Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois > Chicago Suburbs
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 07-05-2010, 06:59 PM
 
Location: Chciago
720 posts, read 2,997,172 times
Reputation: 505

Advertisements

"Some of the newest neighborhoods in Aurora are located in East Aurora. Of particular note is the planned community of HomeTown Aurora. This neighborhood is the America you see in movies, complete with calm streets and white picket fences. "


I saw this written in an article recently and had to chuckle. I was considering buying a home in Hometown. There's some really cheap houses there figured I'd live there for a few years and after that either sell it or rent it. Kind of looking at it as a place to stay for now but an investment as well down the road.

I asked a question on here and found out it's far from a desirable place to live which shouldn't have surprised me seeing as how cheap it is, how many foreclosures and short sales and that its in East Auroar school district.

I also was reading some other neighborhood forums and boards and was reading people saying they find cars stripped down on cinder blocks and such, lots of section 8, lots of ghetto people, maybe an exxageration but no doubt its not a great place to live.


Just saw that quote at the top in an article recently and had to laugh after getting advice on these boards about hometown.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-06-2010, 10:11 AM
 
Location: Humboldt Park, Chicago
2,686 posts, read 7,839,271 times
Reputation: 1196
Default I was not lying

I told you about Hometown. I think I gave you good advice with regards to staying the heck away if you could. That is going to be the land of foreclosure even worse than now as many buyers there put little or nothing down. I know of at least 2 people who are being foreclosed upon in that development and have been living rent-free without paying the mortgage to the bank for over a year.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-06-2010, 10:24 AM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,928,817 times
Reputation: 18723
The economic reality of low priced / entry level communities rarely make sense. I have seen lots more Habittat for Humanity development efforts help to both give people a shot at home ownership and stabilize communities than these "lowest rung" type builders. The cut that the developer takes leaves little to grow on...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-06-2010, 01:10 PM
 
Location: Chciago
720 posts, read 2,997,172 times
Reputation: 505
Default hometown.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Humboldt1 View Post
I told you about Hometown. I think I gave you good advice with regards to staying the heck away if you could. That is going to be the land of foreclosure even worse than now as many buyers there put little or nothing down. I know of at least 2 people who are being foreclosed upon in that development and have been living rent-free without paying the mortgage to the bank for over a year.
Humbolt, what are you talking about, Hometown is the worlds first "Recession Proof Home" lol.

Just kidding, thats what they advertise on the builders website.

Seriously though, I appreciate the advice. I shoud have known cheap price means cheaply constructed, also the number of foreclosures and short sales like you mentioned should be a red flag as well. Also, not to say everyone in Hometown is stripping down cars or anything crazy like that but I imagine I woulnd't want alot of the people as neigbhors.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-06-2010, 01:40 PM
 
28,455 posts, read 84,928,817 times
Reputation: 18723
The dynamics of mass built low income area are quite different than a more traditional neighborhood that ends up having a few run down houses. In the traditional style neighborhood you might have some real solid folks that are retired and maybe raising grandkids or something and that give lots of stability. They tend to have good skills for home maintainence and take more pride in their property. You will have some working class folks that really do want to give their kids a better shot at a good future so they will work hard for better schools and law enforcement. If there are some units owned by absent landlords those investors certainly don't want to see the whole area become unlivable and their investment become worthless.

The mass builder has their profit baked in, they can run with shady financing that is guaranteed to approve even unworthy buyers, get out and never look back. The families tend to be younger and larger, so that supervision issues are inevitable. For folks that have never owned a home before the required minimal upkeep may cut severely into their expectations of "easy living" and combined with the other problems things rapidly go down hill even if the homes were well built to begin...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-18-2010, 06:42 PM
 
3 posts, read 26,721 times
Reputation: 10
To Jamaica Bound60565,
You are misleading people.I live in HomeTown Aurora.There are NOT stripped cars and GHETTO people living here as well as lots of people with section 8!I will say that the school district is'nt the best and they do not provide school bus service for the children.HomeTown Aurora is a quiet starter community.I do have some issues with this community.I hate the speedbumps and narrow streets.There are some good things about this community.There are good neighbors, the parks with a interactive water pk.,the town center with the different shops and businesses.There used to be a cafe that closed down about two yrs. ago that sucked!It made HomeTown stand out from the ordinary subdivision.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-18-2010, 07:05 PM
 
Location: Chciago
720 posts, read 2,997,172 times
Reputation: 505
Quote:
Originally Posted by silverlite75 View Post
To Jamaica Bound60565,
You are misleading people.I live in HomeTown Aurora.There are NOT stripped cars and GHETTO people living here as well as lots of people with section 8!I will say that the school district is'nt the best and they do not provide school bus service for the children.HomeTown Aurora is a quiet starter community.I do have some issues with this community.I hate the speedbumps and narrow streets.There are some good things about this community.There are good neighbors, the parks with a interactive water pk.,the town center with the different shops and businesses.There used to be a cafe that closed down about two yrs. ago that sucked!It made HomeTown stand out from the ordinary subdivision.
I was just passing along things I've heard. I agree, I think the posts I read about stripped down cars on blocks seemed like a bit of an exaggeration, however there's got to be a reason why you can get a 4 bedroom house for under 100k.

