Tell me what you love and hate about oak park (Chicago: real estate, 2013)

[sfcambridge]

Originally Posted by oakparkdude

FYI, the high school district (District 200) actually voted to decrease their tax levy this year which is unprecedented. This is due to the election of a new school board which recognizes that the stockpiled surplus is excessively high ($110+ million, equivalent to 2 years operating budget). The stated long-term goal is to decrease the surplus to about 6 months of the operating budget.

Curious... Are Oak Park schools retiree packages funded locally or by the state? I guess I'm wondering if this school surplus is truly excess, or needed to fund retiree packages?

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by sfcambridge

Curious... Are Oak Park schools retiree packages funded locally or by the state? I guess I'm wondering if this school surplus is truly excess, or needed to fund retiree packages?

I believe that Oak Park, like all non-Chicago school districts, has its pension partially paid by the state of Illinois. I suppose one could argue that a huge "rainy day fund" is necessary in case the state gets out of the business of subsidizing local pension budgets. While saving for a pension doomsday has been quietly raised in the past by some, its never been the stated policy of D200.

[pete6032]

Most of the hipsters i see in Oak Park work at coffee shops (no big surprise there). There may be fewer outside of these establishments.

[chitownperson]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I agree that hipsters are uncommon in Oak Park. As to the adjective that pete6032 choose that would describe what I most dislike about the town -- a certain kind of smugness about some alleged kind of specialness. Believe me any decisions about such things was made by folks many decades ago in an era when the poltical dynamics of these region were far different than they are today. Anyone that still clings to such beliefs at this point in time is really doing more to harm the furthenrance of equality...

I do love the lovely homes, the relative convenience of easy commute to the Loop via multiple transit options and the pleasant layout of some parts of town. Even with those positives the high taxes and relative similarity to far less desirable areas with much worse schools really highlights the main driver in maintaining values for Oak Park and the troubling management of the schools that has seen well over a hundred million dollars of tax payer funds "stockpiled" with no clear explanation is quite troubling.

Ah, I was wondering how long it would take for you to add your usual distain for Oak Park, with a few positives peppered for good measure.

Perceptions do at times distort reality. What some individuals consider smugness is typically unapologetically speaking about beliefs people feel will improve a community, and does. I've never heard anyone here talk about themselves as being more special, but it's possible that at time, the fragile ego'd may perceive criticism (like the hoarding of excess affluence and privileged opportunities in some uniformly affluent towns) as "smugness"... The criticism of "smugness" (interesting coming from a person who criticizes anecdotal evidence) and the continuing effort to be more inclusive, saying it's harming equality in its current form, couldn't be any more of a distortions of perception. Of course the driving engine of what made Oak Park it is today is different, but like others have said, Oak Park attracts a lot of young families (proximity being one) because of the more inclusive community is have become, which positively furthers the goal of equality. One can only imagine the belief systems of individuals who criticize such efforts, especially from a place where the uniformity of wealth and predominance of privileged whites are the norm.

I agree with another poster that there are not town around the village that are all that similar. The school continue to offer excellent education, and families supportive of their children's educations continue to perform at the highest levels. Oakparkdude is right about the highschool's effort to adjust the taxation... Fact is, EVERY suburb that's desirable will have sets of issues to contend with, including the uniformly wealthiest. The property value is maintained by a number of factors, but by all accounts is very strong. Homes don't stay on the market long here, and values have been steadily rising, so being a home owner here, I and many of my friends have no complaints.

[chitownperson]

Originally Posted by Alsgirl2002

Thanks for the input everyone, this is quite helpful. If we move there, we will add some conservative spice to the mostly liberal fabric. ;-)



I think the reason why many young families look to evanston and oak park are the proximity to jobs and urban-ish environment. The access to transit really ups the anti, especially as younger generations are less car-centric than older generations.

It's true that the village has a lot of liberals, but I have a few neighbors that are conservatives, and people seem to get along just fine. Good people are good people after all.

It's true that proximity is a big draw. I have friends that bike to work on a daily basis, and have friends that moved here for other reasons. The believe the village does draw people for a variety of reasons, but it's best to see first hand and talk to more residents to get a fuller account of reality.

[sfcambridge]

Originally Posted by pete6032

Most of the hipsters i see in Oak Park work at coffee shops (no big surprise there). There may be fewer outside of these establishments.

Which coffee shops? There aren't any decent coffee shops... Mostly the usual chains, and no hipsters there.

[smittyjohnny38]

I hate that Oak Parkers claim to "love diversity", yet onbly entrust their self proclaimed diversity to the 3rd largest police force in the state of Illinois. Phony and superficial diversity. Lose the police state and Oak Park turns into a ghetto in three years, as liberal whites flee the area.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by smittyjohnny38

I hate that Oak Parkers claim to "love diversity", yet onbly entrust their self proclaimed diversity to the 3rd largest police force in the state of Illinois. Phony and superficial diversity. Lose the police state and Oak Park turns into a ghetto in three years, as liberal whites flee the area.

This literally makes no sense. Is the problem that Oak Parkers are insufficiently accepting of criminals? I don't see the contradiction in wanting diversity and public safety simultaneously. Maybe I'm missing something?

[chitownperson]

Oakparkdude hits the nail on the head. People want diversity and public safety... That's not unreasonable. They want their village to be inclusive of people from different economic back grounds, LGBT, ethnicity, religion etc... There is no contradiction here.

[smittyjohnny38]

Originally Posted by chitownperson

Oakparkdude hits the nail on the head. People want diversity and public safety... That's not unreasonable. They want their village to be inclusive of people from different economic back grounds, LGBT, ethnicity, religion etc... There is no contradiction here.

No. What you want is a few token minorities so that you can pretend you live in diversity. Why does Oak PARK HAVE THE 3RD largest police force in the state? To protect itself from the "true diversity" that the surrounding neighborhoods provide. people can justify anything in their minds. Like I said, they like diversity as long as those minorities have money.