So Mr. A is interviewing as I am typing this. We drove into Chicago last night. We are staying in a suburb that comes highly recommended by nearly everyone when we mention the possibility of moving to Chicago.
There are definitely some significant pros and cons to this suburb. Please bear with me as I record my general impressions because I am assuming Mr. A will need to interview again and it will be at least several weeks before we know if he gets an offer.
Pros: Close to the city, good commute on trains, could get rid of one car, good schools, yuppie amenities (like coffee shops, farmer’s market, downtown shops, restaurants, beautiful library,walkability in some parts of town.)
On the surface, it seems like an OK fit. We really want all of the above things. But then there are the cons:
Cons: Fake “diversity”, no Asians, very disappointing and few parks.
Bah. I was enjoying our morning walking around Suburb #1. The parks were kind of austere with pretty lame play equipment, but I could let that slide. Then, at the very pretty library I ambushed an Asian mom I heard mentioning kindergarten and asked her for the low-down on the town for Asians.
This suburb is very hyped for its’ diversity. As a matter of fact, on NPR the other day, there was an entire segment dedicated to this town and the diversity here. That sounded promising.
According to the Asian mom, there were only 6 Asian kids at her child’s elementary school last year. “In each grade?” I asked. No, 6 kids TOTAL. She said that all the “diversity” was a reference to the white/African American mix. She also said that a significant percentage of the Asian kids are adopted Asian kids. While that is all well and good, we would like to have the opportunity for our kids to know Asian kids with Asian parents too.
We talked for quite a while and she gave me a lot of really good information. We knew the Asian numbers in this suburb were low percentage-wise, but for some reason I though the number of kids in the schools was higher. (I have no idea what I read on the internet that gave me that impresson. Maybe I was confusing it with another suburb.) She also said that there is no real Asian community to speak of around here. That most Mandarin speakers live in one part of town (where we don’t want to go because of the distance and the crappy public transit options that would significantly diminish the amount of time Mr. A would spend with the girls.)
Mr. A also noticed several articles about the suburb’s “diversity” in the newspaper. It left both of us feeling a little creeped out. Like maybe they doth protest too much. Just walking/driving around, it felt like the suburb is a little segregated. Maybe more than a little.
Also, at the public library, here were only two computers for use by people who don’t have library cards (i.e. Mr. A). Mr. A had to wait over a half hour to use those computers even though there were about 30 available computers in the Children’s section alone (which means I am assuming they have a lot of other adult computers somewhere for card holders). The only reason I can imagine for this disparity is to limit access the homeless people who can’t get a library card or the riff raff from other areas.
It may be that we decide that the pros outweigh the cons. In some ways it would be pretty easy to move here and live our comfortable yuppy lifestyle. We have agreed we need to limit the disruptions to our lifestyle because moving will be hard enough already. But if we do choose to live here, we can’t claim we don’t know the choice we are making about having other Asians around.
And yes, if we chose this suburb, it would make me a big, fat hypocrit. (It wouldn’t be the first time.) It would also mean we would have to do a LOT of work to replicate the connections we already have at home.
In the morning, we are going to go spend some time in another suburb that is also on our list. I already know it has some cons, but we need to get some sources of comparison.
*Oh, before I forget: when I was walking back to the hotel we passed a guy who was bent over at a 90 degree angle with his hand on a tree. I thought he was vomitting. But as we got closer, it was apparent that he was uh, communing with the tree or something. He was just standing there, hand on the tree, eyes closed, communing. For at least 3-4 minutes. Weird.
Just walking/driving around, it felt like the suburb is a little segregated. Maybe more than a little.
Chicago? Segregated? HAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAhahahahaha oooh… (wipes eyes) Okay, I’m better.
Yep, it’s a pretty segregated city. I love it, but this is a definite problem we have. “Diversity” is generally a code for “African American,” and when people consider the Latino population they feel right proud of themselves. There are pockets of actual diversity in the city, but I don’t know about the ‘burbs.
I’m still happy to chat over email if you want more data points, just let me know. Meanwhile, enjoy the city! You have picked the first pretty days in almost six months to be here!
Sounds rather a lot like my town except we have fantastic parks. And no tree-communers that I’ve seen.
There are going to be cons to any town, as you are well aware. I guess the trick is to figure out which cons are most off-putting and which pros are most important and just accept that there will be compromises no matter where you go. Oh and? There’s nobody alive who isn’t a hypocrite.
I moved to Michigan from a Chicago suburb (Naperville) and yeah, it was about the least diverse place on Earth. Interestingly I went to high school with a lot (relatively speaking) of Asian kids, but I think it was because I went to Catholic school (Benet) and so kids came from all over. If I had to choose a different Chicago suburb to move back to, I think I’d pick Glen Ellyn, but that’s based on totally superficial impressions from driving around. I definitely wouldn’t move back to Naperville.
We lived about 12 blocks from the Sears Tower in the West Loop area. We walked EVERYWHERE – I walked to work, we had all of the amenities we ever needed nearby, and there were four lovely parks within 10 minutes of our place. I still cannot bring myself to sell that townhouse because it was such a wonderful place to live.
Downtown Chicago is amazing. We have friends who live on the south side and love it too. Also on the plus side, moving from a suburb house to an apartment saves tons of energy and all that greeny greeny stuff. We went t Chinatown almost every Sunday after Church to get bubble tea.
