Elmwood park , What is happing to it? (Cicero, Berwyn: housing, crime)

[crbcrbrgv]

Okay, okay, can we all at least agree that as long as Johnnie's Beef is in Elmwood Park, the town will at least be worth visiting?

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by crbcrbrgv

Okay, okay, can we all at least agree that as long as Johnnie's Beef is in Elmwood Park, the town will at least be worth visiting?

Yeah, and Armand's too.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

Yeah, and Armand's too.

LOVE Armand's. An Italian friend in River Grove turned us on to that place years ago, and we always go back.

[BigTed]

I've been an Elmwood Park resident for 4 years now and I just don't see what a lot of you are seeing. Especially gangbanger-types. Sure I see some black and Hispanic kids in urban apparel walking in the neighborhood at times but it isn't like they are wearing do-rags or super baggy clothing. I live on the south side of town on the 1800 block of 74th Ave though so maybe the problems are more on the North side of town. Though it is a boring town, I feel very safe where I am in EP. Certainly a lot safer than when I lived in Melrose Park.

[Chinolala]

I agree with Ted. I don't venture to the north side of town much, but in the 7 years I've lived in the south side of town, it seems the same to me.

[Pebbs78]

I've been looking to move to south EP from Andersonville in Chicago...stuck in a bidding war on a house. I've looked in Oak Park, River Forrest, and finally settled here. I've got to say, the area seems nice, quiet, and friendly. I drive around and see mothers walking their children, nice cars, and beautiful lawns. There are many large homes in EP with quality people.

I view EP as more of a 'city-like' suburb. We all know that the city has it's fair share of gang problems as well as pockets of minorities. If you cannot deal with this sort of thing, don't move to any areas near the city. I would suggest looking to areas such as Schaumburg.

[Humboldt1]

It is simple, you get rid of affordable housing like they have done in River Forest as a whole and many parts of Oak Park. If you have $1MM houses, you are not going to be flooded with Sec 8 renters.

Basically, if you tear down the affordable housing in Elmwood Park and replace it with McMansions, the area will stay nice, become like Park Ridge. If you don't, the cheap housing stock will attract lessor sorts and this will eventually lead to the area becoming more like Melrose Park and less like River Forest, though I suspect it will always be fairly nice within a few blocks of North Avenue as I don't see River Forest police putting up with riff raff anytime soon. Those guys don't play and thus far for the most part neither do Elmwood Park police, but I suspect this may change as the area becomes more like Melrose Park. Just to be clear, I don't think Elmwood Park will ever be as bad as Melrose Park. Elmwood Park and River Grove will always be slightly better because of better housing stock. More expensive homes do the best job of discouraging crime from poor people moving into these neighborhoods. I know this kind of thinking is harsh, but do you ever think that Winnetka is going to become a crime ridden area filled with gangs? I think not.

[Lookout Kid]

Just how bad is Melrose Park REALLY? I am not as familiar with it as other suburbs in the area--and I don't know anyone that lives there. I know it has gone downhill in recent years, but it can't be anywhere close to as bad as Maywood and Bellwood, right? Does it feed into those lousy Proviso Township schools? Or do the kids go somewhere else?

[dmcsherlock]

Melrose Park is awful, frequent shootings. For more, read columns by Mary Mitchell, a black columnist in the Sun-Times living in Melrose Park.

[johnm68]

dmcsherlock--you're thinking of Maywood.