Live and Teach in Chicago?

[Sonagi]

I am an ESL teacher planning to attend the July CPS job fair. The north side seems to be the safest and the south side the most dangerous, as evidenced by the great crime stats map provided in another message. Since I am an ESL teacher, I will probably be teaching in a school with many recent immigrants. Are there certain neighborhoods with large recent immigrant populations? Where are these neighborhoods located? Any other advice?

[Chicagomjb]

Well the north side is the safer like you said.. I wouldnt call the southside dangerous. The southside has some really nice neighborhoods and other neighborhoods that are more on the scary side. I'm a police officer and i live on the southside so i know about this stuff. Lately Sex crimes are actually higher on the northside than the southside. I live in deering/bridgeport and thats a decent neighborhood on the southside. On the northside there are alot of good neighborhoods like Irving Park and Lincoln Park. You can live in those neighborhoods at a reasonable price. The Northside is definitely the upper class and is quite expensive (i couldnt live there if i wanted too).

[Sonagi]

Thank you, officer, for your informative post. Teachers don't make big bucks, so I have to consider rents, too.