Bolingbrook - Looking for some insightful perspective on the town's current reputation. (Naperville: appointed, foreclosures)

[tygayolo415]

I bought a home in Bolingbrook just west of Weber back in 2001 and lived there for several years before moving far away from the region. I continue to own the home as rental property but short of a visit every few years and working with my local property manager, I haven't had much contact with the community in some time.

My current tenant mentioned hearing from various folks (neighbors, people in stores) that the community has gained a lot of "thugs" and "riff-raff" in recent times.

I know from going way back in time that Bolingbrook had a gritty reputation so-to-speak but when I lived there most of the problems were concentrated to the east side of town. Everything I knew of mayor Claar's dealings pointed toward him doing things which were helping to improve the city's image.

I was disappointed to find some closed up shops off of Weber when I was there this past summer and given the economic realities I'm left to wonder if things truly have taken a turn for the worse.

Does anyone have any helpful perspective to add in regard to the state of things in Bolingbrook today versus a few years ago? Are things getting better, worse or mostly unchanged?

[TempesT68]

It's been riddled with foreclosures and a few unfinished developments after the market crash. Property values are very disproportionate to the taxes, also there is a strong minority presence which often times can give off an impression it's a bad area. The city is showing some promise with the new promenade mall which is quite nice, but it seems bolingbrook is in an identity crisis in will it continue to improve, or just keep declining.

[ofcjim40]

The economy is rebounding. A lot of new retail is coming in and the current stores and restaurants are doing pretty good. Yes, there are some pockets of bad in the otherwise good areas. A lot of these are rental houses. You can rent a nice house in a good area for a steal. The problem is if the tenants are trouble makers it can get interesting for the neighborhood.

[chet everett]

Bolingbrook's fate is really not in it's own hands -- if the surrounding areas decline it will too. Employment prospects in the vicinity are not as strong as for towns that are more centrally located or have Metra service.

I think the retail growth / improvements are a positive sign, but it does tend to shift business away from mother areas unless the whole situation improves, and that won't happen with out strong employment options...

Not nearly as bad off as some areas, but far from having a magnetic appeal (and with the magnet of Naperville too near by unlikely you can get "pull" from copying Naperville) Bolingbrook could really get a boost if some kind of bigger / more widely known employer made a big investment. If UofC had some kind of "biotech" corridor or even DOE leveraged the knowledge at Argonne it could really do wonders...

[ofcjim40]

Bolingbrook just landed G&W Electric which is a very prestigious company. Not long ago the headquarters for Weathertech. Being located right at 55/355 is a huge asset. Target will be building a second store. Costco just opened, ABT Electronics just bought 38 acres. The industrial area for Bolingbrook stretches all the way from just east of 355, follows 55 and passes Weber. This is about 6 miles long of straight up industrial and commercial. Bolingbrook has more industrial area than most smaller towns have residential. Businesses are moving out to this area to escape Cook taxes. The surrounding area doesn't really matter that much. Bolingbrook has one of the largest industrial complexes in the area, hence it can help to dictate what takes place in the area.

This is last years State of the Village, this years isn't out yet, but it gives you some idea that Bolingbrook is bigger and more developed than what most people know.
http://WWW.BOLINGBROOK.COM//info/pdf...e_01_15_10.pdf

[chet everett]

I agree with ofcjim that many folks do not see the the industrial / commercial space. Believe me I do. The location is a HUGE plus and I am sure that the moronic Cook Co tax has a big impact for businesses in the retail sector like Abt.

The long term shift that could really pump up the kinds of employment is what I am going for -- think 15, 20, 30 years out.

Places like Baxter and Abbott and Takeda have a huge presence in Lake Co and towns like Riverwoods and such have a much different profile becuase of their presence.

Right now there is still a boat load of higher quality office space in places like Oak Brook, Downers Grove, Lisle, Naperville that would have to fill-up / get more valuable before regular office developments pick up in / around Bolingbrook -- that is all I meant about them not being in control of their future.

If some kind of major shift came in the employement / space needs of Bolingbrook my hunch is that it might come from something at Argonne or Uof C. If some kind of high tech vaccine production facilitiy that needed massive amounts of space along with research labs and admiminstration and security were to locate inn the area that is the kind of shift that could be huge. Similarly if some DOE project needed a whole new campus / facility that would not fit at Argonne or Fermi but could still tie with their data netwprks and academic reasearchers that is the kind of game changer that would ratchet up the employment in a major way. The skills of folks that work in the refineries, chemical plants, power generation and munitions facilitie SW of Bolingbrook should be harnessed to take things to a new level...

[gramirez2012]

Well recently it's been known as the town where Drew Peterson lives.

[ofcjim40]

To a degree Peterson has almost been a "positive" for the town in terms of people that never heard of it have now. And really recently? We are going on almost 2 years ago for his arrest. Then once a person realizes it's moronic to label a whole town or PD as bad, they start to dig deeper into the core of what a town is, can then start to learn how an area is deeper than what they thought it was.

[cubssoxfan]

All the industrial/warehouse will also help the tax base fund important things like schools, libraries and parks.

[Earlyretired]

You guys are optimistic, and that's good I guess

I've lived here for 10 years...

I moved here because It was a cheap place to live near 355 and I don't have kids so I didn't care about the schools which were worse at the time...

I watched all the development and unnecessary improvements like the new library go on and my property taxes almost quadruple...

More stoplights than I can stand... At least the traffic light camera's were short lived

Thing is after doing lots of work to the house and fixing it up all I ended up with is a higher tax bill and NO equity...

I will say Bolingbrook is a nicer place to live today than what it was in 2000, but the taxes are too high and not worth it to live here anymore...

I've never felt unsafe here, I come from Brookfield, Lyons, Westmont, Downers Grove, and Naperville...

One thing I do like about the area though is the cops, Im not a troublemaker and I've never been harrased or even ticketed in this town...

Although I do believe Drew Peterson pulled me over around 2001 for doing a stupid hellacious burnout in my Hotrod 1972 Olds Cutlass on RT 53...

He told it was a very nice car and don't ever let me see you do that again