M.M.
I currently live at Irving Park Rd/California.
It's kind of between Lincoln Square and Avondale.
I can tell you that housing in our neighborhood has become quite affordable in recent years...we've been here about 5 now. You can get a nice house/townhome for between $450-650K...depending on what you're looking for. We live in a 4 floor, 3000 sq ft town home community. Initially we paid $610...but that was before the "crash". These same units are now going for $450-5K. So....bad for me...good for you! There are TONS of families with little kids around here...over 30 small kids in my little townhome community alone!
My kids (4.5 and 2.5) go to St. Ben's Prep...so private.
The CPS school options, depending on zoning are Bell and Coonley....both of which are AWESOME schools with a wait list to get in.
We're a little further west, so we're zoned into a different school that we weren't excited about.
We really love it here, and everyone in the area that I know feels the same. Lots of playgrounds, parks, access to city stuff, and it's a relatively safe area.
PM me if you have questions!
**same suggestions if you're renting...
In fact, if you're interested in a 3br/3ba in West Bucktown, we're renting our old place as of May. $2100/mo, 2500 sq ft.