Where to live when working at the University of Chicago (Joliet: to rent, crime)

[urza216]

Flossmoor isn't really that far out. But it's not inner ring either.. kinda like Hindsdale. Flossmoor isn't a far greater distance to the Loop.. The OP is capable of getting acustomed to entertainment centers close to Flossmoor instead of the areas you call home, Chet.

[urza216]

To say Flossmoor is a far greater distance to the Loop than Hindsdale is either a bold faced lie or ignorance. Flossmoor is pretty close to the middle in the suburban stops on the Metra Electric

[urza216]

It's funny because i always thought downtown was downtonwn. It's conveneient for everyone. That's why they call it downtown. It's downtown no matter what direction you are coming from. But the U of C is on the south side..

[allen2323]

Originally Posted by chet everett

The discrepency in taxes is HUGE -- more than double. And for the privledge of those far higher taxes in Flossmoor the purchaser will have a far greater distance to the Loop and other employment centers, considerably less well regarded schools, longer rail and vehicle commutes to just about everything as well as the pride of knowing their taxes support winners like Bill Beavers...

The difficulty, which I point out not just about Flossmoor but other suburbs with a relatively small number of higher end homes, is that if one does purchase in an area where the median price is below your target price you often end up shouldering a far greater than average tax burden. In contrast if you purchase a home closer / below an area's median price you get a relatively less crushing property tax bill. That bill is going to dog a home owner year in and year out, whether you send you kids to private schools or they go off to college. Don't get me wrong, I am not opposed to property taxes as a method of funding local units of governments, and I have no problem supporting schools even after my kids are done, but from a practical standpoint when there is such disparity between very similar homes either of which could make a lovely home for a two income family I cannot fathom why one would choose to more than double their own taxes...

First off, your postings regarding flossmoor are just riddled with inaccuracies. The median property tax bill in flossmoor is $8,284.16 a year. High yes. But, it isn't totally out of line with many other similar income areas. The median property tax bill in Clarendon Hills which is near willowbrook is substantially higher than flossmoor. Clarendon Hills' residents pay a median property tax bill of $14,946.82 a year.

Willowbrook's property taxes are much lower, but willowbrook is not a comparable income area. The median family income in willowbrook is $76,009. The median family income in flossmoor is $115,789. In willowbrook 73.0 percent of properties are owner occupied. In Flossmoor 92.3 percent of properties are owner occupied.

As with most western suburbs, housing prices in willowbrook are much higher than a comparable income southern suburb. Any savings in property taxes are more than wiped away with the higher housing cost.

[pvande55]

Originally Posted by urza216

It's funny because i always thought downtown was downtonwn. It's conveneient for everyone. That's why they call it downtown. It's downtown no matter what direction you are coming from. But the U of C is on the south side..

That's right. No place beats downtown for accessibility. But Hyde Park is accessible from quite a few places. As far as University Park, or even Michigan City IN. As far as Joliet if you don't mind transfering at Blue Island. Only the North, Northwest and West suburbs are inconvenient. I knew someone who commuted from Wauconda to Hyde Park, that is extreme.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by pvande55

That's right. No place beats downtown for accessibility. But Hyde Park is accessible from quite a few places. As far as University Park, or even Michigan City IN. As far as Joliet if you don't mind transfering at Blue Island. Only the North, Northwest and West suburbs are inconvenient. I knew someone who commuted from Wauconda to Hyde Park, that is extreme.

I know people who live further south than University Park (in Monee and Peotone) and commute on the Metra Electric.. I still live in Monee and I've never commuted on the Metra Electric but the University Park station isn't far at all. Down in Kankakee County, the River Valley bus drops people off at the UP station during major commuting hours.

[chet everett]

For somebody complaining about others being "riddled with inaccuracies" you'd think they'd go out of their way to get things right.

As I suggested, when comparing homes of comparable desirabiity for a two income family the better value when factoring BOTH purchase price AND real estate taxes is pretty clear.


I generally prefer the nice short URLs of our fine hosts here at city-data.com but no matter I look I can't find ANY source to support the idea that there is some kind of magic island of wealth being overlooked that shows householod incomes $20,000 below what you suggest:

Flossmoor on Zillow (http://www.zillow.com/local-info/IL-Flossmoor-people/r_299979/ - broken link)

Similarly using Zillow for property tax shows they are HALF what you suggest for Clarendon Hills:

Clarendon Hills on Zillow

Originally Posted by allen2323

First off, your postings regarding flossmoor are just riddled with inaccuracies. ...

Kettle, pot, black, fill in as needed...

[allen2323]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Kettle, pot, black, fill in as needed...

I can't find ANY source to support the idea that there is some kind of magic island of wealth being overlooked that shows householod incomes $20,000 below what you suggest:

Whoa. I got the median family income numbers that I posted directly from the US census website. Which has the most up to date figures on record for the end of 2010. Not sure if the direct link for this works but here it is. American FactFinder - Results

Originally Posted by allen2323

Willowbrook's property taxes are much lower, but willowbrook is not a comparable income area. The median family income in willowbrook is $76,009. The median family income in flossmoor is $115,789. In willowbrook 73.0 percent of properties are owner occupied. In Flossmoor 92.3 percent of properties are owner occupied.

You can also look it up yourself on the factfinder. Just type in income and whatever city/state you are looking up. American FactFinder

I got the median property tax bills off of blockshopper.com . Top taxpayers by city | Chicago . Which seems to have the most easily comparable list online. I think you will be quite suprised that flossmoor has nowhere near the highest median property tax bill in the chicagoland area. As you so much like to inaccurately state flossmoor's property taxes as being so much higher. Bannockburn for example has a median property tax bill of $23,638.22. In the Chicagoland area, there are over 40 neighborhoods with median property tax bills higher than flosssmoor.

[chet everett]

Nice misdirection play al -- I have no doubt that the median property taxes in many towns is greatly influenced by the generally small size of some older homes just as other towns have a mix of homes that are very large and /or signficantly newer & more valuable than their neighbors. I believe Flossmoor fits into the former category while UNINCORPORATED CH would fit into the latter. One of the reasons why I stress purchasing a home that is in a highly rated district is that the financials of such districts are nearly always MUCH less likely to see wide descrepencies between homes. When you lump together any set of unincoporated places you immeadiately toss that consistency out the window -- I'll be happy to explain how the northern Illinois MLS system (from which blockshopper aggregates their data feeds) allows for data rolled-up from areas served by multiple school districts (which is pretty common in unincorporated parts of DuPage Co) to propagate a false image of an area but the OP still has not visited back with any more questions. If you'll recall my original post in this thread I did mention Flossmoor as a potential option but I wonder if the truth bending and such that seems to needed to sugar coat the reality of high costs and less than stellar performance has done more to hurt your cause...

[allen2323]

For one I have no cause. I am neither currently buying nor trying to sell a home in any of the areas mentioned. I simply was adding a dose of factual information to this topic and pointing out what I felt were totally inaccurate statements. I live in the area. I have a pretty good idea of what is the norm for property taxes in different areas of Flossmoor and surrounding neighborhoods. I am sure you have a million explanations regarding the factual information that I pointed out. You can take it however you want to. As you seem to have limited knowledge about Flossmoor and other southern suburbs.