living near Harvey (Chicago, Tinley Park, Park Forest: low income, look for a job, cinema)

[runnercine]

Hi. I'm interested in a job in Harvey. But I know nearly nothing of IL south of downtown Chicago(!). Can I commute to Harvey in less than 45 minutes from a nice community (e.g., bicycle-friendly, independent cinema, recreation programs, safe)?

[urza216]

Forty-five minutes? Of course you can.. Wow.

What is your price range? Homewood is just south of Harvey on Halsted Street and it's a very nice, safe, vibrant and bicycle friendly community. You can also look into Matteson, Park Forest or Olympia Fields (Old Plank Trail is great). If you want to look further west, you can try Tinley Park. All of these communities have what you're looking for. If you want to push that "forty-five minute" range, you can also look into Crete. But I don't consider it very bicycle friendly in eastern Will County.. Plus it's further away from the city if you're looking for a lot of that "independent cinema". There's always Metra though.

[LIS123]

Originally Posted by runnercine

Hi. I'm interested in a job in Harvey. But I know nearly nothing of IL south of downtown Chicago(!). Can I commute to Harvey in less than 45 minutes from a nice community (e.g., bicycle-friendly, independent cinema, recreation programs, safe)?

You could also consider NW Indiana: Munster, Dyer, Schererville, St John, Highland. I'd take NWI over the South Suburbs.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by LIS123

You could also consider NW Indiana: Munster, Dyer, Schererville, St John, Highland. I'd take NWI over the South Suburbs.

That's quite a generalization about two entire regions. Would you really take Gary over Homewood? Or even Hammond over Matteson?

[sunnyandcloudydays]

Originally Posted by LIS123

You could also consider NW Indiana: Munster, Dyer, Schererville, St John, Highland. I'd take NWI over the South Suburbs.

Why move to Hammond over Matteson or Homewood?
Homewood is a really nice village with easy commutes to and from Chicago via Metra

Drive thru Homewood and then Drive thru Hammond then decide for yourself

The other communities in NWI are nice but very far if your ever looking to commute by mass transit - there are no train stations in those communities and if you ever had to look for a job in the city, you would be in for one long commute via your automobile....very stressfull- nice area but not good for commuters

[knighthood82]

Originally Posted by urza216

That's quite a generalization about two entire regions. Would you really take Gary over Homewood? Or even Hammond over Matteson?

I think you're making a little bit of a generalization yourself there. While 95% of Gary is just plain bad I'd like to live on Lake Shore Drive in the Miller section of Gary overlooking Lake Michigan over anywhere in Homewood. Also, I would pick living on Knickerbocker in Hammond near Purdue Cal in the historic district over many places in Matteson. To each their own I guess.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by knighthood82

I think you're making a little bit of a generalization yourself there. While 95% of Gary is just plain bad I'd like to live on Lake Shore Drive in the Miller section of Gary overlooking Lake Michigan over anywhere in Homewood. Also, I would pick living on Knickerbocker in Hammond near Purdue Cal in the historic district over many places in Matteson. To each their own I guess.

I would pick Homewood over Miller Park in a nano second.

[LIS123]

Originally Posted by urza216

That's quite a generalization about two entire regions. Would you really take Gary over Homewood? Or even Hammond over Matteson?

You're right; it was more of a general statement than a town v town comparison. Would you take Harvey over Dyer? I can ask the same.

That said, I'd lean towards NWI over South Suburban Chicago in most cases. Of course, there are exceptions. Being in IN vs IL (which is having major budget issues) is an added bonus.

[allen2323]

Originally Posted by LIS123

You're right; it was more of a general statement than a town v town comparison. Would you take Harvey over Dyer? I can ask the same.

That said, I'd lean towards NWI over South Suburban Chicago in most cases. Of course, there are exceptions. Being in IN vs IL (which is having major budget issues) is an added bonus.

Not sure if you are aware of the actual numbers. But lake county indiana is not a more prosperous county overall. The median househould income for lake county as of 2009 was below middle class at $47,962. Just to compare cook county for example has a median household income of $53,903 which is middle class. And just to put that in perspective of the south suburbs, there are only a handful of south suburbs with a median household income below $50,000 a year. Those include Harvey, riverdale, robbins, phoenix, ford heights, chicago heights, and maybe a couple of others. The overwhelming majority of south suburbs have median household incomes over $50,000 a year and are considered middle class. Median household incomes above $50,000 a year is widely considered to be the cut off for middle class.

As far as the low end of Northwest Indiana. Gary, hammond, and east chicago are all areas in Northwest indiana with large populations of low income residents. The difference between Lake county indiana and the southern suburbs is in the population, and land size of these low income communities. Gary indiana for example has 95,000 residents with a median household income of $27,367. East chicago has 29,900 residents with a median household income of $28,822. Hammond has 76,545 residents with a median household income of $38,308.


In comaprison, the lower income suburbs in the south suburbs tend to be smaller in population and size. And the middle class southern suburbs suburbs far outnumber the lower income suburbs in terms of population size and overall number of suburbs. For example the largest populated low income southern suburb which is Harvey only has a population of 27,890 with a median household income of $32,968. Compared to gary, indiana which has a population of 95,000 residents with a median household income of $27,367.

[Mr.Garcia]

Originally Posted by sunnyandcloudydays

Why move to Hammond over Matteson or Homewood?
Homewood is a really nice village with easy commutes to and from Chicago via Metra

Drive thru Homewood and then Drive thru Hammond then decide for yourself

HAHAhaaaaaa @ comparing Hammond to Homewood or Matteson