My wife and I lived in Hyde Park 1994-2001 (she's a professor at the U of C).

Hyde Park is a pain in the butt to get to from the north via public transportation, especially in the winter or in the rain. From downtown, easy via the Metra Electric commuter train (www.metrarail.com).

There are people who commute from Oak Park via train to downtown, shift to a bus to transfer to the Metra Electric station, then another train. I am told it takes about 90 minutes. No way on earth I'd do that twice a day.

We had a son in 1997 and decided to look south along the same Metra line and settled on Flossmoor. (Hyde Park is not particularly great for kids.)Neighboring Homewood is nice as well. I'd suggest you take a look at them. Or the next stop down the line, Olympia Fields.

Flossmoor is diverse (22% African-American I think I have heard). 8000 or so people, small downtown with couple restaurants including excellent brewpub with post office and bank and new $12,000,000 public library, lots of tree-lined streets, many professionals, professors, etc. About 26 minutes by train to Hyde Park, about $100 monthly for train pass. Excellent schools for the most part. Low cost of property compared to Lincoln Park/downtown/Gold Coast, median around $300K I think. One of the highest rates of owner-occupied houses in Chicagoland, so may be challenging to find a rental. I can recommend a Realtor.

Homewood a little less expensive (median maybe $250K), roughly 17000 people. More shops in the "downtown." The two towns share a parks system which is excellent. Tons of shopping (Target, Home Depot, supermarkets, various chain stores, etc.) a few blocks away by car. Hyde Park is quite bad for shopping; you have to go all the way out near Midway airport for a group of Target/Wal-Mart/Best Buy, Sears, etc. 30-40 minutes or so. Few grocery stores in HP and expensive and run by clowns, too.

If you are working on a contract with the U of C, you may be eligible to rent from the University, which restricts rental of its better properties to faculty and staff. We lived in a huge 4-bedroom townhouse with full basement and 9/10-foot ceilings just a couple blocks from the hospital and paid something like $1400 a month in 2001. They have smaller properties, too.

HP is expensive. Some years ago I was told a nice 2-bedroom apt. was over $900. There is a high-rise apartment building near the lake (name escapes me) with lots of amenities like a health club onsite and shopping nearby that might serve.