South burbs (Chicago, Naperville, Joliet: for sale, low crime, townhomes)

[brown fam]

Originally Posted by nanannie

Such an important decision,please come and visit. Only you know what is "HOME" to you. Nice suburbs/nice schools and towns all over but only YOU know what you can afford and what is going to fill your needs.

Yes, we are planning on visiting the first week of March. We received new home packets from several builders in the south burbs. Do you have any suggestions of Chi-town builders?

[vester72]

If you like Matteson, check out the subdivisions off Lincoln Highway just west of I-57. I know you may be looking for new construction, but there are quite a few very nice homes there and a lot are in foreclosure - you may be able to find a beautiful house for a great price. There are some really nice homes in that area.

[prairiestate]

These arguments over the south 'burbs are so absurd. Look, I'm a lifelong resident of the Southland, and here's a few facts. About crime, avoid these towns: Harvey, Markham, Riverdale, Dolton, Chicago Heights, Ford Heights, Dixmoor, Phoenix, Burnham, Calumet Park, Calumet City and Robbins all have very high crime rates. I can't provide you with a source off hand, but I'm going by all the violent crimes I see in the police blotter in the local paper about these towns. For instance, over the past few months, there have been at least 3 people shot in Chicago Heights. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find some verification online if you need more proof. Even easier then finding crime stats, look at poverty rates. There's a proven correlation between poverty and crime. Then there are towns like Country Club Hills and Hazel Crest that seem to have had a sharp rise in violent crime the past few years, but it's hard to say if it's really a trend. However, any town outside of those I've listed at the beginning will at least be a safe place to look at homes, and you can decide if you feel comfortable there. As for race, the rough guideline now is that areas east of I-57 are predominantly black, west of there it's white. There are exceptions, like Homewood, Flossmoor, Lansing and Park Forest, but even there it's changing. A diverse community is great, but being 90% black isn't diverse. If you're white and you don't feel comfortable there, it certainly doesn't mean you're racist. After all there is a reason African American's are heading south a lot more then they are to DuPage county, because they want to live with people who are similar. Overall though, the south suburbs are the most diverse region of Chicagoland. Even if your particular town is predominantly white or black (or Hispanic or Arab), the next town over won't be, so in shopping, recreation, etc., you'll encounter quite a bit of diversity. What do the south suburbs have going for them: diversity, low housing prices, lot's of open space, Midway airport, Governor's State University, and I think a strong sense of community as we're always the underdog's in Chicagoland, but it's still a great place to live

[skyeINIL]

Originally Posted by prairiestate

These arguments over the south 'burbs are so absurd. Look, I'm a lifelong resident of the Southland, and here's a few facts. About crime, avoid these towns: Harvey, Markham, Riverdale, Dolton, Chicago Heights, Ford Heights, Dixmoor, Phoenix, Burnham, Calumet Park, Calumet City and Robbins all have very high crime rates. I can't provide you with a source off hand, but I'm going by all the violent crimes I see in the police blotter in the local paper about these towns. For instance, over the past few months, there have been at least 3 people shot in Chicago Heights. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find some verification online if you need more proof. Even easier then finding crime stats, look at poverty rates. There's a proven correlation between poverty and crime. Then there are towns like Country Club Hills and Hazel Crest that seem to have had a sharp rise in violent crime the past few years, but it's hard to say if it's really a trend. However, any town outside of those I've listed at the beginning will at least be a safe place to look at homes, and you can decide if you feel comfortable there. As for race, the rough guideline now is that areas east of I-57 are predominantly black, west of there it's white. There are exceptions, like Homewood, Flossmoor, Lansing and Park Forest, but even there it's changing. A diverse community is great, but being 90% black isn't diverse. If you're white and you don't feel comfortable there, it certainly doesn't mean you're racist. After all there is a reason African American's are heading south a lot more then they are to DuPage county, because they want to live with people who are similar. Overall though, the south suburbs are the most diverse region of Chicagoland. Even if your particular town is predominantly white or black (or Hispanic or Arab), the next town over won't be, so in shopping, recreation, etc., you'll encounter quite a bit of diversity. What do the south suburbs have going for them: diversity, low housing prices, lot's of open space, Midway airport, Governor's State University, and I think a strong sense of community as we're always the underdog's in Chicagoland, but it's still a great place to live

Wow, a very insightful, non-generalizing, honest post about the south suburbs. Thanks, prairiestate!

[sbd78]

Originally Posted by brown fam

Yes, we are planning on visiting the first week of March. We received new home packets from several builders in the south burbs. Do you have any suggestions of Chi-town builders?

I don't know if you have considered the South West burbs, but they are booming with new construction if that is what you are looking for. The homes are in your price range. I recently bought a new home in an area of West Joliet that is full of new construction. The area we bought in falls in the Minooka school district. (The Joliet school district is not so good, I recommend staying out of Joliet schools.) It's really nice here, lots of families, lots of shopping on nearby route 59, its a very safe area, great highway access to I55 and I80, and taxes are reasonable. Lakewood Homes, Centex Homes, and Sharp Homes have communities going up here that fall in the Minooka schools, in case you want to check them out. There are many other new communities here that fall in Plainfield schools.

[bigman123]

One major problem in the South Burbs (Cook COunty) is the taxes. If I had to move to the South Burbs, I would only move in the Will County Sections of that area.

[wuvablepebbles]

I just did a write up on New Lenox in another thread. My husband works in the city with a 35 minute commute. Have any question feel free to ask. You seem to be looking for exactly what we were. We found it here.

[janegone]

35 minute commute??? Is this due to the 355 extension?

[prairiestate]

It has to be Metra. It's at least 35 minutes on the Stevenson, from I-355.

[freshmtt]

Originally Posted by sbd78

If schools are important, I would stay away from Matteson. The schools there do not rate well. I believe it falls in the Rich Township High School district 227 and the schools rate a 2 out of 10 on GreatSchools.net (Which is a good website to look up school stats, by the way.) If you are looking for an area in the Southern burbs that has diversity, is safe, and has good schools, check out Homewood Flossmoor. That high school rates a 10 out of 10. Other South burbs with good schools are Tinley Park, Orland Park, Frankfort, Mokena, Lockport, New Lenox. (Although these areas are not particularly diverse-not sure if that is important to you.)

I will second what this poster just said, The schools in Matteson really are NOT good at all. Go to the State of Illinois Board of Education website and look at the school report cards for Matteson, you will see that all of their schools have been targeted in the No child left behind program because of their very poor test scores. This is not a school district that you want to move to.

I agree, Homewood and Flossmoor are much better and the schools are excellent in H/F. The high school is top notch and people are always trying to lie about residency just to get into H/F high school. For the money you have you can get a very nice home in either Homewood or Flossmoor. The crime rate is much better as well.

We moved to Homewood in 2005 for the excellent school district, the park district is superb, and the Library is wonderful. We bought a solid brick 1960 built tri-level home for less than 200 grand. WE have a nice size lot and we live in a wonderful family orientated neighborhood. The neighbors all know each other and we look out for each other. We are a biracial family and we just love Homewood.

Matteson just cannot compare to Homewood or Flossmoor when it comes to the school district.