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Better neighborhoods in Chicago


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Looking for good school district, easy commute, and access to lots of free activities. Can someone help a sista out?

 

Need more info. Easy commute where? Grammer school? What kind of activities?

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Need more info. Easy commute where? Grammer school? What kind of activities?

 

within the city of Chicago. My new office is located on Van Buren, in the dowtown area. Generally a good school district, preferably a montessori school. and well, tennis, outdoor concerts, zoo, etc. Thanks for any help.

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This is a pretty complex question that is not easily answered on a message board. I mean it depends on how urban you feel like being and what you are expecting out of the schools where your kids go.

 

Feel free to PM me where we can have a non-snide convo and some more info. As far as Lincoln Park, I wouldn't try and raise a family there either, but then I don't know what anyone means by Lincoln Park, unless we are talking about a homeless family living in the actual park. (See past discussions about real neighborhood names...)

 

And before some accuses me of being nasty to someone wanting info, Chicago and Cook County is a VERY large area, so are we talking city or suburbs or collar counties or what? The question is still way to general to give any kind of answer that will really make sense.

 

LouieB

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So stardog is doing ction these days? I can't keep up with this place.

 

 

 

I lived a block north of the Lincoln Park neighborhood once (officially, the northern boundary is Diversey -- north of that is Lakeview). I loved it there, and I hate drunken frat boys even more than most people. Of course, that was 1991 -- maybe it's worse now.

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This provides links to some very basic neighborhood info, including geographic boundaries.
Here are the official Chicago neighborhoods, opposed to the real estate designations. Many of the above designations on the map are real estate names rather than official neighborhood names.

 

Lincoln Park is south of Diversy along the lakefront as Cryptic said. How they come up with this I am not sure, but many of the areas were towns that were later incorporated into the city. Much of what people think is Lincoln Park is actually Lakeview.

 

LouieB

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Louie's link is technically correct, but when looking for housing, don't use it. For example, if someone tells you about a great place in Andersonville, the official map isn't going to help you. The listings will all use the real estate designations.

 

Much of what people think is Lincoln Park is actually Lakeview.

Very true. Most people seem to think that anything close to Wrigley is in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

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Louie's link is technically correct, but when looking for housing, don't use it. For example, if someone tells you about a great place in Andersonville, the official map isn't going to help you. The listings will all use the real estate designations.

Very true. Most people seem to think that anything close to Wrigley is in the Lincoln Park neighborhood.

I more or less agree with that, but even the real estate designations are fairly fluid. If an area is getting gentrified it will be named something new to make it sound more attractive. So you may be shown an area in Humbolt Park (for example) that is made to sound really glamourous and may not be what you really want.

 

Ultimately you have to decide where you want to live based on what the housing is like, what the crime rate is like and what the local schools are like and the rest is sort of irrelevant.

 

We never really did hear back from the person starting this thread what they want either....

 

LouieB

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We never really did hear back from the person starting this thread what they want either....

We got this:

 

within the city of Chicago. My new office is located on Van Buren, in the dowtown area. Generally a good school district, preferably a montessori school. and well, tennis, outdoor concerts, zoo, etc. Thanks for any help.

...but yeah, some more info would be helpful.

 

Don't necessarily limit yourself to being within the city limits. If you live near a CTA or Metra line, that can be just as good (and often better, depending on your tolerance for traffic).

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yeah, don't be fooled into the somewhat recent designation of "west bucktown." there is no west bucktown... its humboldt! how goofy. not that theres anything wrong with humboldt park, of course.

 

also, real estate prices range greatly from neighborhood to neighborhood so depending on what you want to send to buy or rent, that may limit you.

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yeah there are some BEAUTIFUL brick townhouses in Lincoln Park/Lakeview (there, I covered my bases)......could I ever afford to live in one in my lifetime? Hmmm....... :no

 

I do enjoy a lot of the little gardens people do up outside their homes in that area when I am walking to my class on Armitage on Saturdays.

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I think the OP provided a good deal of info on what they want.

 

Sounds like Lincoln Park may be the place for you with the montessori school and zoo and whatnot. It looks like there is a public school with a Montessori program here: http://cpsmagnet.org/schools/?dir=Magnet%2...ool&rn=2199, but it may not be a great school and it would probably be difficult to get in past the deadline.

 

People here will poo-poo Lincoln Park because it's yuppified, but if it works for you that's all that matters. It can be pretty expensive, so there's that.

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