What About Westchester Illinois? (Chicago, Berwyn: sale, renters, townhome)

[ngrome]

I lived there for several years when I was a kid, off 25th and Gardner (the older section). It's a nice area, there's both old and new neighborhoods, easily accessible to highways and main roads. My only concern would be the public school system, it has changed since I've been there. If you are concerned about public schools then you may want to consider private schools, such as St. Joseph's for high school instead of Proviso West (I went to PW), if you choose to move there with school age kids.

[chet everett]

Bru67 is pretty accurate. Towns that lack the "charming downtown" and "direct Metra access" like Hillside, Berkeley, and Westchester are in not a good bet. Throw in the inability to "control their own destiny" in terms having shared school districts and pool of potential home owners shrinks rapidly...

Funny thing is this the problem is MUCH WORSE in the "east -west" direction for these towns -- you look at some of the towns with the same 'negatives' in NW suburban Cook Co or DuPage and the housing values are much stronger. This is probably EVEN MORE magnified by the north-south factor -- towns in norther Cook that lack 'charming downtowns' and 'direct Metra access' have far more costly housing stock than nearly identical towns in southern Cook.

Probably many contributing factors, including employment, commute patterns, race et cetera.

These are MULTI-DECADE trends that are hard to turn around, though probably NOT hopeless. One of the biggest bright spots is the ability of some areas to benefit from upticks in employment / business development. With larger tracts of land for development some pretty amazing things can be done. Not saying it is solution for EVERY town, but take a look at the Chicago Fire Soccer Stadium in Bridgeview and the nearby industrial parks. Lots of tax revenue, big plus for the area.

[ihynes]

My family went house shopping in this area in 2006. We started looking at Berwyn, and then did some comparisons with Westchester, before settling on Brookfield. Westchester was in a time warp. It seemed as though most people there are the original residents from the 1950's. Many houses had wheelchair ramps. The streets were empty on beautiful weekends in June. No kids bicycling, no one walking a dog. The houses that were for sale were in mint condition; one had a totally groovy bar in the basement that the Rat Pack would have enjoyed, but the houses were expensive, especially for having poorly performing schools.

[chet everett]

I think it is an easy choice to recommend Brookfield over Westchester. Lots more upside potential in bascially every part of Brookfield.

There are a handful of quite nice homes in Westchester, and some have decent access to the local parochial schools, maybe with a big enough discount you could justify using the saving on the purchase to fund tuition, but even that is a stretch.

[Lookout Kid]

ihynes, it's nice to have another former Madisonian on the forum. I agree that Westchester is just not charming at all. I keep trying to love Brookfield because it just makes so much sense for a family like mine, but something about it just pushes me (and my wife) away. I had an uncle in Brookfield who lived there for decades, so maybe I'm just holding on to my past perceptions. We're coming to the realization that the big "C" city won't work for our family in the long term due to schooling and housing affordability. So, since the ideal of a house on the North Side plus private school tuition is slipping away, we find ourselves drawn to houses we can't afford in Oak Park or houses we can just barely afford in La Grange. The direction of the economy over the next few years will likely have a larger impact on our decision than anything else. And perhaps some of those $500,000 homes will drop to a more comfortable $450,000 range for us... But in the mean time, Brookfield keeps showing it's slightly bland, sensible self. Ugh. Curse you Brookfield!

[chet everett]

LK:

There are some really charming houses in Brookfield too. I mean that. From Victorians to the four-squares to Cape Codes and Tudors. Granted, there are plenty of other houses that scream "builder's special" but it really is house-by-house. There are several distinct sections of Brookfield -- the eastern portion served by the Riverside schools is known as "Hollywood" and in addition to the superior elelementary / middle schools you also get your train stop and easy access to the Zoo. Core of the Brookfield is really between 31st and Ogden. North of that things look more like Westchester, south more like Lyons. There are some trade offs -- the section south of Ogden is mostly served by LT HS , but it really is wedged in by the industrial corridor to south and retail /service establishments along Ogden.

Even the charming houses are FAR more affordable than in LaGrange, and in many cases you get a better overall value.

Happy shopping!

