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Aloysius
11-18-2005, 01:45 PM
If you were intending to have children at some point - what would be the ideal city (or extended suburbs of a city) to raise your children?

Assume that your own personal likes / dislikes / career aren't factors - I'm thinking just about the kid's benefit.

Inspired by comment from my buddy last night - "West Coast kids are retarded and no way in hell I'm raising my kids in LA. Going back East to do it right."

My Best - New York City bab-ay
My Worst - Los Angeles (though I personally enjoy living in LA for the most part)

swede123
11-18-2005, 01:49 PM
You really make a pretty solid case for raising kids in NY. When the time comes for me I'll definitely head there, as there is no doubt that's where I want my little ones to grow up. Thanks!

Swede

4_2_it
11-18-2005, 01:50 PM
Worst - Any big city in the South unless you are willing to pay through the nose for private school.
Best - I live in the 'burbs of Philly and will say it is good, but I don't believe it is the best.

Los Feliz Slim
11-18-2005, 01:53 PM
I am in the process of raising a child in LA, and I also vote for LA as worst. The only place comparable, I'm told, is NYC. School cost vs. quality of public schools and the general superficiality in both cities are my reasons.

I was raised in the suburbs of Boston, and I turned out well. Small enough to be "normal", large enough for some small-scale expanding of horizons. So Boston is good, but I think (based on nothing, really) that the Pacific Northwest would be an excellent place to raise kids.

Aloysius
11-18-2005, 01:57 PM
[ QUOTE ]
You really make a pretty solid case for raising kids in NY. When the time comes for me I'll definitely head there, as there is no doubt that's where I want my little ones to grow up. Thanks!

Swede

[/ QUOTE ]

LOL touche Swede.

NYC (more extended suburbs) - public school systems alone (best in the country) make NYC a solid favorite in my book (I hate private school kids /images/graemlins/mad.gif) - with a personal bias towards believing that 4 seasons, the general east coast attitude (no-nonsense) are better environments for children.

Los Angeles - have to send your kids to private school, really expensive in general - Hollywood (the industry I work in I might add) is lame and makes kids retards.

And yes, Swede, this is not super well thought out but had to respond at least a little....

MrMon
11-18-2005, 02:34 PM
All in all, I think St. Louis is a good place to raise kids. I'm raising two here, public schools, and am generally happy with the situation. Now, I have to admit I happen to live in one of the best school districts in the country, but compared to other cities you get a lot of bang for the buck. Our school district has houses ranging from $150K to $3M, average is probably $400K, new construction is now $600K for 3000 SF on a quarter acre. (But I've got an 1150 SF ranch on the market for $165K if you want to take it. Needs decorating, most of the major updates have been done in the last 7 years - roof, HVAC, kitchen, windows.) There are cheaper condos and apartments. Property taxes average about 1.25% of true market value.

We're 10 miles and 30-40 minutes from downtown in rush hour.

Kids are extremely bright, parents tend to be lawyers, doctors, accountants, engineers, executives, but not always. 30% of my daughters 4th grade class have IQs above 130. High school has ~300 students per grade, 10-12 National Merit Semi-finalists per year. Kids will go to everything from the local college to the Ivys, 95% go to college.

For sports, we've got the Cardinals, Rams, & Blues (no basketball). The Zoo is hard to beat, ranked #1 by Zagat. Magic House is one of the top childrens attractions in the country. Six Flags is the local amusement park, several water parks. We definitely have 4 seasons. No place in the country is further than 4 hours by plane, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. Chicago is a 4.5 hour drive, we go several times a year.

Yes, we're flyover country, but for kids, it's great.

imported_The Vibesman
11-18-2005, 02:37 PM
I think the best would correspond to school scores and crime rate.

The worst, I would say, is Fallujah.

11-18-2005, 02:40 PM
[ QUOTE ]
All in all, I think St. Louis is a good place to raise kids. I'm raising two here, public schools, and am generally happy with the situation. Now, I have to admit I happen to live in one of the best school districts in the country, but compared to other cities you get a lot of bang for the buck. Our school district has houses ranging from $150K to $3M, average is probably $400K, new construction is now $600K for 3000 SF on a quarter acre. (But I've got an 1150 SF ranch on the market for $165K if you want to take it. Needs decorating, most of the major updates have been done in the last 7 years - roof, HVAC, kitchen, windows.) There are cheaper condos and apartments. Property taxes average about 1.25% of true market value.

We're 10 miles and 30-40 minutes from downtown in rush hour.

Kids are extremely bright, parents tend to be lawyers, doctors, accountants, engineers, executives, but not always. 30% of my daughters 4th grade class have IQs above 130. High school has ~300 students per grade, 10-12 National Merit Semi-finalists per year. Kids will go to everything from the local college to the Ivys, 95% go to college.

