What About Westchester Illinois? (Chicago, Oak Park: 2009, house, buyers)

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by 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.

Yeah, that section of La Grange Park is definitely on the list. In some ways it's more convenient than La Grange because the Jewel is closer, and there's that new library right there. I think most of it is in District 102 as well. The home prices seem comparable to the parts of La Grange just south of there, however--so there's not break as far as cost is concerned.

[mendelman]

I used to drive through Westchester often when I lived in Oak Park. We would take Cermack to Oak Brook for shopping.

The Cermack corridor appears to have decent housing stock and is good shape, but the fact that there is no real "center" is bad in my opinion.

As for decent "urbany" suburbs for you, Lookout Kid, I would tend to agree with you about Brookfield. It is a decent little suburb, but the downtown area is small, quite "sleepy" and rather isolated. The residential nieghborhoods are nice, but nothing that can't be found in a dozen other Chicago suburbs.

I haven't been to La Grange (only part of La Grange Park along 30th), so on of thses days, I will have to see what everyone gets so excited about.

[promis1]

Proviso West will always be Westchesters downfall. I heard there was a time that the village fought very hard to separate themselves from that gang infested school district. No luck though.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by promis1

Proviso West will always be Westchesters downfall. I heard there was a time that the village fought very hard to separate themselves from that gang infested school district. No luck though.

Speaking of Proviso West, here's a fascinating New York Times article from 1994 that talks about the racial changes at that school. Even though it's 15 years old, it offers a very interesting insight into race relations in the Chicago area. It's also a very interesting story about the downfall of a high school. Are there future Proviso Wests out there in the Western Suburbs?

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpag...=&pagewanted=1

[mia220]

Sounds a little bit like La Grange Park. We saw MANY Rat Pack basements in mint condition! We also settled on Brookfield.

Originally Posted by 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.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Speaking of Proviso West, here's a fascinating New York Times article from 1994 that talks about the racial changes at that school. Even though it's 15 years old, it offers a very interesting insight into race relations in the Chicago area. It's also a very interesting story about the downfall of a high school. Are there future Proviso Wests out there in the Western Suburbs?

'WE'RE ALL RACIST NOW' - New York Times

Incredibly insightful and sad.

[OakBrookMom]

I also read the article - my dad attended Provise East before West existed. The test scores are always going to hurt. In my experience, the same clients that won't consider Westchester because of Proviso scores or look to move from there because their kids are in jr high wouldn't think twice about OPRF if they could afford the higher taxes and home prices so they move further west or look at catholic schools. College admission is so competitive now that if your kid is average, you want them to be in an environment where at least statistically they perform better on the ACT. Everyone has access to these test scores and both renters and buyers use these to make decisions.

[kindrakindra]

LK, I have family in Brookfield and they really like it. I actually don't know their exact area but they are not too far from that new townhome development on 31st.

[ajolotl]

Fascinating article. My junior high school had a similar racial balance and I absolutely hated every day of it. It took me years to get over a lot of negative attitudes I developed because of it. I do hope however that the white kids in the article who developed such bitterness will still try to broaden their view as they become more removed from that specific circumstance.

Still, I wouldn't send my kids to a school with a large black majority. Fire away, Manigault.

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Speaking of Proviso West, here's a fascinating New York Times article from 1994 that talks about the racial changes at that school. Even though it's 15 years old, it offers a very interesting insight into race relations in the Chicago area. It's also a very interesting story about the downfall of a high school. Are there future Proviso Wests out there in the Western Suburbs?

'WE'RE ALL RACIST NOW' - New York Times

[ihynes]

Hello to you, too, Lookout Kid, and you are so right! Brookfield is lacking in many ways, but it was the best of a bad situation. We can't afford Oak Park and I'm allergic to towns with a huge smugness factor, anyway. Brookfield's certainly not smug. The housing choices and affordability in Chicago make for lots of compromises. We couldn't live on the far north side since my husband's job is in Downers Grove. We waited for that damn housing bubble to pop for two years and finally didn't want to rent anymore, but now we're stuck with this overpriced bungalow in a ho-hum suburb. At least the kids will have Riverside-Brookfield High School when they're older.