Family Life and the City of Chicago
Family Life and the City of Chicago
Family Life and the City of Chicago
For those of us who call Chicago home, isn’t growing a family in the city a wonderful experience? The opportunities that a family can partake in are endless. Expensive? It can be. Challenging at times? There are some. I realize the former is subjective, but for us, this is the cost of admission to enjoying life as a family in one of the greatest cities in the world. Take a look at some of what Chicago has to offer:
- Over 40 public museums
- Summer nights on the lawn at Millennium Park
- 7,600 acres of parkland (Hello Lincoln Park!)
- 33 beaches (Oak Street and North Ave – oh yeah!)
- Movies in the Park!
- 2 world-class conservatories
- White Sox or Cubs (Go Cubs!)
- Navy Pier and Navy Pier’s Christmas Festival – need I say more?
- Walk everywhere or take convenient public transportation
- Diversity, culture and community – Got to love the people!
Having lived in Chicago for over 10 years, we’ve certainly enjoyed it. Although admittedly, in 2004, with our first daughter Sophia (of three), we did consider making the move to the burbs. But, was the green yard, larger single-family house and white picket fence justifiable for such a choice? Certainly…not!
The new, four-bedroom house was great on the private lake, but for some reason, the place felt secluded. The birds chirping, deer walking and geese with goslings were a nice sight, but where was the hum of the EL in all this? By the way, on our street, possum, rabbits and raccoons run amuck and the birds wildly chirp away. Walking was convenient, but to where and to what? Driving the car to strip malls, Applebee’s and Chili’s is just plain self abuse. Plus, is not traffic in suburbia worse?
I know there are many suburbs to choose from, many offering different tastes, settings and environments. Not all of them come with the cookie-cutter outlay. But, when it really comes down to it, Chicago just has it all. And we’d rather stay right here on our one-way street in our comfy cozy condo – all five of us with our dog and cat.