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If you’re looking for diverse demographics and proximity to the city, Oak Park and Evanston are your best bets. Like the city itself, the Chicago suburbs are very segregated by race & class.
There are some nice middle- & upper-middle class majority-Black suburbs, but they are all on the far South side (Olympia Fields, Flossmoor, Country Club Hills, Hazel Crest, etc…)
Flossmoor is nice! My aunt and uncle lived there years ago. Lots of nice, well kept neighborhoods.
40-50% black definitely not. But if your concern is representation, oak park and Evanston are about as representative as the black population in America so likely your best best
Grew up in Olympia Fields and definitely diverse in population, specifically black/mixed. The only issue is the surrounding suburbs have experienced a decline in the last 5-10 years terms of shopping, restaurants, etc and other activities you might enjoy and a lot of the residents have to go to the Orland area for those things. Also, it’s about 45 minutes from downtown so it can feel far depending if enjoy spending time in the city.
Not a burb but I love living in Hyde Park! You can get beautiful apartments or houses with a nice lot. We feel very represented there (also have bi racial children). We used to live in Beverly which was also nice for us.
I went to lab, grew up in HP/Kenwood, and love it there. Neighborhood isn’t the safest but beautiful old homes, and a hyper diverse population - all nationalities bc of the university, and a broad spectrum of educated people - not just the lawyer / doctor / business thing you get on the north side
I also think, genuinely, seeking a population that’s really homogeneous to look like you isn’t always the best. I’ve cherished growing up in places and having friends with immense diversity - a ton of passports, ethnicities, socioeconomic and religious background ha, and that’s what I’d want for my kids, too. I hate it now when I’m in any kind of hyper homogenous environment, regardless of whether or not I “fit” in
Naperville is a great diverse community. I would also recommend Schaumburg and Oakbrook
TC 1: OP specifically asked about majority Black populations in the suburbs! That’s what we’re talking about!
Naperville doesn’t even have Black and Latino population remotely close to the national percentages. If you and your family are happy living in Naperville, great. But a city that’s mostly white, about 20% Asian with a paltry number of Black and Brown folks is NOT diverse. Not by a mile.
Chief
To be blunt, I don’t know of any heavily black affluent suburbs in Chicago.
Chief
Yeah, I would say that the north/northwest suburbs (certainly the affluent ones) are white/Asian/Jewish predominantly. It’s unfortunate
Id recommend checking school demographics. Will give you a better sense of the community your family will be around. Overall census can be very different than families with school age kids. Remember, POC in general are younger and have more kids vs white population. Could explain some of the comments about a suburb having very small black community but people living there thinking it’s diverse.
Just one example, my neighborhood is 80% white yet if you look at age cohorts data, under 18 is closer to 55%.
Very interesting I hadn't thought of demographics looking different by age. I'll definitely add this to my list of things to check and not just target overall census data.
Kenwood/Hyde Park is a great community. I lived in Kenwood and several of my neighbors were black executives. Neighborhood is both racially and economically diverse. It is still the city, so depends on what you are hoping to get out of “suburbs”. House with a yard is $1.5M+, CPS schools are a mixed bag, and there’s same gun violence challenges that the rest of Chicago faces.
The Midwest is very historically segregated at a city/suburban level, sadly, by race & SES. I am most familiar with north so I would say Evanston, but even then idk about 40-50%
Yeah I've been observing this but was wondering if I was just biased because I haven't really explored the whole city. I've heard there are some nice suburbs around the south side but seems like there aren't that many black or mixed people around there either. I think Evanston does have some diversity but not enough I think.
Parts of Flossmoor and Olympia Fields are diverse and upper middle class
The couple of affluent black people I've met who are from the suburbs have been from Flossmoor so this makes sense. So thanks I'll look into the ones you mentioned!
Evanston or Oak Park.
That said, if you aren't against living in the city, South Loop or Hyde Park fit that
Building on folks’ candidness, white flight hit Chicago hard in the 60s-70s when the suburbs exploded and redlining kept those suburbs white. The heavily European immigrant south side city neighborhoods drained into the suburbs leaving the urban areas blacker and suburban areas white.
For the next several decades, most people don’t live that far from their mom or want to live in a community that they feel they belong to (or whatever reason), so while redlining eventually ended, the stark racial composition/asymmetry of the city and suburbs persists today.
Relative to the south-east that had decades of more forced civil integration, that results in todays more mixed city neighborhoods and towns. Not saying anywhere is perfect, just less stark homogeneity
Hopefully I’m wrong and these nice Fish are highlighting Chicago burbs with more diversity
Why be in the suburbs? The city has no majority of any race.
Capgemini is pretty close, though. Chicago is fairly evenly distributed
The racial makeup of the city in 2010 was, according to Wikipedia:
-31.7% non-Hispanic white
-32% black
-5% Asian
-3% from two or more races…
The ethnic makeup of the population is 28% Hispanic
Kenwood and Jackson park highlands if you want rich and black, but you'd be in the city.
Full transparency:
I spoke to a friend (another Chicago native). She confirmed that “The Highlands” is a strip of large homes between 67th and 71st Streets, near Jeffrey Blvd. Technically, that’s part of the South Shore neighborhood. Rev. Jesse Jackson is one of the dignitaries that lived there; not sure if he or his family is still there.
Manager 1: For that part, I was incorrect and I apologize. But five blocks of homes does not a rich neighborhood make.
We’re not like the DMV or ATL areas here.
Closest was Flossmoor and Olympia Fields at one point, both far south suburbs. Not sure if they ever reached a majority affluent level though. More like aspirational suburbs to live. Your heaviest concentration of middle class & up blacks in the suburbs will be in the south suburbs. Still not majority numbers. Something is going to give, either income level, schools, or majority level.
Beverly/Morgan Park neighborhoods have been known to be a good mixed area with good schools even though both are still in the city. I’ve been living outside the city for a while and I know areas can change, but it may be worth looking into.
If you’re not set on majority black and want some diversity for your children, look at Oak Park/Forest Park, Naperville, Evanston which will have good schools as well. The vibes are different for each so take that into consideration.
All that said, if your heart is set on what exists in the south and eastern cities, that’s where you will have to go.
Beverly is a nice south side suburb that is both upper middle class and quite diverse.
Interested as well
None would be significantly diverse if you only count black. Skokie and Evanston might be your best bets in overall diversity - including all non-white races. I’ve also heard Oak Park and La Grange are good for diversity if you want to be south of the city, but I’m less familiar with these suburbs.
Capgemini 1: I literally wrote that a week ago, but thanks for the reminder.
No chicago is a segregated area sadly
The Bronzville area is becoming a mixture of what you’re looking for, however the home prices are closer to well over $600k+ (close to lakefront/downtown). You will get that 40-50% of what you’re looking for with some concessions such as kids in private schools as opposed to public…suburbia “feel” but a bit more urbanized. Also, the Obama library will transform alot of the Jackson Park, South Shore areas.
Also, check out the Beverly area.
Unfortunately, Chicago is highly racially segregated. There are wealthy cities and black cities but as a native I’m not aware of any wealthy black cities. Within Chicago itself, HydrePark is a great choice. Bolingbrook is 20% with 13% asian but I’m not sure it’s “wealthy”.