Near South & Near West Neighborhoods: Pilsen, Bridgeport, West Town, Near West Side, Wicker Park, ?, ? (Chicago: where to stay)

[lollipopman]

It has always been the desire for my wife and brother-in-law to live in close
proximity, so that our children might grow up together.

In an effort to realize that dream we are looking for a two-flat in the city.
One major restriction is that the location be in commuting distance to
Shorewood, IL, where my brother-in-law's job still resides, but hopefully will
not in the future once he secures a position in the city.

The other major restriction is that we are looking for something at or under
400K, which I realize in this city is akin to looking for a needle in the
haystack.

Thus far the only neighborhood that pops out, after doing a fair amount of
research is Pilsen, I've seen some buildings available close to the 18th stop on
the Pink Line, but I am concerned about whether raising children in that
neighborhood is a daft notion.

From only living in the city a year I have some understanding that meeting the
below conditions is going to be very difficult. But I'm hoping some City-Data
readers have some creative suggestions.

Priorities:

- 400K or less

- Relatively safe:
i.e. it wouldn't be insane to raise children in the area

- Walkable:
0.5 miles or less to the EL
grocery store, coffee shops, nearby

- Around a 45 minute commute to Shorewood, or in other words close to I-55

Non Priorities:

- Good school:
since this seems to be near to impossible in our price range we are ignoring
this, perhaps foolishly, for the moment (our children are not yet in school)

- Building in good condition
We are interested in properties that need a great deal of work, perhaps using a
203K loan to roll the work into the mortgage.

[surlycue]

It is pretty foolish to not consider schools when buying a place. You will likely need to hold on to the place for at least 5-7 years to break even for selling purposes and if you are looking for a place the raise your families together that would suggest that you're looking for somewhere to stay for 15 years or more.

Pilsen isn't the worst neighborhood in the world. Many people do raise children there. Most of these people are Mexican so if you'd like your children to grow up around a multitude of cultures, you won't find it in Pilsen. There is a gang presence in Pilsen and there are shootings there. Last summer in Pilsen seemed worse than previous ones and there were even a few gang shootings in the middle of the day. In your budget though, I'm not sure what neighborhood you could buy into that wouldn't have gang, drug and violence issues.

If you aren't opposed to putting a lot of work in, I'm sure you can find some better deals. I saw a 4/2 SFH in Ravenswood for $52K on the MLS the other day. It was gutted and never finished but it was in a much better neighborhood than Pilsen.

[lollipopman]

Thanks for the advice surlycue, you are probably right that I need give some serious consideration to the school issue.

Do you have any thoughts on McKinley Park?

[SJaye]

Don't mean to be a downer here, but I am quite doubtful that you will be able to commute from anywhere in the city to Shorewood in only 45 minutes. I would expect a longer commute. As far as your criteria of being safe and near a train, try the areas near the Orange Line stops that are close to I-55 (Halsted, Ashland, 35/Archer). These areas are pretty safe, near a train, and I-55, the only ?? would probably be your price range.

[JoeyPants]

Originally Posted by SJaye

Don't mean to be a downer here, but I am quite doubtful that you will be able to commute from anywhere in the city to Shorewood in only 45 minutes. I would expect a longer commute. As far as your criteria of being safe and near a train, try the areas near the Orange Line stops that are close to I-55 (Halsted, Ashland, 35/Archer). These areas are pretty safe, near a train, and I-55, the only ?? would probably be your price range.

Ditto. If you live on the north side of Chicago, your commute during rush hour will be at least 1 hour and a half, probably more.

[MannheimMadman]

Shorewood is a long, long way out.

The only way I would even consider commuting from there to Chicago is if I lived in Clearing or Garfield Ridge. But you would still be a city block or more away from the Orange line.