If you look on craigslist or realtor.com or any of those sites it seems as if half the subdivision is in foreclosure, that cant be good for the future of the neighborhood either. Houses are going to sit vacant and investors are going to buy up the cheap foreclosures and turn them into sec 8 or rentals which also probably wont be great for the neigbhorhood.

Briefly I was actually looking to move into the area b/c of the cheap prices and I dont have kids so school isn't an issue, figured I'd live there for a few years and then move and keep it as a rental. Anyhow, after reading on these boards as well as on other things on the internet it just doesn't seem like that great a place to live.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-18-2010, 08:02 PM
 
Location: Berwyn, IL
2,418 posts, read 6,222,551 times
Reputation: 1133
Quote:
Originally Posted by silverlite75 View Post
To Jamaica Bound60565,
You are misleading people.I live in HomeTown Aurora.There are NOT stripped cars and GHETTO people living here as well as lots of people with section 8!I will say that the school district is'nt the best and they do not provide school bus service for the children.HomeTown Aurora is a quiet starter community.I do have some issues with this community.I hate the speedbumps and narrow streets.There are some good things about this community.There are good neighbors, the parks with a interactive water pk.,the town center with the different shops and businesses.There used to be a cafe that closed down about two yrs. ago that sucked!It made HomeTown stand out from the ordinary subdivision.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamaicabound60565 View Post
I was just passing along things I've heard. I agree, I think the posts I read about stripped down cars on blocks seemed like a bit of an exaggeration, however there's got to be a reason why you can get a 4 bedroom house for under 100k.

If you look on craigslist or realtor.com or any of those sites it seems as if half the subdivision is in foreclosure, that cant be good for the future of the neighborhood either. Houses are going to sit vacant and investors are going to buy up the cheap foreclosures and turn them into sec 8 or rentals which also probably wont be great for the neigbhorhood.

Briefly I was actually looking to move into the area b/c of the cheap prices and I dont have kids so school isn't an issue, figured I'd live there for a few years and then move and keep it as a rental. Anyhow, after reading on these boards as well as on other things on the internet it just doesn't seem like that great a place to live.
Stripped down car DOES NOT EQUAL car left on cinder blocks in a field.

And it happened in the summer of 2006..July I believe. I'm not sure how long you've been in the community, silverlite, but it happened. I was living with a friend at the time. The exact location was the SE corner of the turnabout where the first lofts went up. If you recall, those lofts were stalled for some time and there was nothing but dirt piles and open field.

And you're only misleading yourself if you refuse to admit the huge gang presence on New York & Farnsworth. Those people at that corner house are always drinking at all hours and causing a ruckus. Actually, my buddy was held up at the Burger King on that corner.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-02-2010, 08:02 PM
 
3 posts, read 26,721 times
Reputation: 10
I agree that the area around Farnsworth and New York street is'nt the greatest area.Lots of gang activity,run down homes,etc.I moved in after 2007 and did'nt see a car left on cinder blocks in a field.HomeTown is situated in between a shady,not so nice neighborhood(Farnsworth going toward New York) and Montgomery Rd.,near Waterford which is a much nicer area.This and the fact that the school district that serves this community is'nt the best.They do'nt even provide bus service to the middle school for the area.So if You dont have a car,Your kid would have to walk along Farnsworth,past the rough neighborhoods,crossing over New York St. to get to school.Oh yeah,Your other option is to have them take public transportation!Let them wait at the bus stop 6-6:30 am(which is'nt close by)!Dumbest thing I've ever heard.I will say this, I am moving from HomeTown before the new school year begins.If You dont have children in school,looking for a newer home in this area,HomeTown is okay.People that are interested should just check it out and form there own opinions.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 08-02-2010, 09:52 PM
 
Location: Chciago
720 posts, read 2,997,172 times
Reputation: 505
Quote:
Originally Posted by silverlite75 View Post
I agree that the area around Farnsworth and New York street is'nt the greatest area.Lots of gang activity,run down homes,etc.I moved in after 2007 and did'nt see a car left on cinder blocks in a field.HomeTown is situated in between a shady,not so nice neighborhood(Farnsworth going toward New York) and Montgomery Rd.,near Waterford which is a much nicer area.This and the fact that the school district that serves this community is'nt the best.They do'nt even provide bus service to the middle school for the area.So if You dont have a car,Your kid would have to walk along Farnsworth,past the rough neighborhoods,crossing over New York St. to get to school.Oh yeah,Your other option is to have them take public transportation!Let them wait at the bus stop 6-6:30 am(which is'nt close by)!Dumbest thing I've ever heard.I will say this, I am moving from HomeTown before the new school year begins.If You dont have children in school,looking for a newer home in this area,HomeTown is okay.People that are interested should just check it out and form there own opinions.
Silverlight, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on hometown and what its like to live there. What are you neighbors like? Any noticable shady activity in the neighborhood? etc.

That is ridiculous what yous aid about teh school and busses but if you didn't have kids would you ever consider living there again?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois > Chicago Suburbs
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top