'Burb neighborhoods with city feel? (Chicago, Berwyn: buying, magnet schools, young professionals)

[johnm68]

Chet,

I did a quick look on realtor.com and found a number of houses under 300k in LaGrange Park--they may, of course, need work. LaGrange Park is also split between the LT and RB districts, so if one is preferred, address might be important.

North Riverside's commuting situation is not great--if you don't have a car, it would be a bus ride down 22nd street or Harlem to get to the el. You could also drive to the metra in Riverside.

becwells--if you look in Berwyn, I'd suggest the southwestern section--the areas around Proksa Park and MacNeal Hospital are quite nice (and also probably the most expensive.) Avoid Oak Park Avenue between 12th and 22nd--while the whole strech is not bad, there are pockets of section 8 housing that attract a lot of riff-raff.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by chet everett

What about that rules out Brookfield? Or Oak Lawn? Or Des Plaines? Or Wheeling? Or Burbank? I mean the yard and dogs are driving this thing, don't ya think? Condo would suck unless both dogs are pocket size. And if they are bigger dogs it is not like the OP, though still in 20's is going to party all night. Dogs need a walk and it is good to be sober to deal with that

I agree a condo would suck. I was just pointing out the realities of their price range in a place like Oak Park or LaGrange. To me, Berwyn and Brookfield are pretty far from the "fun city feel" I thought they were describing. Of course, if they're just looking for a place with more to offer than a Home Depot and one bar, that could be found just about anywhere in the Chicago suburbs...

I like Berwyn quite a bit, but the schools are that great. It's a bit gritty and working class in some areas, and reminds me of the northwest side of the city. The bungalows are nice as you will find anywhere, and there are many charming tree-covered blocks. The Pink Line offers CTA access to the city (or the Blue Line in southern Oak Park).

Brookfield has better schools, and a slightly newer housing stock. You will find more post-war raised ranches and cape cods. I think it's a bit less charming than Berwyn (it looks a bit like Archie Bunker's neighborhood in Queens). There aren't any cool trendy commercial strips, but you can always head in to Oak Park or Forest Park for that. There are no CTA trains in Brookfield, but you can take the Metra into the city.

If the "city feel" you're looking for means a neighborhood that looks like Queens with good access to downtown Chicago, Brookfield and Berwyn may work out for you. If you want ammenities like the trendy North Side neighborhoods, you'll have to look elsewhere.

[chet everett]

I think most of Brookfield is a LOT nice than Queens!


There are a fair number of Victorians and English cottages. The downtown has some decent bars and restaurants, as does Hollywood and even Ogden.

[becwells]

Is there anywhere in Brookfield that you would suggest against looking at?

You guys are awesome, by the way! This is so helpful! My hubby is from the Chicago area (Oswego), but he doesn't quite know enough about the city to be this useful.

[johnm68]

Considering that I grew up in North Riverside and attended Riverside-Brookfield High School, I know surprisingly little about Brookfield. One thing that does strike me is that it does not, for a city of 20,000 people, have a lot of discrete neighborhoods. I think the nicest part is the Hollywood section, which is bordered by 1st Avenue to Salt Creek and the Burlington Northern Tracks and the Zoo, although there's a chunk of Riverside in there as well. The rest of Brookfield seems to run together, so it's hard for me to say if there are any less desireable areas. My instinct, however, is to tell you to look north of Ogden.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by becwells

Thanks Bru!

There are definitely some really nice houses in Berwyn - I just wish that more of them had newer kitchens/bathrooms. Oh well...I guess you get what you pay for!

Are there a lot of restaurants and things to do in Berwyn? We currently live in Virginia, and made the mistake of sacraficing a fun neighborhood for a decent house. This time around we want to make sure where we buy will have a great atmosphere and entertainment options.

Berwyn has more than a few fun places to go in terms of bars and restaurants, yes. A tapas bar (La Espanola), two martini bars (Double Olive and Olive or Twist), a blues club (Harlem Ave. Lounge), a decent Italian joint (La Notte), a new theater (16th Street Theater), a very well known area music club that books nationally known bands (FitzGeralds), good southern food (Wishbone), and a few fun and decent small bars (Friendly Tap, Cigars and Stripes, and Fill Up Station). A Thai restaurant is opening on Roosevelt, and an Italian grocery store is opening downtown.

Then Forest Park's Madison St. and Oak Park's Lake St. are 5 minutes away. Those opens a whole additional slew of choices.

On a 1-10 scale for bars and restaurants, taking the whole area into account, I give it an 8. And I predict as the demographics change and the economy improves, you'll probably start to see more.

[Lookout Kid]

My big hope for Berwyn is that the Roosevelt Road corridor will continue to improve. Wishbone is a great addition there. There are other signs of positive changes, and Berwyn has teamed up with Oak Park to come up with development and streetscaping plans (but Oak Park is more focused on Madison Street at this time). Whatever happens there, I hope they make Roosevelt more pedestrian friendly. There are still a few strips of old storefronts, but there are far too many parking lots and strip-mall type development. If Roosevelt could rival Madison Street in Forest Park, Northern Berwyn would see a lot more positve change.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I think most of Brookfield is a LOT nice than Queens!


There are a fair number of Victorians and English cottages. The downtown has some decent bars and restaurants, as does Hollywood and even Ogden.

There are very nice parts of Queens as well... I'm sticking by my comparison. My great uncle has lived in Brookfield since the 40s, and it is straight out of "All in the Family". Though Queens certainly doesn't have that nice zoo...

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by johnm68

Considering that I grew up in North Riverside and attended Riverside-Brookfield High School, I know surprisingly little about Brookfield. One thing that does strike me is that it does not, for a city of 20,000 people, have a lot of discrete neighborhoods. I think the nicest part is the Hollywood section, which is bordered by 1st Avenue to Salt Creek and the Burlington Northern Tracks and the Zoo, although there's a chunk of Riverside in there as well. The rest of Brookfield seems to run together, so it's hard for me to say if there are any less desireable areas. My instinct, however, is to tell you to look north of Ogden.

Hollywood section is probably most desirable -- that runs from Salt Creek to about two blocks west of 1st Ave, where Riverside starts and from 31st St to Ogden. West of there the Broofield Elementary Schools do not have quite as good a performance. South of Ogden the neighbor gets a bit funkier and melts into Lyons, although for people who want the LT schools that is a plus. Otherwise most everything is a good bet, stuff nearer busy streets is less desirable but that happens in any town. Funny thing too is that due to just a little bit better foresight almost no houses back up to the railroad tracks, unlike in the more expensive Riverside where quite a few do. Obviously a big negative unless you have a huge lot to offset it...

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

There are very nice parts of Queens as well... I'm sticking by my comparison. My great uncle has lived in Brookfield since the 40s, and it is straight out of "All in the Family". Though Queens certainly doesn't have that nice zoo...

There are neighborhoods in Queens like Brookfield but I don't know if you can say the whole Borough is like Brookfield. It has a population of 2.2 million. That's comparable in size to a place like, oh, Chicago. It has over 100 neighborhoods and they have widely different character and housing stock. Forest Hills is somewhat like Oak Park. Astoria shares some characteristics with Berwyn, and so on and so forth.

As to your earlier comment about Roosevelt, I bet that will be the first part of Berwyn to truly take off. It's a very natural place for north Berwynites and south Oak Parkers to go dine and shop. Both of these contingencies really don't have a business district to walk to other than this.