Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 11/27/2011 in all areas

  1. OK, just to be clear on my own points here, I am not saying that the Heights is a majority of families- there are too many old people/empty nesters for that. However, there are hella more kids than there were when I moved here 7 years ago. My anecdotal evidence is the same as yours, but for the other side of the coin: On my block, there was one young family on the block when we moved in. My block has 14 houses. They moved to a bigger house- in another part of the Heights. Since we have lived here, we have produced 2 small children and may have another if we get around to it. One young couple who bought there house 2 years before us had a baby and 3 other families with kids moved in. In the 14 houses there are 2 old bachelor brothers who live across the street from each other, 2 other bachelor types who have lived in their houses for more than 15 years each, another couple who raised their kids but the kids re grown and a gay couple who have lived there for around 10 years. So, these houses do not hold kids but with 1 exception, were all lived in by the current owners before the Heights had the "family friendly" vibe is does now. Of the 5 houses that have changed hands since I've lived here, 3 have brought children with them (and then there are the 2 of us who had kids after living here). As far as the supermarket, I *never* bring my kids to the market with me if I can help it. In fact, I am just back from the bare shelved 11th St Kroger, where I also saw 2 other moms I know, childless. We relish that time. Kids are a handful and moms love their alone time, even if it's cruising the aisles at the grocery. Most of my mom friends shop a) when the kids are at school/MDO or at night when other parent is bathing and getting them ready for bed. I don't know about suburban moms, but moms in the Heights prefer the kids be elsewhere so we can shop efficiently. And the large majority of families that I know do not have kids who are school age yet, so the Harvard stats don't really bare that out necessarily. My neighbor's daughter goes to Harvard but isn't zoned there. I have 2 friends who just bought houses in the Harvard zone because their older kids will start kinder in the next year or two. They moved from Heights houses to new Heights houses. The point is, there is a point and counter point for all of these arguments. What it comes down to is families are not a majority, but they may hold the majority of the wealth. They are also growing in numbers as the Heights becomes more acceptable to even the most skittish city dwellers (we bought our house because at the time we were priced out of Montrose and wanted to have kids. People I worked with said things like "Oh, you can't have a family in the Heights." You'll rarely, if ever, hear that these days, even from the most suburban types). The definition of "family friendly" has also changed, as Red noted in his last post. I don't take my kids to Chuck E Cheese and I would never eat at a Cici's. I don't feed my kids stuff that I won't eat. I expect them to sit at a restaurant (except Berryhill, which is such a playground because the patio is completely enclosed and they can't run out in to the street) and eat. A "family friendly" atmosphere just means they are willing to do a smaller portion and have a cup with a lid- doesn't even have to have a cartoon on it. The vast majority of my friends with kids are the same way. The ones who eat regularly at someplace like CEC live in the 'burbs. Look at some of the recent successes and failures in the Heights. 6th St Bar & Grille- not good for kids. Failed. Beer Island- not good for kids and in serious financial trouble. Jenni's Noodle House- not the best food (although owners are super nice, neighborhood oriented and charitable people, still better food can be had), but thrives because of catering to families like their own. BB's- great for kids before 6-6:30 and does more early business for that reason, always packed. So, back to the point of the thread--- yes, restaurants in this neighborhood will thrive if they allow parents to eat decent food and allow their kids to do the same. If they don't accommodate for families in some small way-- or make them feel unwelcome, which I have thankfully never experienced-- they will need to offer something really special that will draw from all over the city to make their business a cash cow. Otherwise, all it takes are cups with lids.
    1 point
  2. NIche, Harvard isn't really a good analog for the Heights, as something like half the students are zoned to other schools. Overall, keep in mind that the Heights restaurants pull in folks from Timbergrove, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest, etc, and lots of us have kids. We generally won't go somewhere that isn't kid friendly, as our well behaved son goes with us except on special occasions. It's cheaper to feed him a (usually full price) good restaurant meal than it is to hire a baby sitter.
    1 point
This leaderboard is set to Chicago/GMT-05:00
×
×
  • Create New...