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Old 06-04-2008, 11:59 AM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,421,872 times
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What fraction of Evanston's residents could POSSIBLY be NU students? Or Northeastern Il ? Or Oakton? Get real.

I get quite a kick out of the those article about "condo in a college is a good investment". Who they heck has EVER advocating owning a place for four years as a good investment? Condo developers will peddle any hare brained idea they can to the starving writers that work for community newspapers...

There are no doubt some wealthy individuals that live in Evanston. I don't know of a measure of "luxury" but I never denied there are certainly some lovely homes in Evanston. What I do disagree is that there is some secrete enclave of wealth. In fact there there may very well be some enormously wealthy people that live in Skokie, but the facts are that Evanston has a total population of over 75K and a sizeable portion is not making much money:
Evanston: http://pics2.city-data.com/hin2005/5399.png (broken link)
In other towns, like Wilmette, things are more uniform: http://pics2.city-data.com/hin2005/6301.png (broken link)

Cost per square foot is an interesting statistic, and is generally something that is a big deal to developers and commercial property owners, but to homeowners generally is expressed as "your money gets more when you cost per square foot is lower" so I don't know that is a plus...
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Old 06-04-2008, 12:43 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,638,868 times
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I agree that cost per square foot means "more house for less money" but it also speaks to the exclusivity of the area does it not? The cost of entrance is high in Evanston, certainly due to its transit options, relatively high density rates, and proximity to Chicago but with great schools.

I agree that buying a condo is rarely a good investment for four years, though of course there are always exceptions to that rule for some students and parents.

My (twin) brothers bought a 4 bedroom townhouse in their college town (which is way way cheaper than Chicago) put half down, rent the extra bedrooms out and make a profit even after HOA fees, taxes etc.

Even if they end up not making a dime on the place it was worth it for two reasons:
1. They didn't have to pay rent or put up with landlords for 4 years
2. They both received a hefty purse from our dad's life insurance payout and weren't going to get a dime in student aid because of it. By tying up their money in an investment, they're able to get grants and subsidized loans to pay for school.
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Old 06-04-2008, 12:57 PM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,421,872 times
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Exclusivity/cost of entrance is best expressed by higher median home prices and a small spread. Believe me there are NO cheap houses on the North Shore but more than a few crummy little condo conversions in Evanston...

I'm happy that your brothers are enjoying their investment. Perhaps they can parlay that experience into a quicker entry onto to the path or real estate riches, be careful, there are many potholes...

Nice to see that those loans and grants are going to those so needy that they are already part of the "landed gentry/ investor class". Yep, the economy is in tatters... ;^)
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Old 06-04-2008, 01:04 PM
 
Location: Naperville, IL
43 posts, read 165,199 times
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I owned a condo in Lakeview for years (right off Diversey on Barry near the Barry underpass) and I would absolutely live in that area over Evanston any day of the week. It was always rented and people always loved the area. Just my .02 . Nothing against Evanston but it's sketchy in spots...of course that goes with ANY neighborhood in Chicago anymore.
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Old 06-04-2008, 01:06 PM
 
Location: Tower Grove East, St. Louis, MO
12,063 posts, read 31,638,868 times
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They bought a 90k condo between them and my mother co-signed... not sure I'd really consider them "landed gentry"

The situation changed drastically when my dad died for my brothers as they no longer had parental support available from either party (my mom struggles to pay her own bills now without child support) to pay for college and healthcare (which was lost) so they had very few options available for paying for college.

Your snarky and incredibly rude tone won't get you far with me. Until you know anything about the difficult situation my brothers were placed in when our dad died, you'd do well not to judge them or the decisions they've made or the financial situation they are in.
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Old 06-04-2008, 01:43 PM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,421,872 times
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Snarky, guilty as charged.

No offense meant toward the circumstances of how they came to have the money, my dad suffered a massive stroke when I was a sophomore in college so I well know how circumstance beyond one's control can radically change one's plans.

Having a large pile of cash can be something of a hardship when dealing with the methods by which our various student loan programs have been set up.

My comments were intended to merely paint a picture of how the possibility of large numbers of NU students is rather unlikely, and not something that would alter the median household income of Evanston in any meaningful way.

