South Chicago Heights? (Harvey, Park Forest, Homewood: real estate, crime, home)

[little bull]

Hi, I was wondering if anyone had any info on South Chicago Heights. Overall, any information would help. Is it a good place to work? Live? How is the crime? What's the makeup of the town? Thanks.

[little bull]

anybody out there? I see people viewing but no replies. Someone help .

[RegionAire]

My very first post is a warning...South Chicago Hts is one of the most economically depressed cities in the country. You would be well advised to keep looking elsewhere unless you want to be a pioneer.

[little bull]

Really, I was thinking of taking a job there but I know nothing about the place. Explain please.

[crazylilkelly]

I grew up in the next town over from S. Chicago Heights & worked in the heights during hs. My advice: DO NOT move there! There is a lot of crime there. I guess you could always work there & live somewhere away from the area. Also, the school system there is awful. I would never ever live there. good luck w/ your decision.
go to city-data.com & put in south chicago heights, il & it will give you a profile of the area

[little bull]

Well, I've been reading that they will be testing for police officer in the future. Does that give anyone any insight as to the type of info that I might be looking for? Then again, I'm looking into other areas as well.

[RegionAire]

S. Chicago Hts is a notorious h*ll hole. It's got a fact-based reputation as one of the cities at the very bottom of every measure of socio-economic activity. Poverty and it's attendant drug, crime and educational deficiency problems are the norm there.

[j33]

S. Chicago Heights is pretty rough (especially if you are expecting what people typically do of 'suburb'). Also, if you have kids, you don't want them to go to Bloom Trail (the high school most kids in Chicago Heights go to, I had a lot of friends who went there, it was a pretty rough school). If you are taking a job in Chicago Heights, move to one of the other south suburbs and commute there. Homewood is an option to consider, as is Park Forest, a burb next to chicago heights that has seen better days, but is not as economically depressed (if you don't have kids, the Rich Township schools could do with a bit of improvement to put it mildly).

I remember back in my high school days "so' Chicago Heights" was the subject of more than one joke related to gangs/drugs/violence/etc. Of course everyone I knew from "'da Heights" (literally across the street from where I grew up) would respond with 'hey at least we aren't Harvey'.

So while Chicago Heights is definately an economically depressed south suburb, it is not the worst of the bunch. I've been through a lot of the south burbs over the course of my life and I'd venture to say that Chicago Heights is preferable to Ford Heights, Riverdale, Robbins, and Harvey.

Oh, and if I remember correctly, a few years back the Chief of Police in Chicago Heights was arrested on something related to drugs.

...well, this has been a romp down memory lane (I've not lived in the south suburbs for many years)

[OakBrookMom]

As a realtor and a mom I would not put my money into a home in the Heights or my kids in the public schools there. That's not to say I wouldn't consider a job there, I would just plan to commute.

[klabs]

I live in Chicago Heights, but I am a far cry from South Heights...I am in Homewood Flossmoor School District (not the heights district) in a little area that many people think is Flossmoor.
My advice - stay away from South Heights. Safety is a major issue in the area. At one time it was a thriving little Italy, but times have changed...and not for the better. Ford Heights & South Heights are together in their downward spiral.
You can get a pretty good bang for the buck insofar as real estate in the south suburbs, but this is one area to stay clear of. Homewood, Flossmoor, and even way the heck out in Beecher is so much better.

COMMUTE! COMMUTE! COMMUTE!