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Old 05-10-2011, 09:32 PM
 
Location: Piedmont NC
363 posts, read 436,878 times
Reputation: 309

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Quote:
People w/o jobs downtown don't take trains.

People who work downtown don't drive just becuase gas prices fall -- it costs a fortune to park downtown and the congestion is brutal.
chet, excellent observation!
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Old 05-10-2011, 09:43 PM
 
Location: South Chicagoland
4,111 posts, read 9,029,618 times
Reputation: 2079
Quote:
Originally Posted by Humboldt1 View Post
Does anyone on here apart from Allen believe that the south suburbs are getting better or even stabilizing?
This is such a loaded, ridiculous and most of all GENERALIZING question. I've never read any post from Allen about how he believes Harvey or Chicago Heights is stabalizing or getting better. I think Chicago Heights is stable because it's pretty much always been like this. I think my hometown of Park Forest is a little more rowdy than it was when I was growing up but I don't think it's anything too dramatic. I completely agree with Allen about Matteson. In more ways than one, it's arguably BETTER than it used to be. It's just more black than it used to be.. Sauk Village has seen crime sky rocket and has worse. H-F is still a great school. Homewood is still a good place to live - just ask any white person who lives nearby and isn't posting on City-Data. They're always revitalizing Homewood's downtown and I think the complaint is more often nearby towns not Homewood itself. Same deal with Flossmoor. Subdivisions in Olympia Fields are as ritzy and as squeaky clean as ever. Lincoln Highway (Olympia Fields and Matteson) has seen Blockbuster and Borders close down. I suppose the south suburbs as a whole have seen a decline but AMERICA is in a recession.

Last edited by urza216; 05-10-2011 at 09:53 PM..
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Old 05-10-2011, 09:48 PM
 
Location: South Chicagoland
4,111 posts, read 9,029,618 times
Reputation: 2079
Quote:
Originally Posted by PrairieGirl View Post
It would not be shocking to me if you grew up without racial tension, it kind of disappoints me that it still happens. What suburb are you from?
Park Forest, mostly.
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Old 05-10-2011, 10:01 PM
 
829 posts, read 2,080,197 times
Reputation: 287
It just sounds counterintuitive to me to think that cheaper home prices on the exact same homes that were selling for substantially more less than 5 years ago is at all a bad thing for recent homebuyers in the southern suburbs. Sure I get why longtime homeowners are not happy with that. But homes are priced totally different now without all of the financing. A home is a place to live. The cheaper you buy it for the better. The less mortgage debt you have the better. No mortgage at all is even better. Why make yourself house poor if you don't have to? Don't buy an expensive home in an expensive area if you can't afford to lose money on it if the value goes down. There are plenty of affordable homes on the market in very nice middle class areas. If someone still chooses to buy a more expensive home in a more expensive area. And take on the extra mortgage debt. That's there decision. And that means they can obviously afford it if the market in that area takes a turn for the worst and there high priced home loses value.

Last edited by allen2323; 05-10-2011 at 10:54 PM..
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Old 05-10-2011, 11:01 PM
 
Location: Not where you ever lived
11,535 posts, read 30,147,998 times
Reputation: 6424
One other thing, if you have an all cash deal you*can negotiate the price and a better Closing. Everyone seems to forget the prices in 2007 were aftifically inflated. Chances are the prices are more realiztic. The good news is if you bought between 2006 to say 2010 and the value of the has dropped appreciably you can apply for a Tax Reduction in your county. You have to jump through a lot of hoops, but if you can prove it, the County can't deny it without good cause. Illinois provides some very nice exemptions for senior homeowners.
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Old 05-10-2011, 11:57 PM
 
28,455 posts, read 85,063,327 times
Reputation: 18725
Straight Dope Chicago: 'How to Fix the El' followup, and a change in format
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Old 05-11-2011, 12:30 AM
 
Location: Not where you ever lived
11,535 posts, read 30,147,998 times
Reputation: 6424
Default Great Story!

Chicago always did have excellent writers and commentary. Here's my take.

Chicago has changed greatly in fifty years in terms of population growth and the number of stores, plus cars and people in the streets. My question is how has ridership changed in the same time frame, or has it changed at all? More riders, I would think, could cause a longer stop at some stations which might result in a longer ride. Or does it?


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Old 05-11-2011, 07:50 AM
 
Location: Humboldt Park, Chicago
2,686 posts, read 7,849,210 times
Reputation: 1196
Linicx,

Good luck getting your property taxes reduced significantly. Everyone's home went down in value over the past 5 years. I contest my taxes every year in cook and dupage every year and only save a few hundred bucks per property. Homeowner's exemption saves me the most on the Chicago property, which is still my legal residence.

Allen,

How many of those cash buyers do you think will actually live in those house? As prices get even cheaper (they will for the next 1-2 years at least), I expect prices to attract vulture investors.

I actually wouldn't mind buying a couple of formerly 500k homes in Homewood for 100k cash each. I think this may be possible in 2012-2015.

The banks actually were not overly aggressive about selling homes for cheap. These homes are depreciating assets, particularly in the south suburbs. They were wise to dump them for whatever they could get.

I just think the south suburbs are a poor place to invest for the next few years. I feel really bad for anyone who bought in the last 10 years as they have surely lost money if they try to sell now. This is the case for most of Chicagoland, but is felt more acutely in the south suburbs.

Prairie,

I agree that white flight is certainly a factor in all of this, further increasing price declines caused by a worsening of the overall economy.

Cab you imagine the neighbors once people like me start renting out those houses we bought for 100k in cash? Not good. Not good at all.
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Old 05-11-2011, 08:09 AM
 
12,999 posts, read 18,827,676 times
Reputation: 9236
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
People w/o jobs downtown don't take trains.

People who work downtown don't drive just becuase gas prices fall -- it costs a fortune to park downtown and the congestion is brutal.
Apparently you haven't been on some trains lately. Quite a few ride the North Central service to Rosemont or Franklin Park. Lake-Cook Road is a popular destination for commuters riding in from northern Lake County or out from Chicago. If more would look at the costs the trains would be even more crowded. Elgin to Franklin Park is $128.25 a month, about 30 gallons. Even at 30 mpg you'd be spending more than gas alone.

Last edited by pvande55; 05-11-2011 at 08:10 AM.. Reason: grammar
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Old 05-11-2011, 08:32 AM
 
28,455 posts, read 85,063,327 times
Reputation: 18725
The volume of passengers at even the most convenient / job dense suburban Metra destination just can't compete with Union Station or Oligivie. Not saying that those stops don't exist, just volumes are insignficant. I personally wish that there were both better options and more folks to take advantage of them, but the structure of the RTA, construction industry lobbyists and political infighting will probably prevent any significant move away from auto being "king" in the burb-to-burb commute for the foreseeable future...
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