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We considered Berwyn when looking for a place to move. Even though the taxes are cheaper than Oak Park we still decided on Oak Park. I would rather live in a Condo in Oak Park than a SFH in Berwyn. It was all about schools for us. People told me "Well, you could send your kids to private school." What is the point of lower taxes if I would spend more in private school for two children. I know a few people who live in Berwyn and love it. It just wasn't for us. Berwyn does have potential but I wasn't will to risk the chance that it wouldn't improve. Plus the SFHs in Berwen weren't all that cheaper when compared to similar SFHs in Oak Park. They may have dropped in the last couple of years.
Since my husband also works in Oak Brook and I now work downtown, I thought I would weigh in.
Full disclosure: After posting on city-data a ways back, we ended up buying in Brookfield, but lived happily in Oak Park a half a block from north Berwyn for three years and strongly considered it.
And as much as we didn't want to be those people, our decision was based primarily on schools. We had few worries at the elementary level and weren't initially totally put off by the high school situation, but as we dug deeper got to feeling that it was...mired. Old school politics style. (That we were also considering a town that shared a lot of Berwyn's pluses (and its own set of negatives) but feeds into fantastic high schools made the coin flip more readily than if we'd only been looking at say, Berwyn and Galewood.)
That said, Berwyn has a lot going for it. I never felt any less safe there than in Oak Park. Neither community offers a typical "suburban" safety level, but anyone with urban acumen probably won't be fazed (i.e. garage break-ins are a concern, getting assaulted not so much) in the more desirable areas. It has some gorgeous streets, is quite affordable, and has really fast access to downtown via Metra (or a much longer bus-to-el route). Being close to Oak Park offerings is of course a plus and Berwyn's got some upstarts of its own. Dare I say, Berwyn also has a hipness about it--it's on a lot of people's radar right now (in part thanks to marketing and revitalization efforts), even if it's just to put down others' claims about it. There are definitely some cool people are moving there--though chances are most your neighbors will be old school Western suburbanites.
Having lived off of Roosevelt, I saw a lot of improvement there (still lots of room to grow though) and in my experience the pocket of north Berwyn closer to Harlem is just fine too. Realistically, the commute to Oak Brook will probably run you around 30 minutes and the morning Metra into the city will take about 20-25 minutes plus a walk of up to 15 minutes if your job is in the Loop. I've gotta say though, that if you have a lot of friends who live in the city, it can still feel like living in outer Siberia sometimes. But not like living in Oak Brook would be...
Coming from NYC, I can see Berwyn as a good place to land without too much suburban culture shock. But I definitely second taking a year to rent in either Berwyn or Oak Park (since both split the commute well) to get a feel for the possibilities.
Just wanted to add that another great reason to rent for a year is the current short sale market. While househunting, we saw some real steals pop up in Berwyn and poising yourself to jump on one could certainly pay off.
Affordable inner ring suburb with great housing stock
Quote:
Originally Posted by cmg524
My husband and I are moving to Chicago from New York City. We are originally from the Midwest, but unfamiliar with Chicago. We are looking for a nice-sized home, some greenery in our yard, good schools for our future family, a garage, walking distance to public transit, everything but the latter is what's missing for us in NYC! We want to live North or West of Chicago. His company at least for now will be based in Oak Brook and I will be hopefully working downtown.
We've found some great places in Berwyn, and it seems like the Berwyn South District has good schools , like Emerson and Blythe. What are your thoughts on safety and the neighborhood overall? We definitely want the comforts of suburbia with the options of urban life . . . we definitely want diversity for our growing family, but we also want to have security in our location. One of my favorite places I've found so far is by Proksa Park.
Please talk away about Berwyn!
We bought a bungalow near Proksa Park 2 years ago. Love the area, plan on sending our kid to Emerson and Heritage. There's a lot of opinions on Berwyn posted on this site. Finding a close-in suburb with affordable single family homes is a challenge. There's trade-offs to be made. We had a price range of ~$200K and we also looked at Des Plaines, Elmwood Park, Lyons, and Brookfield.
We chose Berwyn based on our following priorities: Quiet peaceful neighborhood, walking distance to Metra (20 minute train ride to Union), beautiful and plentiful housing stock, proximity to the City (11 miles to Loop), good schools (SD100), and a general sense that the community is improving. Based on these metrics, Berywn beat out the competition.
Keep in mind, I say Berwyn beat out similarly priced, nearby communities. A lot of suburbs are mentioned on this site as alternatives to Berwyn, but I do not consider them comparables, usually because of price. Communities with much higher median home prices and property taxes typically have better schools. I assume that if you're considering buying a house in Berwyn, you're aware of this, so I don't need to point out the obvious. (That's Chet's job, apparently).
Below are some cities that people on this site will proffer you as alternatives to Berwyn, along with the median home price. If you're looking for an inner ring suburb with affordable housing, decent schools, and homes in the $150 - $250 range, Berwyn is an attractive and albeit one of the only choices.
We considered Berwyn when looking for a place to move. Even though the taxes are cheaper than Oak Park we still decided on Oak Park. I would rather live in a Condo in Oak Park than a SFH in Berwyn. It was all about schools for us. People told me "Well, you could send your kids to private school." What is the point of lower taxes if I would spend more in private school for two children. I know a few people who live in Berwyn and love it. It just wasn't for us. Berwyn does have potential but I wasn't will to risk the chance that it wouldn't improve. Plus the SFHs in Berwen weren't all that cheaper when compared to similar SFHs in Oak Park. They may have dropped in the last couple of years.
