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Old 10-25-2015, 11:34 PM
 
4 posts, read 11,506 times
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We are in the market to buy a home and considering Berwyn and Riverside along with Forest Park and Oak Park. My GF and I currently live near the art district in Oak Park, we have checked out several neighborhoods in North and South Berwyn and are presently surprise with what we have seen. We were also really impressed by North Riverside and Riverside. We notice there is a lot of renovated homes in Berwyn up for sale, there is plenty of nicely updated homes in the mid 200s to choose from. Looking for some feedback from current or past residents of Berwyn/North Riverside/Riverside areas. What do you enjoy best of living there, is it safe, would you recommend it to your friends and family.

Last edited by lowm55; 10-25-2015 at 11:44 PM..
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Old 10-26-2015, 08:40 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lowm55 View Post
We are in the market to buy a home and considering Berwyn and Riverside along with Forest Park and Oak Park. My GF and I currently live near the art district in Oak Park, we have checked out several neighborhoods in North and South Berwyn and are presently surprise with what we have seen. We were also really impressed by North Riverside and Riverside. We notice there is a lot of renovated homes in Berwyn up for sale, there is plenty of nicely updated homes in the mid 200s to choose from. Looking for some feedback from current or past residents of Berwyn/North Riverside/Riverside areas. What do you enjoy best of living there, is it safe, would you recommend it to your friends and family.
Riverside is much better than Berwyn, which is not highly rated or considered safe. The schools are far more superior in Riverside, and even if you don't have kids, resale value is important. Schools play an important role there.
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Old 10-26-2015, 11:31 AM
 
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Berwyn is hot right now. The bungalows are adorable and many can be had for a good price. It is interesting with some great neighborhood finds (Fitzgerald's, 16th St. Theater), and still close to Oak Park, the expressway, public transit etc...

I know several couples who have moved there from Oak Park and are very happy. BUT... they are older couples whose kids are grown. So they left the high taxes of Oak Park and haven't looked back.

Agree that Riverside would be a better choice if schools will be an issue for you in the future. Of course, the demographics/diversity of Riverside vs. Berwyn are very different. Which one is you?
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Old 10-27-2015, 06:56 PM
 
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My wife and I moved from the city to Berwyn this past spring, and we love it. We purchased a fully renovated bungalow on the north west side of town. The neighbors are great, and we've had no issues. We don't have kids, so schools are not an issue. We picked Berwyn due to it's retail and restaurants, and its proximity to other burbs - Oak Park, North Riverside, Brookfield, etc. Also, its very easy for us to commute back into the city via public transportation or 290.
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Old 10-27-2015, 09:31 PM
 
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thanks for the feedback twodoor2, we have notice the school ratings are far better in Riverside and comparable to Oak Park and taxes are slight lower as well. We are keeping that in mind as we don't want to have a hard time selling the home later on.
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Old 10-27-2015, 09:34 PM
 
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Thanks for your comments sfcambridge, that is a good point that you are making on older couples whose kids have moved out are making the move to oak park. Both my GF and I are young hispanic professionals in our early 30s
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Old 10-27-2015, 09:39 PM
 
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Originally Posted by mike3070 View Post
My wife and I moved from the city to Berwyn this past spring, and we love it. We purchased a fully renovated bungalow on the north west side of town. The neighbors are great, and we've had no issues. We don't have kids, so schools are not an issue. We picked Berwyn due to it's retail and restaurants, and its proximity to other burbs - Oak Park, North Riverside, Brookfield, etc. Also, its very easy for us to commute back into the city via public transportation or 290.
thanks mike3070, we are keeping proximity to the city in mind we have friends who live in the city go there for entertainment often. I also work in the Downers Grove area so easy access to the suburbs further west is important.
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Old 10-28-2015, 08:28 PM
 
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I think Berwyn is a safe place mostly. If I were going to buy a home I would pick something west of Ridgeland. I would stay away from Berwyn's far north east section, the area that is closest to Chicago's Austin area. The south side of Berwyn is nice, central Berwyn is nice and the streets on the western side are nice, including the area around Proksa park.

If you can afford to move to Riverside, its really nice and has good schools. You won't find any bargains there. Berwyn is an urbanized environment and has a feel much like parts of Chicago. Riverside is more suburban in nature. One thing about Berwyn is its so well located. Its no more than five or ten minutes away from Oak Park, Forest Park, Riverside, North Riverside and Cicero. Ten minutes from Brookfield and twenty min. from La Grange. Twenty minutes from Chicago.
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Old 10-28-2015, 08:30 PM
 
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Another thing is I went on the recent bungalow walk and I was very impressed by what I saw. Its amazing what some people have done to their bungalows. Just beautiful and spacious too. Some had very updated and beautiful kitchens while keeping the vintage charm in other areas.
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Old 10-28-2015, 09:27 PM
 
914 posts, read 1,136,410 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lowm55 View Post
We are in the market to buy a home and considering Berwyn and Riverside along with Forest Park and Oak Park. My GF and I currently live near the art district in Oak Park, we have checked out several neighborhoods in North and South Berwyn and are presently surprise with what we have seen. We were also really impressed by North Riverside and Riverside. We notice there is a lot of renovated homes in Berwyn up for sale, there is plenty of nicely updated homes in the mid 200s to choose from. Looking for some feedback from current or past residents of Berwyn/North Riverside/Riverside areas. What do you enjoy best of living there, is it safe, would you recommend it to your friends and family.
If you and your GF plan to ever have kids one day, you may want to consider the schools. Don't do like I did, move into a great house, but crappy school district long before you have kids, then have kids and regret it later.

You may move before then, but moving is a total pain, not to mention having to start over with a new mortgage, so just something to think about. . .
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