RAHM EMANUEL will be Obama’s chief of staff.
Family: Wife Amy Rule and three children: a son, Zachariah, and two daughters, Ilana and Leah
Current Address: Chicago’s Ravenswood neighborhood, known for its Victorian homes, bungalows, and 100-year-old brick apartment-turned-condominium buildings. Maggie Finegan, an agent with Keller Williams Realty, says the neighborhood has artistic flare: “Ravenswood Avenue runs through Ravenswood-and it is amazing. It’s factory lofts that are 60, 80, or 100 years old. And some of them have been turned into artists’ lofts.” Plus, the area has an annual ArtWalk, which featured 150 contributors this year. In the last 15 years, the neighborhood has gentrified, drawing a lot more families, young professionals, and newly married couples than in the past. Yet “it’s not boutique-y. It’s not some snobby little neighborhood by any stretch of the imagination,” says Stephanie Guerrero, an agent with Coldwell Banker, Lincoln Park Plaza, who works and lives in the area. Ravenswood is also very diverse: Hispanic, German, some Asian, “a little sprinkling of gay. A little bit of everything. But that’s part of its charm.” While in D.C., Emanuel, a member of Congress since 2003, stays in a basement apartment in Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro‘s (D-Conn.) home.
And the selection…
3542 Porter St. NW
Neighborhood: Cleveland Park
Price tag: $1.49 million
Why: Emanuel has a reputation for being an aggressive, forceful guy-and God knows working at the White House is not going to ease his stress levels. But you know what might? A restorative jog in Rock Creek Park. On Porter Street, he’s just a quick downhill run away from the winding paths of D.C.’s greatest natural resource. It’s a lovely, peaceful sight to imagine: Emanuel, one with the Earth and the multicolored trees on a crisp fall day. Or perhaps if he’s looking for something a bit more strenuous, he could sprint up the hill from Connecticut Avenue to Cathedral Heights and then head on over to the Meridian Hill stairs. (The man does train for triathlons.) Besides Cleveland Park’s fitness benefits, the area is also a few Metro stops away from the White House on the Red Line, and it’s close to several of the city’s leading private schools-Sidwell Friends and the Maret School to name two-plus there’s Adas Israel on Quebec Street, one of D.C.’s largest synagogues. The Emanuel family is devoutly Jewish, and with three young children, they’re presumably going to be doing a lot bar/bat mitzvah planning in their future.