Alsip, Oak Lawn, Tinley Park, Orland Park, Oak Forest (La Grange: for sale, real estate)

[gahs7]

Hello, I was hoping to get some opinions on these towns I listed based on schools, housing, neigboorhood activiy, park districts, safety. I plan on raising a family for the next 18 years so I want to make sure I'm in a good area today and several years later. I know Tinley Park well based on another thread but what i have a hard time decided which town i want to raise my kids based on a lot of factors, so are really some towns that much better than others because every town has a suspect areas. Your feed back is much appriciated.

[emmybeth1228]

Orland Park is going to cost you twice as much as the rest but it does have great schools. Traffic in Orland is the worse! Houses are really expensive! You cannot find anything decent for under half a million. I love Oak Forest! The schools are great! The people are great and you can get a great home in an established neighborhood for half the cost of in orland. I would stay away from Alsip.
Hope this helps!
Good Luck

[cdc3217]

I know a lot of members have been dogging Alsip lately, but it does have nice park district and library programs. It is't the most upscale town, but it has good business development. The police always seem to have a presence near parks and such. There are some nice bike paths, and I see kids out and about riding their bikes and playing all summer. I think there is a more "old-school" mentality to how the kids there grow up. You can get the school report card at this link: Interactive Illinois Report Card

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by emmybeth1228

Orland Park is going to cost you twice as much as the rest but it does have great schools. Traffic in Orland is the worse! Houses are really expensive! You cannot find anything decent for under half a million. I love Oak Forest! The schools are great! The people are great and you can get a great home in an established neighborhood for half the cost of in orland. I would stay away from Alsip.
Hope this helps!
Good Luck

You can't find anything decent for under a half mil??? Since when? I bought a very nice house right off 143rd and Clearview for the low $300s and my taxes are about $6,000 a year and I get all of my village paid property taxes back just for living in Orland Park, so I have no idea what this person is talking about. My house is a tri-level, all brick, two car garage with nice sized yard and I'm in district 230 and 135 for schools which are top of the line. Yes traffic is heavy, however you learn your way around Orland Park so you don't have to rely on La Grange Road. There are plenty of little short cuts that all the locals know of such as Ravinia, John Humphrey Drive, OSD (Orland Square Drive) The Regent Drive cut through to 159th Street, the 86th Avenue straight shot north to Rte 83 to avoid all the morning La Grange Road traffic, need I go on? Do yourself a favor, go on REALTOR.com - Real Estate Listings & Homes For Sale and look at places for yourself. I can tell you that with condition of the housing market right now, you CAN and WILL find a VERY nice house in Orland Park for about $300,000-$350,000. It is a buyers market! Also check out The Daily Southtown for local ads of houses.

BTW, Tinley Park is also very nice as are parts of Oak Forest. Stay away from Alsip, the area is changing and house values are stagnant at best.

[justalicious6989]

oak lawn has a great school system!
my brother actually goes to one of the schools in oak lawn/hometown
great for raising a family i beleave
i lived in oak lawn for a while, its not bad at all its not a suburban feel either seeing as you are nxt to chicago anyway. but as far as the neighboorhood it is really great, schools are great they have a wide range of schooling for special Education to regular classes..

[NYrules]

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