I adore Chicago, but I think that if I had lived in a suburb, I would not have loved it at all. Just my 2 cents.
Check some of the more Northern Suburbs – Arlington Heights, Palatine, Schaumburg. They are more diverse, but lacking in some of the other things you mentioned. Naperville has AWESOME schools, but agree with the previous poster on it has quite a few cons. BTW – I am ‘guessing’ you are in Oak Park or Elmhurst.
I remain surprised by the amount of “diversity” you must have where you are now (I think you write that’s near XXXXXXXX), for your “Chicago suburb” to compare unfavorably. I grew up in xXXXXX and have lived in Chicago, and just don’t know where that would be in XXXXXXXXXXX. (though both places have changed a lot since i lived there oh so long ago).
(and, is there some reason I don’t understand why it makes sense to not use the name of the suburb when it’s obviously identifiable? Just wondering about this blogging characteristic.)
Diversity in the Chicago suburbs*——————————————————————-++?/(that was lbg, but I’ll let it stand as emphasis). At my 20 year reunion, we had an interesting discussion about the new white flight “trails.” My suburb was diverse, but it’s only because it was populated by all the upper class professionals who weren’ welcome in the other well to do suburbs.
Happy to chat more-90% of my hs class still lives in Chicago area, and a good friend is a civil rights lawyer in the city. ~lmc
oh, and my sister and bil lived behind door #1 for 10 years-his family is asian-as far as I know he never met any asians in his neighborhood ~lmc
I lived in North Chicago near Lake Forest for some time. LF was well touted for its diversity, but when I went to there (I’m Chinese), I didn’t see anyone Asian and was actually asked where I was from (San Francisco, thank you). Coming from California, I had never actually been asked that question!
There are a lot of suburbs to consider if you only need to get downtown on public transit. Keep in mind though that in a lot of them Mr. A will need to drive to the train. We just moved here last summer, so I don’t know much about the area. I mean, I know where all the lesbian moms are supposed to live, but not much other than that. I’m fond of Evanston, but we don’t actually live there.
You might want to email Mamazilla or Shutterbug Mama, both on my blogroll. They are Asian-American and live in Chicago, and I’m guessing they would be able to give you the lowdown.
My guess is that you’re in Oak Park – very nice and it’s the most city-ish ‘burb. If you prefer the ‘burbs to the city, there are some north/northwest areas that seem to have higher asian populations. Don’t discount some residential city ‘hoods – great transportation, many have great parks (we have 3 within blocks), transporatation, etc.
I grew up in a small town in Indiana and thought I hit the big time when I moved to Chicago after college. Very shortly, I figured out that it was extremely segregated – so, most of my new diversity experience came from meeting people at work and other venues. The second thing I found was that most people who grow up in the suburbs of Chicago do not take full advantage of the culture and activities available to them in the city and surrounding city neighborhoods. Many of my friends, including my husband, grew up there – and my first few years out of school, I did things they never had, although they were lifetime residents.
My husband and I have moved to a smaller city in the midwest and have a much higher quality of life due to the lower cost of living….. but I left my heart in Chicago & we visit frequently. It is what you make it!
Lynne
PS – I now live in a city (suburb) which Chinese-American people lovingly call “Little China”. (It’s nothing like Chinatown in larger cities.) Although the population of Chinese is only about 10-15%, there is a nice variety of Chinese American, bi-racial Chinese/Caucasion, and adopted Chinese right in our neighborhood and our schools. My friends from Chicago refer to our neighborhood as a mini-United Nations. I would have never guessed it!
Good luck with your search should Mr. A get the position. I found this link helpful as we were looking for school districts:
http://www.schooldigger.com/go/IL/search.aspx
We currently live in Naperville, and while not perfect, it has much of what we were seeking in a community. But…it’s far from downtown, and I do the commute daily. It takes some getting used to. We also chose to house hunt in particular areas of Naperville with higher Asian diversity. Our daughter’s elementary school is 24% Asian. Outside of living in Chinatown, that’s almost the best that one can hope for.
Were you in the north or south of the suburb? The south is more diverse than the north..by the way; i.e. more black and white. Which is good. Darker skin is darker skin wouldn’t you say? Take it where you can.
That asian mom is probably lying so her kid won’t have another asian student to compete against.
If this is the suburb I think it is, I’m just south of there and plan to move there within the next two years. It doesn’t have the Asian pop like Chinatown or the north side but there are Asian families there. It’s more young professional families though, and the only real “community” I’ve noticed is the latte-swilling, NPR-listening, folk music-playing, farmers market shoppers. I consider it diverse though there aren’t as many folks of my color there as some places in Chicagoland. It’s a well-to-do town adjacent to one of the poorest parts of Chicago but black and white eat at the same restaurants, go to the same movie theaters, and shop at the same Whole Foods with a remarkable lack of fuss over it. But if the Asian quotient is really important to you, look north. But you will have to put up with a more hectic, less suburban feel.
Interesting. Suburb number one seems pretty good to me from the Black/white perspective, (I’m sure there’s at least some block-to-block segregation, but on the streets of the little downtowny bit it has always been nicely mixed when I’ve been there) but I have never noticed others (Asians, Latinos) in significant numbers.
Anyway, regardless, Suburb One will always have a place in my heart because our adoption agency is there. That’s where I met both of my babies for the first time!