Originally Posted by
chgoeditor
It's important to understand that there can be a wide disparity between a "good" public elementary school and a "great" public elementary school. My sense is that if you're looking for great public elementary schools, you're better off in Lincoln Park or Lakeview than Bucktown or Wicker Park.
The difference is often referred to as "up-and-coming" vs "already there" and you're generally correct. Areas like Bucktown and Wicker Park are starting to see the kinda/sorta transition from young and hip to older and kids. Lincoln Park and Lakeview made that transition earlier. Other spots to look at are Roscoe Village and North Center. They're a few more stops out on the L, but still have good schools.
Originally Posted by
Ghentleman
I'll be commuting to merchandise mart almost daily and to O'Hare 3-4 times/month.
In that case my recommendation is to look along the Brown Line. The schools are good, easy commute to the Mart (L stop is connected to the building). For ORD, all the major east/west streets have buses that will take you to the Blue Line. If you're anywhere close to rush hour, the Blue Line will be faster than the traffic on the Kennedy.
Originally Posted by
Ghentleman
The northern suburbs are a bit too far away to my liking. I'm looking forward to being close to city life, suburbia is not my think. But I might change my mind...
If you think you don't want to live in an American suburb, you're probably right. Don't buy into the "YOU MUST GO TO THE BURBS FOR SCHOOLS" hype. The schools on the north side are as good or better, the families are probably better off and sadly the schools have a similar lack of diversity.