Is there any hope for Richton Park? (Chicago, Chicago Heights: 2014, foreclosures)

[MongooseHugger]

I know my grandparents lived there for years, and so did my father and others. It was getting a bit worse when they moved in 2002 (when I was in late seventh grade). In high school, I came and it wasn't too bad. However, I'd been out of the neighborhood (I think it was Andover Street or Andover something. It was between Tower Park and Glacier Park.)

I know that in 2014, I came there and noticed a BIG change in the area. My grandparents's old house had bars on the windows and the driveway was falling apart. The whole neighborhood looked rundown and, as it was getting near dark, something in me told me it wasn't a good idea to stick around after sunset.

Also, later, I had heard on the radio that a murder occurred at 10 PM Glacier Park (kinda glad we took accidentally took a wrong turn earlier or else we might well have been there at the exact time of the murder!). I can recall family gatherings at Glacier Park in the past and to think of a murder happening there is shocking.

It would seem to me that the area that I had visited in the past many times has fallen on hard times. Does anyone know what happened? (I did ask my grandparents and they said that the neighborhood went black. So was it white flight that did it?)

[Army_Guy]

A lot of the south suburbs have fallen on hard times. Park Forest, Chicago Heights, Richton Park, Matteson, just to name a few.

Property taxes and business taxes have gone up. Quality of services have gone down. There are a lot of foreclosures. It's bleak in those areas. Just look at how thriving Matteson once was and now there are so many empty storefronts. I grew up in Park Forest and Matteson. I'm 36 years old for reference.

Things have changed and not for the better. Rich South High School is not a good school. It was still somewhat respectable back when I graduated in 1997 but it's not a school you'd want to send your child.

I think a lot of businesses have fled west to Will County. The lower taxes there don't hurt.