Comments on: Door Number 1

By: shannon

shannon — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:39:38 +0000

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!

By: Kimm

Kimm — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:09:39 +0000

Annie Malie.

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.

By: Annie Malie

Annie Malie — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 18:41:23 +0000

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.

By: Regina

Regina — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 16:10:58 +0000

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.

By: Lynne

Lynne — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:55:29 +0000

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!