West Rogers Park vs Peterson Park vs Lincolnwood

amother

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 9:44 am

How would you compare & contrast these Chicago neighborhoods?

I'm looking for:
1. A house I can afford (under 600K),
2. A community feel, where people are friendly and inclusive,
3. A family oriented feel, where kids are out and play with their neighbors,
4. A shul we would feel comfortable in (hashkafically somewhere between JPF and Yeshivish- let's say black hat on Shabbos "type", if that's a "type".).

Do any of these neighborhoods fit the criteria I listed?

Thank you.

amother

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 2:09 pm

serenity8843 wrote:

All three neighborhoods fit your criteria, except that Lincolnwood is mostly non black hat...

Thank you!

So how would you differentiate between these neighborhoods? Why would someone pick one over the others? Or would you say that anywhere you can get a house is good, since they're all similar enough?

Thanks...

amother

Orchid

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 2:28 pm

Lincolnwood is mostly wealthier families, many of them older but there is a younger group. More suburban like too in terms of size of the houses and lots (imo).
In both wrp and pp there are blocks that are full of young Jewish families, blocks that have some, and blocks that have few. Wrp is closer to the shopping and has more shuls I think and I would say that many
younger families choose to live there. Pp has an older, yeshivish element that moved north from telshe, a younger wealthier nursing home owners group, and the pp kollel families. There are def wealthier/bigger houses moving to wrp, but a lot of more well off live in pp.
Wrp has kollel fams, chasidish, mo machmir, jpf etc it's a mix
There are all kinds of shuls many of which would fit your description.
Hope this helps a little. Chicago keeps changing over the years - there's been a lot of growth recently

mha3484

Mon, Jan 06 2020, 2:43 pm

I agree with Orchid. I think WRP offers more social diversity. You will find more of your crowd there I think. I am very happy here. You are free to PM me if you want.

amother

Tue, Jan 07 2020, 3:37 pm

Thank you.

I decided to type "Chicago" into the search bar, and came up with a ton of threads about moving to Chicago, going as far back as 2006.

In a number of the 2006/2007/2008 threads, the Jewish neighborhood in Chicago was described as cliquey & snobbish, where you had to have "yichus" and "be part of the right family" to be accepted into the "clique". Some posters described their experiences there by saying they struggled to break into the social scene there and failed.

(Feel free to read through for reference.)

On more recent threads, this issue has not been brought up at all. Chicago has, for the most part, been described as friendly, accepting, and welcoming.

Have things changed a lot in Chicago in the past decade and a half?

Just want to be sure, cuz I dont have that sort of "yichus" or "connections", I don't think. Just looking for a welcoming community.

amother

Pumpkin

Wed, Jan 08 2020, 9:24 am

Hi,
I'm in PP it's very friendly people on the block are so welcoming some blocks are full of Young frum families which is so nice in the summer
The issue In PP is that it is extremely hard to find a house there are many people looking...
Definitely sounds like WRP/PP are more for you
Good luck!

amother

Orchid

Wed, Jan 08 2020, 10:23 am

Personally, I'm surprised that people said that Chicago was unfriendly. I was not married at the time, so I don't know the specifics of the social scenes at that time, but I did grow up here and have found it to be a friendly and welcoming place. Yes there are different groups (as there are in most cities) but I have not found any to be unfriendly. Either way though, there has been much growth over the past 5 to 10 years with a lot of young families of many different types moving in so I don't think you would have a problem of finding a group that you would work with.

amother

Tan

Wed, Jan 08 2020, 11:07 am

I'm from Chicago and still live here. I'm surprised it was ever described as snobby or cliquey. At the end of the day, it's the Midwest and there is a more friendly and open feeling. Based on what you're looking for, I'd suggest looking in WRP. Even within WRP, there are different parts of the neighborhood that have their own slightly different flavor.

The idea that the community was closed off and became more open seems a little backwards to me because it is in the last few years that there has been a big influx of families from 'in town'. I feel like that's starting to become a bit of an influence more than before.

amother

Orchid

Wed, Jan 08 2020, 2:32 pm

amother [ Tan ] wrote:

I agree with you. What I meant was that even if there were groups that were clicky, at this point there are so many new people and so many different groups that she would be able to find someone that she fits with.

amother

Tan

Thu, Jan 09 2020, 5:48 pm

amother [ Orchid ] wrote:

Ah, I see what you mean. Makes sense.