med school I'll definitely still be a student then.

[littlehamr]

i've never heard of beverly.  logan square is safe.  my friend's van once got "broken" into but that was because some window was open or something.  as long as all the doors/windows are locked you should be fine. 

i dunno too much about the school system but there are definitely magnet schools, he wouldn't necessarily have to go to school in the neighborhood.  you should look into that.

if you need another reason, there's a $4 movie theater and about a million cheap places to eat.

[frankie teardrop]

As a kindergarten teacher in CPS....

I would never send my white child to a public, magnet school, etc. Almost any school at elementary age run by CPS. Race is an issue at public schools. If you are the only white kid at the school, the other black/hispanic kids will let you know. At my school, we have had 1 white kid every year. But, they only last one year. The white kid is endlessly picked on for being white. Rough environment to be in. Plus, you're child learns stupid-inner-city-neglected-child-lingo to try and fit in. Nothing like hearing kids endlessly say "duh" instead of "the" or "dat" instead of "that".

Logan Square is a party neighborhood. Hipster central. I would never let my child be exposed to that. He might grow up like that.... Lincoln Square would probably actually be good. Ask LisaLisa, she's raising a kid, but I think she and her husband live in the suburbs.

Beverly would be good. But way fucking far out there. Practically the suburbs. Hyde Park is actually probably the best place to raise your kid, in the city. Ray Elementary in Hyde Park is an exception to my above "rule". Good diversity and a good school. I don't know, as the Smith Westerns, they all grew up in the City. Good Public schools do exist in Chicago, but they are few and far between. You have to do your research and then you have to fight like hell to get your child in.

[littlehamr]

Logan Square is a party neighborhood. Hipster central. I would never let my child be exposed to that. He might grow up like that.... Lincoln Square would probably actually be good.

hipster central i understand, but "party neighborhood" seems a bit of an exaggeration...
lincoln square is probably a good bet.  listen to the teacher i guess.

[HFohr]

Logan Square is a party neighborhood. Hipster central. I would never let my child be exposed to that. He might grow up like that.... Lincoln Square would probably actually be good.

hipster central i understand, but "party neighborhood" seems a bit of an exaggeration...
lincoln square is probably a good bet.  listen to the teacher i guess.

I love where 'George Costanza' lives.  Logan square, it's really beautiful, and easy to walk to things that you need.  I used to hate chicago, but now I actually really like it.  It's like, perfect.  Especially Logan square, because there's always shit to do, but you feel safe, and it's got alot of plants and families, dogs, nice people etc.

[joeyyy]

Well if you want your kid to end up like Brian...

[Erin S]

Logan Square is a party neighborhood. Hipster central. I would never let my child be exposed to that. He might grow up like that.... Lincoln Square would probably actually be good.

hipster central i understand, but "party neighborhood" seems a bit of an exaggeration...
lincoln square is probably a good bet.  listen to the teacher i guess.

I love where 'George Costanza' lives.  Logan square, it's really beautiful, and easy to walk to things that you need.  I used to hate chicago, but now I actually really like it.  It's like, perfect.  Especially Logan square, because there's always shit to do, but you feel safe, and it's got alot of plants and families, dogs, nice people etc.

I like Logan Square. I don't really know too much about Lincoln Square but I'm sure I've been there.

The family I do have who live in the Chicago area mostly live in Brookfield. I don't know much about Brookfield as a whole, but I actually really like the area that they live in... Lots of cute little bungalows and working-class families, nice little restaurants and stuff. Plus a cool zoo, duh.

[tina]

I love where 'George Costanza' lives.  Logan square, it's really beautiful, and easy to walk to things that you need.  I used to hate chicago, but now I actually really like it.  It's like, perfect.  Especially Logan square, because there's always shit to do, but you feel safe, and it's got alot of plants and families, dogs, nice people etc.

Sounds like Park Slope minus the "always shit to do"

[goneoffdatlean]

There are tons of safe neighborhoods for kids and families.  But yeh CPS pretty much sucks and you'd need to private school.  There's a lot more crime in smaller cities I think around the country. 

Lincoln Square?  Are you all talking about Lincoln Park.  Logan Square isn't hipster central, that's Wicker Park.

[Erin S]

There are tons of safe neighborhoods for kids and families.  But yeh CPS pretty much sucks and you'd need to private school.  There's a lot more crime in smaller cities I think around the country. 

Lincoln Square?  Are you all talking about Lincoln Park.  Logan Square isn't hipster central, that's Wicker Park.

Personally I think that the neighborhood I live in NOW is probably more unsafe than say, Lincoln Sqaure would be. And I live in a fairly small college town in Indiana. There are a lot of nice people that live in my neighborhood, but there's also a lot of really shady people, and I've definitely seen some questionable stuff go down. My next-door neighbors are the biggest problem. It's a two-bedroom townhouse, like mine, and there seem to be about 10-15 people there at any given time. Constantly leaving trash in our part of the lawn, putting their trash in our trash cans, etc. I know that makes me sound like a huge whiny baby, but it actually gets pretty annoying. I know cars have been broken into in my neighborhood... I don't really keep anything valuable in my car, but still.

[HFohr]

Well if you want your kid to end up like Brian...

The only thing I'm worried about is if my kid ends up talking like Brian.  I'm not going to be having any of that "yahdamang!" stuff coming from my tiny tots.  

[Erin S]

Well if you want your kid to end up like Brian...

The only thing I'm worried about is if my kid ends up talking like Brian.  I'm not going to be having any of that "yahdamang!" stuff coming from my tiny tots.  

Haley, did I tell you that Henry is already getting teeth? Two that I know of so far. He's only three months old! So weird.

You should let me know next time you're heading up to Chicago. I'll try to tag along and maybe get a closer look at some of these places.

[littlehamr]

Lincoln Square?  Are you all talking about Lincoln Park.  Logan Square isn't hipster central, that's Wicker Park.

i know i was talking about lincoln square.  don't know how safe it is i guess, but one of my best friends used to live there and i always liked it.  now lincoln park... THAT'S a neighborhood i wouldn't want my kids to live in for fear of them becoming like the college/yuppie/slut/jock assholes that populate it.  it's also pretty expensive.  beautiful buildings though.

logan square could be so much worse hipster-wise.  there's just a lot of art students and the like.  it's no wicker park.