How is Evergreen Park ? (Oak Lawn, Pulaski: homes, purchasing, high schools)

[mexicanbeauty]

It is outside of chicago I by ashburn (to the north) Mount Greenwood to the south and Beverly to the East...I want to know what you think of this suburb

[Roz]

Evergreen Park is a great community with a suburban-like feel, thanks to the beautiful tree-lined streets. With cobblestone streets scattered throughout the area and homes on generous "city" lots, Evergreen Park is a very desirable area....providing you are within a certain section of Evergreen Park. Evergreen Plaza, while beautiful, tends to attract a criminal element and so there are many auto thefts and purse snatchers in the area seeking out a quick opportunity to take advantage of unsuspecting shoppers. Western Avenue's bus route is home to quite a bit of crime.

If you are considering purchasing a home, I'd avoid the bars/shopping/bus route along Western Avenue and opt for the quiet section of Evergreen (along 95th street, closer to Kedzie/Pulaski) Brother Rice High School and Mother McCauley provide excellent private educations, but the public high schools leave much to be desired. If you are a mother, I'd take tuition into consideration when planning a move to the area.

Hope that helps.

As with any area, it has it's ups and downs...but since it's not a very large community..the downs are awfully close in proximity to the ups. They have an excellent police and fire department though and the community is very tight knit.

[prairiestate]

I grew up there, and live next door in Oak Lawn now. I would largely agree with the previous post, though there are no cobblestone streets. Also, the Plaza's reputation is much worse than the reality. It's an overwhelmingly African-American mall in a mostly white community. Most of the stores do cater to the black community, but there is a really nice Carson's. There's quite a varied housing stock in EP, and unlike in neighboring towns, there are few tear downs. It seems like everyone is adding on a huge addition though. They just finished a beautiful streetscaping project on 95th St, and there's a lot of new commercial development. In town or nearby, you'll find Border's, Starbucks, Panera, Jimmy John's, Coldstone Creamery, and more. Obviously, it's considered a fairly well to do community. There's a huge new park, built on unused cemetery land, with walking trails, ponds, a skating rink and other amenities. The library has just embarked on a renovation and expansion project. The schools are generally considered good. The high school has about 900 students, big enough to offer a wide variety of courses, but small enough so you don't get lost in the crowd. It's a very tight knit community where people tend to put down roots for life.

[mexicanbeauty]

thank you two for your responses I am looking forward to my move i live right around the corner from the Little Company of Mary(? i belive that is it..lol) hospital !! Thanks again it is really appreicated