[Investing In Chicago]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

not every city is manhattan or san francisco.

we are not extremely rich. we purchased a 2,300 SF 3 bed/3 bath condo in a 3-flat for $420K two years ago in a wonderful, safe, urban neighborhood on the northside of chicago with a good neighborhood school (so good in fact that enrollment is exploding and CPS is currently building a $20M addition).

now, $420K is obviously going to be out of reach for many families, but it's also not in "extremely wealthy" territory either. a dual-income family with two decent middle class salaries can make that work; it's not some unobtainable unicorn that only the top 5% can have.

and for the record, i'm not disagreeing with your premise that many young families do move out to the burbs once they have 2+ kids, i'm merely countering your false narrative that safe, comfortable, urban living for a family of 4 is only available for the "extremely wealthy". middle class families with children can and do live in urban neighborhoods in chicago. some of them are my friends and neighbors.

In Chicago - the challenge is High School, not K-8. There are very few quality public, non magnet, High School options in Chicago.