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by chet everett

LK:

There are some really charming houses in Brookfield too. I mean that. From Victorians to the four-squares to Cape Codes and Tudors. Granted, there are plenty of other houses that scream "builder's special" but it really is house-by-house. There are several distinct sections of Brookfield -- the eastern portion served by the Riverside schools is known as "Hollywood" and in addition to the superior elelementary / middle schools you also get your train stop and easy access to the Zoo. Core of the Brookfield is really between 31st and Ogden. North of that things look more like Westchester, south more like Lyons. There are some trade offs -- the section south of Ogden is mostly served by LT HS , but it really is wedged in by the industrial corridor to south and retail /service establishments along Ogden.

Even the charming houses are FAR more affordable than in LaGrange, and in many cases you get a better overall value.

Happy shopping!

I've seen a lot of charming houses in Brookfield, but not a nice collection of them clustered together with great streetscape and downtown La Grange or Oak Park within half a mile. But, there are reasons one costs more than the other, I suppose! It seems to me that a lot of Brookfielders use downtown La Grange-- or just use their cars on Harlem or in Oak Brook or the dozens of other smaller auto-oriented strips. I'm sure I'd use these too if I lived in the area, but like to have things within easy walking distance as an option.

[chet everett]

trade-offs, trade-offs, I mean heck, I'd love to have MY town's schools, Elmhurst's College Hill/Wilder Park/DOwntown, Glencoe's Beach, Oak Park's Commute


...



btw -- the "lack of clusters of similar charming homes" is something that apparently is /was a result of the developers in Brookfield getting into "buy one get one free" promotional mindset. Apparently one of the developers had built homes so that every 2nd / 3rd lot was a "model" or what we'd call to today "on spec". The apparently hit a rough patch and need to sell quickly. Instead of slashing prices and pissing off the other buyers that recently paid full price, the developer decided "with every lot paid for you get another to do with what you wish". Apparently it caught on and other developers did the same. Some houses ended with "double lots" and a few have this "extra side yard today" but more let a a kid /relative / buyer plop something down years later. Thus you get stuff from early days of the town intersperesed with stuff a generation newer. Might be legend, but it seems plausible, end result is some streets are kind hodge podge looking, but the houses mostly live pretty good.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by chet everett

trade-offs, trade-offs, I mean heck, I'd love to have MY town's schools, Elmhurst's College Hill/Wilder Park/DOwntown, Glencoe's Beach, Oak Park's Commute


...



btw -- the "lack of clusters of similar charming homes" is something that apparently is /was a result of the developers in Brookfield getting into "buy one get one free" promotional mindset. Apparently one of the developers had built homes so that every 2nd / 3rd lot was a "model" or what we'd call to today "on spec". The apparently hit a rough patch and need to sell quickly. Instead of slashing prices and pissing off the other buyers that recently paid full price, the developer decided "with every lot paid for you get another to do with what you wish". Apparently it caught on and other developers did the same. Some houses ended with "double lots" and a few have this "extra side yard today" but more let a a kid /relative / buyer plop something down years later. Thus you get stuff from early days of the town intersperesed with stuff a generation newer. Might be legend, but it seems plausible, end result is some streets are kind hodge podge looking, but the houses mostly live pretty good.

Chet, that's a great story! I'd rep you, but am locked from doing so for a while. In spite of our disagreements on certain issue, you truly offer some great information and insight. I'm assuming you live in the western suburbs somewhere?

Your story would explain the hodgepodge of some Brookfield streets. Brookfield is an interesting suburb in that it has many eras of 20th century housing mixed together. You can find a craftsman bungalow, a 1950s cape cod, and a later ranch on the same block. La Grange has some of this south of 47th street, but maintains a more consistent feel even in the post-war sections. The newer sections of Brookfield offer more consistency, however... except for the teardowns.

[OakBrookMom]

LK,
Have you looked in the area of LaGrange Park WEST of LaGrange Road by the woods just north of Ogden and south of 31st? Most people don't even realize it's not LaGrange and it is soooo convenient to downtown and the Metra. As usual Chet offers some sage advise and incite into Brookfield's make-up. I can tell you that the public school issue regarding the high school is a huge factor in buyers' decisions to by-pass Westchester.