As a very ordinary guy who has had no particulary connections but managed to do pretty well through hand work and smart use of real estate I too jokingly call myself "landed gentry" -- historically the term means those who derive income/prestige through ONLY controlling/renting out their land. Landed gentry - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As the article details, it is far too easy for the "landed" part to be frittered away in a generation or less. I hope your brothers consider this well...
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Old 06-04-2008, 01:59 PM
 
1,083 posts, read 3,726,835 times
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typo
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nysee53 View Post
Many Northwestern Students reside off campus, as do students from Northeastern and Oakton Community College. There are also many retirees in Evanston along with some lower-middle class or working class families in the Southwest and Centralwest sides of Evanston. The well to do sections of Evanston are every bit luxurious as the other North Shore communities. The neighborhoods in Evanston are just a diverse mix. I know many families in Evanston who could live in Wilmette, but choose to live in Northern Evanston because of the integrated school system and added convenience of central street. Also, Northern Evanston has a higher price per square foot than East Wilmette does. There was an article in the Glencoe News, the pioneer press, that talked about how parents of students were buying condos for their kids as good investments. Which would probably mean the students permanent residences are in Evanston.
No you are wrong. A students permanent address(according to the census) is what they declare as their permanent address. In order to stay on one's parents health insurance, one cannot have a different PERMANENT address.

Very few students own condos in Evanston, their parents would own the condos. I doubt very many parents are buying condos in Evanston. From my experience at NU (although only one of my degrees is from there), the majority of students that would have parents able to buy condos are mostly in the Greek system and obligated to live in Greek housing.

Last edited by Anthera; 06-04-2008 at 02:02 PM.. Reason: typo
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Old 06-04-2008, 05:52 PM
 
409 posts, read 1,518,553 times
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I know that there are many parents of students purchasing condominiums in Downtown Evanston and the Central Street area today. By the way there are several ultra-wealthy families living in Evanston, I understand not as much as in my hometown of Glencoe, but there are people like the Pritzkers, Cusacks, Pivens, and Crowns, living in Evanston. I was just in Evanston today and took some pictures of the well to do East Evanston. I will photograph very nice streets like Edgemere (Crown), Lake Shore Boulevard, Sheridan Place (Pritzker), Lakeside Court, and more of Sheridan Road (Cusack). I took shots of Orrington Avenue and some of Sheridan Road today though. Evanston really deserves a chance. It is highly localized and people should begin to refer to its neighborhoods and sections.
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Old 06-04-2008, 06:00 PM
 
1,083 posts, read 3,726,835 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nysee53 View Post
I know that there are many parents of students purchasing condominiums in Downtown Evanston and the Central Street area today. By the way there are several ultra-wealthy families living in Evanston, I understand not as much as in my hometown of Glencoe, but there are people like the Pritzkers, Cusacks, Pivens, and Crowns, living in Evanston. I was just in Evanston today and took some pictures of the well to do East Evanston. I will photograph very nice streets like Edgemere (Crown), Lake Shore Boulevard, Sheridan Place (Pritzker), Lakeside Court, and more of Sheridan Road (Cusack). I took shots of Orrington Avenue and some of Sheridan Road today though. Evanston really deserves a chance. It is highly localized and people should begin to refer to its neighborhoods and sections.
Leaving aside the question of HOW you know that all these parents are buying condos for their kids (who are the (plural) Pritzkers living in Evanston (JB & MK are married and share a house). I don't believe there are other membes of the family living in Evanston. the Cusacks, and Pivens are hardly uber-wealthy. John Cusack and Jeremy Piven don't live in Evanston, and the other members of their families make less than your average third year investment banker.

If you are right and parents are buying condos in Evanston, that does not mean that their children are then reporting the condos as their permanent address.

I'm not slamming Evanston, but Chet is 100% right.

Moderator cut: off-topic, please take this to DM

Last edited by jessiegirl_98; 06-05-2008 at 08:32 AM.. Reason: addition
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Old 06-04-2008, 06:17 PM
 
1,083 posts, read 3,726,835 times
Reputation: 324
Moderator cut: off-topic, please take this to DM

This weekend I'll see a friend who is a doctor at Condell and ask him about whether Condell transfers doctors to Edgarton Wisc. A Locum doc could transfer, but it wouldn't be Condell transfering her.

The thing is, Glencoe is really so small and its black population is only 2%, that I really could find out quickly if there is a boy at Central who is black and has a mother who is a doctor. I'll probably see some Glenco moms at the Children's Fair next weekend.

Last edited by jessiegirl_98; 06-05-2008 at 08:32 AM.. Reason: typo
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