Truth moment: My husband and I have been looking to buy a home to raise our (hopefully growing) family and it’s been extremely frustrating to say the least. Here’s our story:
My husband and I moved here 4 years ago. We’ve lived in Bronzeville and the South Loop but now that we have a child we’re thinking about schools and the city isn’t looking great for us. We LOVE the city, especially the south loop. We were both raised in cities but we’re truly struggling trying to make Chicago work for us. The south loop has become extremely expensive over the years and we’re not really interested in spending so much for a condo or a small townhouse.
I have 5 main criteria:
- Affordability. I would like to keep it under 400k simply because I want to be able to afford it very easily on one income. Although neither of us plan to stop working, you never know what the future holds. Also, I want to do more with my money than pay a mortgage. I love to travel, go on family trips, have family outings, etc. I don’t want to have an expensive house and feel trapped in it.
- Good public schools. My daughter is extremely spirited and I’m not even sure we will send her to public school but I would like it to be a viable option. I don’t want our choices to be private school on gangland school.
- At least 8% African American. This is the category that I expected to be the easiest but it has actually been the hardest. I’ve been able to find places that fit all of my criteria but they’re 0.01% AA. I’m not even sure what that means in reality. Like there is one black family, or maybe a mixed family, or one mixed child…no idea. That’s a really small number though…way too small for my liking. I’ve found a few suburbs: Homewood, Flossmoor, and Olympia Fields, but they’re pretty far out.
- Median income of at least 70k. Finding an area with “high” income (I personally don’t consider 70k to be that high) an a decent percentage of black people seems to be impossible in Chicagoland. I’ve found a few neighborhoods such as Beverly, but there a rumors about it not being so AA friendly.
- Decent transportation to and from the city. My husband and I both work in the loop and we don’t see that changing anytime soon. That said, we need easy access to the city and a commute that doesn’t make us suicidal. The suburbs I mentioned above may fit the bill if I can figure out what to do with our daughter…leave her in the burbs or commute to the city with her.
- Safety. Safety should be given if all of the above criteria is met.
I’m obviously looking for a unicorn, at least here in Chicago. Diverse neighborhoods seem to be extremely expensive which is odd to me. Don’t get me wrong; I’m originally from Detroit so diversity is not something that I grew up with. Detroit is probably one of the blackest big cities in America. But I want more for my children. I want them to grow up with people that look like them, and people that don’t. People of higher incomes and lower incomes than our family. People with 2 parent households, single parent households, mixed race, gay, etc. I think diversity and various cultural and social experiences are so vital to America’s future and can truly help bridge the gap of understanding amongst us all. Is it the answer to all our problems? Of course not but it is a huge start. I don’t think anyone should make it to college without encountering someone of a different race except on television or the local news.
I really hope I find my unicorn because I truly like Chicago; I could do away with the segregation though. 🙂
PrimalMomLife 