What's the History of Maywood? (Chicago, Oak Park: for sale, condos, crime rate)

[Humboldt1]

John Doe,

Where I grew up is almost 100% white (1% asian). It is a great place to raise a family. I would not say the same about Maywood. It is easy to say 100% white areas (virtually 100% and some asians) such as Kenilworth and Glencoe are great areas to raise a family but that may have more to do with affluence than race. My hometown in Indiana is not affluent but filled with hardworking people who respect one another. The only drawback would be there is not a lot to do other than attend church, bowling, or a movie. Indianapolis and Cincinnati are both within a hour. If only Maywood were half as nice of a place as where I grew up it would be a great place to live.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

John Doe,

My hometown in Indiana is not affluent but filled with hardworking people who respect one another.

That's pretty much what it's about. One thing common to virtually all "bad" neighborhoods seems to a general lack of respect for others. It's the little things that set the tone -- pulling your car out onto the street to make a left turn and blocking traffic because you don't want to wait, weaving in and out of traffic and driving like a complete tool, cranking up your music in your apartment, yelling across the street to your neighbors so everyone can hear you, treating your waitress like garbage and leaving her a $1 tip. Go to a restaurant in or near Maywood and compare how you're treated there versus, say, at an eatery in Oak Park. There will be a huge difference.

Like Drover I don't know the answers, but maybe starting with the small things would be a good start for members of these troubled communities? I don't know, just throwing that out there.

[Irishtom29]

Hah. Many years ago I drove a Blue Cab in Oak Park and most cabbies would dead-head rather than take a fare to or from Maywood---lousy tips. I'd have nothing to do with Maywood fares, I'd'a rather just have another cup of coffee at Al's Grill.

[BRU67]

Some would call you racist for saying that without even trying to consider your point of view. If you want to be treated with respect and with courtesy, you'll treat others accordingly. I think the answer to that Nobel Prize is somewhere along those lines.

[bungalowdweller]

A very good friend lives in Maywood. She and her husband live around the train station which I think is in Melrose Park off of Broadway. In the past 5 years, the Mexicans have been moving into the community big-time. So far, they have been welcomed because, among other things, they tend not to bargain when buying a home--they will pay the full asking price. All along Broadway, the stores are all Mexican owned. On the Maywood side of Lake Street there are many new Mexican businesses.

As said by someone elsewhere Maywood used to be a beautiful town. My friend and her husband are black middle-class people who can certainly move elsewhere. They chose Maywood after living in the Fox Valley area because they got a killer deal on a huge home on a double lot. With 5 children they need the space. They homeschool their kids so the issue of schools doesn't bother them. There are MANY homeschoolers in Maywood. Lots of decent people there. They just stay under the radar and don't want to be harassed.

Someone else asked why Mexicans moving in would mean revitalization. Over 20 years ago the city of Chicago commissioned a study examining how areas gentrify. The study showed that before gentrification, Mexicans were always a sizable part of the neighborhood under examination. Mexicans seem to spur revitalization because they buy businesses from aging white ethnics who leave the areas as well as opening their own businesses. People are attracted to neighborhoods that are alive with services, restaurants, and foot traffic. In predominantly black neighborhoods there are few businesses of any kind. This disinvestment by the community leads to its demise. The study concluded that there was NO chance for revitalization/gentrification in a majority black community---that people had to be Moved Out before change could occur. I was working with a large non-profit that was studying housing issues and I remember the buzz that the report generated at the time.

[plaria]

I just read your 2008 post. You are 100% correct. I grew up in Maywood (1945-1963) and my mother still lives in her original home. Sadly, not one like you have. There are some beautiful mansions and If I was younger or had married a man with a different mindset, I would be doing the same thing that you are doing. If you can get enough young people who believe in family and neighborhood and are willing to put in some sweat equity, they would have a jewel on their hands. I lived on North Third avenue, and we had a custard stand and a rootbeer stand on lake street. You could walk anywhere you needed to go!! Keep up the good work and try to get your friends to do the same.

[sweat]

Back in the 60's maywood was beautiful. Even with Fred hampton setting things right at Proviso East it was still a great place. I remember being on the southside or Hyde Park and seeing how the girls eyes would light up when we said that we're from "The Wood". I remember that some white boys thought that they owned 10th park. And the house on 15th that was owned by a black man that worked for Al Capone, it's got a tunnel leading from the garage to the basement. How many remember when the can company blew up. Maywood was cool up until cocaine really hit the streets in the mid 80's.

[Alacran]

Lol at "The wood"

Now the call it Murder Woods

[Chicago60614]

One of my best friends is from Maywood. I think his family finally moved out a few years ago, I remember how they were pretty bitter at how the town turned into a dump. He said he was one of 5 white kids in his graduating class which was otherwise entirely black (this was back in the late 1990's). I asked him if he ever felt out of place or weird, but he said not at all - he had grown up in Maywood and that was just what it was like. He assumed that must be what it was like for everyone.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

One of my best friends is from Maywood. I think his family finally moved out a few years ago, I remember how they were pretty bitter at how the town turned into a dump. He said he was one of 5 white kids in his graduating class which was otherwise entirely black (this was back in the late 1990's). I asked him if he ever felt out of place or weird, but he said not at all - he had grown up in Maywood and that was just what it was like. He assumed that must be what it was like for everyone.

That's how it was for me growing up in Park Forest and a lifetime of schooling where black kids clearly outnumbered white kids. Although obviously not to the same degree as Maywood.