For sports, we've got the Cardinals, Rams, & Blues (no basketball). The Zoo is hard to beat, ranked #1 by Zagat. Magic House is one of the top childrens attractions in the country. Six Flags is the local amusement park, several water parks. We definitely have 4 seasons. No place in the country is further than 4 hours by plane, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. Chicago is a 4.5 hour drive, we go several times a year.

Yes, we're flyover country, but for kids, it's great.

[/ QUOTE ]

Plus, if you do choose to send your kids to private school, which a lot do, its only about 10k. You CAN NOT send them to city public school here, so you must live in the county to raise your kids (w/o private schooling). Otherwise, it sucks to be 20 something here, but Id imagine it would be a great place to raise kids.

swede123
11-18-2005, 02:40 PM
You did quite good in your second post, I definitely see the pros and cons you list. Personally I think I'd prefer a town with a population of about 30-50K, something like a college town. Basically, a place where kids had opportunities to try different sports and activities and not be stuck in a class of nine people or whatever, and at the same time a place small enough where they'd get attention in school and not just disappear in the crowd. Location wouldn't be that critical, as long as it had distinct seasons.

Swede

SL__72
11-18-2005, 02:40 PM
St Paul and the surrounding suburbs is an excellent choice.

I was just looking at cityrating.com and thought their information for the best cities was kinda funny... I wonder if their rating is based on their graphs...
Twin Cities (http://www.cityrating.com/citystats.asp?city=Minneapolis&state=MN)

/edit bleh, nevermind. It just takes you to demographics if you click on a city name on the front page.

istewart
11-18-2005, 02:43 PM
The responses are all cluttered with talk of suburbs. THE SUBURBS HAVE THREE BLACK PEOPLE PER 100 MILES.

CollinEstes
11-18-2005, 02:44 PM
Bottom line if you want your son to be a great football/baseball player then Texas, Florida or California are the best places. I know this is disregarding alot of other aspects just saying.

When I played HS baseball in Texas all the major tournaments were dominated by Texas, Florida, or Cali teams. Maybe some Georgia guys too. But the North East teams blew.

MrMon
11-18-2005, 03:05 PM
Yes, a lot of 20-somethings who were not raised here complain that St. Louis is a difficult place to be a 20-something. People survive in far worse and smaller places. Just depends on what you expect.

St. Louis City Schools do suck. Unless you get in one of the Magnet Schools. I think Metro HS is ranked as one of the Top 100 HS in the country. County kids go there.

And yes, there are black people in the suburbs. Asians, Hispanics, Vietnamese, Bosnians. We don't discriminate. As long as you have green. You want to segregate yourself, that's your problem, not mine. Seriously. I'm a real estate agent. I have no problem showing any house to any person who can afford it.

RunDownHouse
11-18-2005, 03:21 PM
[ QUOTE ]
All in all, I think St. Louis is a good place to raise kids.

[/ QUOTE ]
I grew up west of St. Louis, in the Rockwood School District, and have to say that my education was outstanding. I have no idea where it ranks nationally, but it has to be up there, because looking back I can see that my teachers were generally of very good quality, and there was a shitload of money spent per kid. Absolutely no need to send kids to a private school out there.

I'm a bit worried about the public school system in Nashville. I've heard it isn't that great, and there are so many private schools around that its probably true. But I can't imagine paying college-level tuitions for elementary through high school. What a back breaker.

tdarko
11-18-2005, 03:27 PM
[ QUOTE ]
Bottom line if you want your son to be a great football/baseball player then Texas, Florida or California are the best places. I know this is disregarding alot of other aspects just saying.

When I played HS baseball in Texas all the major tournaments were dominated by Texas, Florida, or Cali teams. Maybe some Georgia guys too. But the North East teams blew.



[/ QUOTE ]
add arizona in there too. the list should read texas/cali, arizona, florida.

mlh2e
11-18-2005, 03:27 PM
I am a product of Williamson county schools (just South of Nashville) and I felt I received a wonderful education. My daughter goes to public school in Rutherford Cty (SE of Nashville), and my wife teaches high school there as well. We are both happy with is so far. As far as Metro-Nashville goes, I have heard from several teachers and students that you are better off going private.

turnipmonster
11-18-2005, 03:31 PM
I would definitely want to raise my kids in nyc. good public schools, mostly safe, lots of culture and experiences. plenty of sports if that's what they like, plenty of outstanding private teachers if they want to take any sort of lessons, etc.

plus everyone I've met who's grown up in nyc I would say turned out remarkably well.

I grew up in raleigh, nc. it's also a great place to raise a family but like anyplace it's not as safe as you think. my high school had drive by shootings, guns, drugs, you name it. scoring an 8ball in high school was infinitely easier than getting a 6 pack of beer.

--turnipmonster