South Loop - Child Friendly?

My children go to Old St. Mary's school at 1500 S Michigan. It is a great school. I would really recommend it to you!!

I live in the South Loop with my 2 daughters - 3 and 18 months. It is very child friendly. Our neighborhood has 2 playgrounds on either end and there are others parks and playgrounds in the south loop generally as well. I walk everywhere with the stroller and have never felt unsafe, though I don't take the kids walking around at night - but I wouldn't do that anyway, as they would be sleeping! I belong to both a playgroup and a mom's group (I also work PT) and there are a lot of activities for the kids. My children have lots of friends in the neighborhood and I have made many friends with other "park moms" as well. As for schools, many people in the nighborhood choose to send kids to the private schools, but the South Loop Elementary School is a decent and safe school with improving test scores. You may get differing opinions on that one, as people tend to have very strong opinions on schooling.

I used to live in Lincoln Park and though I sometimes wish we were closer to the zoo, I am overall very glad we are in the South Loop with the kids....seems to be more family oriented than swingin' single life in LP. Many restaurants have more room for our strollers and are more tolerant and welcoming of families. And we also have all the museums down here that have many free days, especially in the winter months.

Hope that helps! Good luck with your search.

P.,
I live in the South Loop and we love it! I have a 8 month old. I walk all the time with him. There are several daycare centers very close by. I don't know about schools though. There is a great path/bridge off of 18th street that goes to Soldier Field and the lakefront. The Aquarium and Field Museum area also easily walkable. More and more restaurants keep popping up too. We really enjoy living in the area.

I work in the south loop area and it has became really nice. we are actually thinking about moving there ourselves. I have a 3 year old boy and he attends kindercare down at 1501 s. state, we love it. he begs to go to school. they talk trips to the park... etc... I see people walking with strollers all over the place down there. i recommend kindercare. affordable and great with kids!
A.

Hi P.,
The South Loop is great for kids. I suspect you are going to get a lot of responses. : )

We live at 18th and State and I get together with 4 other moms in our complex with similar aged kids every Wednesday for lunch/playgroup. My son is just 8 months old and we are just beginning to hit the park circut. All my friends down here love it. If you come down here and spend some time walking around you'll see mom/dads with strollers and people walking their dogs everywhere.

Besides it being kid friendly it has become a great neighborhood, in general. We came from Lincoln Park, which will always be my favorite neighborhood in the city, but here it's not congested. You can get around easily. Yet there are places to eat and coffee shops, etc. Yes, it's safe.

Other highlights are Soldier Field, Chinatown, Grant Park, the museums and the Shedd. There are events nearly every weekend at the park in the summer. And the Shedd and museums are great. We never really attended until we moved down here.

If you have specific questions, feel free to ask. I don't know much about the schools yet first hand, however I've heard they are good. And I know there are a few daycare centers, but I am a stay at home mommy.

Good luck!
L.

Hi P.,

The South Loop is a great family oriented area, particularly in Dearborn Parks I and II and Central Station. There are lots of parks, kids and dogs in the area. I grew up in Dearborn I and my parents bought in Dearborn II 10 years ago. They will now be sellign their house, as they are empty nesters, to move to Roosevelt and Michigan Ave, so are definitely sold on the area! The area is mostly families and you'll never want for activities in the area, nor babysitters (there are a lot of HS students still around who mostly attend St. Ignatius).

As for schools, most of the kids in the area that I know, and have known through the years, go to private or perochial schools. Chicago Lab and Francis X. Warde are the 2 biggies, though Old St. Marys opened a school at 16th and Micighan this year and apparently many kids in the area attend there as well. Andrew Jackson, Ogden and LaSalle are the CPS that I've known people to send their kids to (my brother and I attended Ogden).

If you have any other questions about the area, feel free to mail me. I've experienced the growth of the area from it's inception 16 years ago through now - big changes!

A.

Hi. Ilive in the area and it is an incredible place to live. we have 1 son 21,mos. and live in dearborn park II a really great area. yes very stroller friendly and 2 parks right in the neighborhood. target is down the street and wholefoods is coming to town end of year.

HI. We moved to Lincoln Park from Streeterville about 5 years ago and we love it! It definitely feels like the suburbs compared to Streeterville, so it probably would to you too. Lincoln Park preschool is wonderful. My kids now go to Lincoln Elementary and we love it so far. There are lots of parks, but we live by Oz park. There are also plenty of kids in all neighborhoods around us. I would recommend it to anyone who lives in the city with kids....Hope this helps, but it would also help if you just drive around the area at different times of the day to see for yourself. C.