Prices in Berwyn have dropped a lot since 2007. See below the median home prices from city-data.com for 2010. For SFH's, Oak Park is in a completely different price tier than Berwyn. No question the schools are great in Oak Park, that's what $10K in property taxes gets you. A lot of young couples planning a family are looking for a SFH, not a condo, in the $200K range, and for them, Oak Park isn't even on the radar. Of the few close-in suburbs on the radar, Berwyn stands out.
"Revitalize" Rosevelt Road? It looks pretty bustling to me.. What needs to be "revitalized"? Should a fast food joint close down so as to open up another computer repair shop or bicycle store?
Prices in Berwyn have dropped a lot since 2007. See below the median home prices from city-data.com for 2010. For SFH's, Oak Park is in a completely different price tier than Berwyn. No question the schools are great in Oak Park, that's what $10K in property taxes gets you. A lot of young couples planning a family are looking for a SFH, not a condo, in the $200K range, and for them, Oak Park isn't even on the radar. Of the few close-in suburbs on the radar, Berwyn stands out.
Berwyn: $237,222
Oak Park: $380,651
You can cross shop Berwyn and Oak Park and this price disparity is in part due to the much larger and more expensive homes in Oak Park, of which Berwyn does not have many. But still, a comparable bungalow in south Oak Park is going to be about 100k more. Taxes on the Berwyn home will be about 5k. The Oak Park home will be about 10-12k. Nice if you can afford it but a lot of young people buying their first home cannot - nor can they make the space sacrifices that come with a condo. I'd also argue that condos have limited appreciation potential, especially in Oak Park because there are a lot of apartments left to convert and there is competition from similarly priced SFHs in Berwyn and Forest Park.
You do get the Oak Park address and diversity bragging rights for the extra money- though in reality Berwyn is more diverse at this point, especially economically. Berwyn also feels younger and has a more "activist" feel, like Oak Park probably once did. Also, Emerson, Irving and Pershing in District 100 actually score higher on the ISAT than some Oak Park elementary schools so you have to be careful here too. I'd hate to be paying a 12k tax bill for a school scoring lower than one I could have got for 5k per year. The high school is way better in Oak Park, no doubt.
As you said, the comparison isn't really fair but it will be made because the communities are neighbors. What's nice about Berwyn is you get a lot for the price. I think it's a great place for a starter home that has a good potential for upside.
You can cross shop Berwyn and Oak Park and this price disparity is in part due to the much larger and more expensive homes in Oak Park, of which Berwyn does not have many. But still, a comparable bungalow in south Oak Park is going to be about 100k more. Taxes on the Berwyn home will be about 5k. The Oak Park home will be about 10-12k. Nice if you can afford it but a lot of young people buying their first home cannot - nor can they make the space sacrifices that come with a condo. I'd also argue that condos have limited appreciation potential, especially in Oak Park because there are a lot of apartments left to convert and there is competition from similarly priced SFHs in Berwyn and Forest Park.
You do get the Oak Park address and diversity bragging rights for the extra money- though in reality Berwyn is more diverse at this point, especially economically. Berwyn also feels younger and has a more "activist" feel, like Oak Park probably once did. Also, Emerson, Irving and Pershing in District 100 actually score higher on the ISAT than some Oak Park elementary schools so you have to be careful here too. I'd hate to be paying a 12k tax bill for a school scoring lower than one I could have got for 5k per year. The high school is way better in Oak Park, no doubt.
As you said, the comparison isn't really fair but it will be made because the communities are neighbors. What's nice about Berwyn is you get a lot for the price. I think it's a great place for a starter home that has a good potential for upside.
I really don't see the need for this kind of comparison between Berwyn and Oak Park where it feels like nit picking... it makes Berwyn out to have some kind of Nepoleon complex, where I dont think it does. They're just different places.
As for diversity, which is measured on various levels, Oak Park has plenty, and many more young mixed racial, and same sex couple families have been continuing to move in. Oak Parks reputation tends to have the effect of attracting families and individuals that share a similar progressive mindset, and still does to this day. As for activist young types, Oak Park still attracts many. And as far as the numbers games for schools go, there have been many discussions on here about Oak Park schools and how the over all test scores are not reflective of the good education that can be had in the schools that seem to test a bit lower. There are also quite a number of SFHs in Oak Park where taxes hover between 7-8K. That's still a bit of a jump for some people from 5K, but 10-12K is not the minimum in Oak Park.
Berwyn and Oak Park are both great places that have a lot to offer people looking for specific things. I don't see the need to try to drag one down to try to make the other seem more appealing. If a place really has that much to offer, it should be able to stand on its own merits.
If I were to move to the near west suburbs, I'd prabobly move to Berwyn or Oak Park. I would be moving to only one of these towns. Friendly competition makes sense.
If not clear from my prior posts, I'm certainly not dissing on Oak Park, which I love and lived in for nearly 6 years. I'd live there again for sure if I wanted a larger house or a condo in a good business district. The comparison was made and I commented on it is all. They are both great communities, but the comparisons have to be explained because they are different, and there are some myths out there.
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Affordable inner ring suburb with great housing stock
