What happened to good old Waukegan?? (Chicago, Cicero: real estate, new house, neighborhood)

[gussie]

What the heck happened to good old Waukegan? That town really went down the pot.. It used to be so nice and beautiful. From what I have been reading in the papers it has turned into a cess pool....I moved away 10 years ago.. Too bad the town has turned into such a dump!!!

[Lookout Kid]

Honestly, it was worse ten years ago! The stuff that "happened" to Waukegan happened decades ago. I'd say the level of Waukegan suck-titude peaked in the early nineties, and has actually gotten a little better since then. And there are still some very well-to-do suburban parts of Waukegan with spankin' new houses on large lots.

[Chummy Waters]

Maybe the PCB's dredged out of the harbor contaminated the drinking water and mutated the town.

[cohdane]

3 words: Three Superfund sites.

[Chicagoaklandish]

Hmm... I haven't been by there in a while, but I remember 10 years ago it had some very affluent parts and some grittier parts with a huge gang problem.

[Drover]

Waukegan is the Cicero of Lake County: It certainly has its problems and obvious quality-of-life issues, but the reputation is worse than the reality.

[lakecountylifer]

With all the affluence in Lake County, Waukegan fits the bill for blue collars & minorities to find reasonable housing. That being said, there are some nice areas. The North Sheridan rd. area is an area you will find very nice housing, along with the Midlane Golf course area-----and for retail; the Fountain Square area is nice. The lake front is a disaster unless you visit the Waukegan harbor---which is actually quite nice.

Other areas of Waukegan can range from borderline to downright scary. I would agree that Waukegan is better today than it was 10 years ago.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Chicagoaklandish

Hmm... I haven't been by there in a while, but I remember 10 years ago it had some very affluent parts and some grittier parts with a huge gang problem.

It's still like that.

[reppin_the_847]

There's an area of unincorporated Waukegan that gets the Libertyville High School school district. Much of this area is near River Road (south of Belvidere Rd / Rte 120, and north of Buckley Rd / Rte 137), with the crown jewel being the "Nickels & Dimes" neighborhood. It's funny, because these residents technically have a Waukegan address, but reside in million dollar plus homes.

Originally Posted by lakecountylifer

With all the affluence in Lake County, Waukegan fits the bill for blue collars & minorities to find reasonable housing. That being said, there are some nice areas. The North Sheridan rd. area is an area you will find very nice housing, along with the Midlane Golf course area-----and for retail; the Fountain Square area is nice. The lake front is a disaster unless you visit the Waukegan harbor---which is actually quite nice.

Other areas of Waukegan can range from borderline to downright scary. I would agree that Waukegan is better today than it was 10 years ago.

[gussie]

It's sad that a house priced at 135,000 pays real estate taxes of 0ver 4,000.. You can live in a beautiful 150,000 home in Northeast Georgia a house that would price if it were in Waukegan in the high 200's and pay 1,600 a year real estate tax and have an acre of land!!!!.. It's due to the hispanic multiple families that are allowed to live in single family homes. When I lived in Waukegan the hispanic neighbors had 6 to 7 cars in their drive and parked in front of my house, and only "supposedly" had a single couple residing there!!!! And with the school taxes so high.. what can you expect when you have 5 families to a house with 12 kids going to public school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!