Oak Park or Evanston? (Chicago, Berwyn: real estate, condos, trip)

[Thepreacherswife]

We're making a major life change - my wife is leaving her paying job to be a stay-at-home and we're moving to Chicago. Our son is only 8 months old but we may start working on child #2. Anyway, we started out looking in the city at Albany Park, Rogers Park, Andersonville, Edgewater but we got a bit spooked by what we've seen about Rogers Park so I'm starting to check out suburbs. It pains me to say this because I grew up in Jefferson Park/Portage Park in the mid 70s and I love the city.

I think we're looking for a 3 BR/2 BA condo around $300K. We'll shed one of our cars and I'll commute to the loop, but my wife will want to have access to stuff in the city as well as parks (we also have a 100 lb dog). Evanston and Oak Park look like good choices as far as I can tell over the web. We've both lived in Atlanta (although in gentle parts of town) so we're not too concerned about minor crime, but gang-bangers and bullets are definitely out. We also hate sprawling suburbs like those around Atlanta.

We're going to try to make a trip in a few weeks to scout out some things and want to make the best of it. Any suggestions? What about Park Ridge?

[Windy City John]

Evanston is the Sandy Springs of Atlanta and Oak Park is the Little 5 Points of Atlanta you make the call

[sukwoo]

Oak Park is a bit less expensive than Evanston, but then again we don't have the lake.

[skipcromer]

Originally Posted by Windy City John

Evanston is the Sandy Springs of Atlanta and Oak Park is the Little 5 Points of Atlanta you make the call

I dont think evanston is anything like sandy springs whatsoever. It is impossible to compare anything with Atlanta and Chicago, at least from my view point.

[mendelman]

Oak Park has a dog park and at least 2 more on way (great place to run your giant hound) and in the current rea esltate market you should be able to find a nice condo for your price, but finding one with 3 bds and 2 baths with be difficult because there are very few of them.

Now for you price range, you could probably buy a house.

[sukwoo]

Originally Posted by mendelman

Oak Park has a dog park and at least 2 more on way (great place to run your giant hound) and in the current rea esltate market you should be able to find a nice condo for your price, but finding one with 3 bds and 2 baths with be difficult because there are very few of them.

Now for you price range, you could probably buy a house.

On the Chicago Tribune real estate site right now, there are 17 condos with 3 bed, 2 bath under 320K in Oak Park. 17 SFH are under 325K with 3 bed, 2 baths. This is the very low range of prices for SFH in OP, so these will generally be small , un-updated, and in the less desirable eastern end of town.

[mendelman]

Originally Posted by sukwoo

On the Chicago Tribune real estate site right now, there are 17 condos with 3 bed, 2 bath under 320K in Oak Park. 17 SFH are under 325K with 3 bed, 2 baths. This is the very low range of prices for SFH in OP, so these will generally be small , un-updated, and in the less desirable eastern end of town.

Well, 17 condos out of, say, 300 condos sore sale currently in Oak Park is not much selection. and yes, any single family houses in their price range will certainly need some updating (probably minor cosmetic and maybe new kitchen cabinets, etc.) and they will be in the eastern and southern portions of the Oak Park.

[Lookout Kid]

From what I've seen in my real estate searches, you need about $450,000 to get a small house in Oak Park that doesn't need much work and isn't right on Austin Avenue. Homes are cheaper east of Ridgeland and south of the Ike. But you have to ask yourself, "Would I rather be cut off from the rest of Oak Park by the highway and be adjacent to Berwyn, or would I want to live next door to one of the worst ghettoes in the nation?". From what I've heard, Oak Park seems to have more property crime east of Ridgeland than much of the nasty violent stuff, though.

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

"Would I rather be cut off from the rest of Oak Park by the highway and be adjacent to Berwyn, or would I want to live next door to one of the worst ghettoes in the nation?".

Berwyn has less crime than OP does. I know of several people who couldnt afford OP and looked at Berwyn instead and have been very happy in their decision.

[sukwoo]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

From what I've seen in my real estate searches, you need about $450,000 to get a small house in Oak Park that doesn't need much work and isn't right on Austin Avenue. Homes are cheaper east of Ridgeland and south of the Ike. But you have to ask yourself, "Would I rather be cut off from the rest of Oak Park by the highway and be adjacent to Berwyn, or would I want to live next door to one of the worst ghettoes in the nation?". From what I've heard, Oak Park seems to have more property crime east of Ridgeland than much of the nasty violent stuff, though.

I have several friends livinging in southeast OP and they seem to like living there. Roosevelt Rd is undergoing revitalization so its probably a decent location fromt an investment perspective. Also, its close to the Blue line for an easy commute to the loop.