Professional African American family seeking diverse community (Maywood: for sale, house)

[At1WithNature]

Originally Posted by Chicagoland60426

Something we finally agree on. Olympia Fields is suppose to be the wealthiest over 50% black suburb in Chicagoland.

Yes it is really nice with oak lined streets...

[chicago_60611]

Originally Posted by gfd

i encourage you to check out oak park/ very diverse/ great schools/ churches/ we have lovely condo near OPRF and green line - willing to rent give you an opportunity to get a feel for the community.

another African-American family

True, but Oak Park has too much traffic, in my opnion, Lake street is always a mess

[Chickster]

From a similar situation: Evanston is also mediocre regarding school performance. Try some of the western suburbs. In my opinion, they're quite stable and receptive (1st hand experience).

Naperville
Wheaton
Glen Ellyn
Woodridge
Warrenville

Originally Posted by thankful1

I am an African American attorney (my husband is also a professional) with two young boys. We live in a nice home we built approx. 7 years ago in the south suburbs before we had children. We now want to live in a more culturally diverse suburban community where our children will grow with children from other races and ethnicities. Additionally, our $10k+ annually in property taxes does not seem justified given the mediocre performance of the local schools. We're looking to pay b/t $400-$450k for our new home. Needless to say, we want to live where we believe we will feel welcomed: after reading several posts here about white flight to Frankfort, Tinley Park, etc., I'm alarmed that these communities wouldn't be very welcoming. Of course I am prepared to be the minority in a new community, I just don't want to feel as if we don't belong. Any thoughts?

[familyman2000]

I know I am late to this thread, but I think my 2 cents might be useful. I study African American children for a living. I have studied the educational attainment of AA children all over the country, and especially here in Chicago. Unfortunately, it does not get much better than this and a few Atlanta suburbs.

Assuming you want your children to be competitive to get into and actually graduate from a top 30 University (that may or not be true for you), then from my research, in the Chicago area, your safest bet for high school is the Homewood/Flossmoor school. The Oak Park high school will work as well. Of course, if you want to live in the city and your child can get into one of the Chicago magnet schools, then that is even better.

When evaluating schools for African American children, you must examine (1) the proportion of AA who score in level 4 on math and reading each year, (2) the amount of AP courses and academically focused extracurricular activities available, (3) the amount of AA in the AP courses, (4) the overall poverty rate of the school, and (5) the proportion of AA at the school. These are in hierarchical order, so 1 is most important, but they are all important. The schools which send the most AA to top universities are highest on each factor except for the poverty rate at the school.

For the sake of brevity, I will not go into details about why these matter the most. Using this metric, among the regular public schools, HF is best, followed by Oak Park. They offer everything a child needs to get to a top school. Unlike the all White schools, they also have enough high achieving AA kids so that your child will not have the social pressure of being the only AA in the AP courses. Unfortunately, that is the best an AA parent can ask of a school at this point in our history. After that, it is up to you and your children.

People also underestimate the racism in many schools which keep AA kids from enrolling in and/or succeeding in AP courses (I do empirical studies and write articles for journals about it).

Good luck with your decision!

Originally Posted by thankful1

I am an African American attorney (my husband is also a professional) with two young boys. We live in a nice home we built approx. 7 years ago in the south suburbs before we had children. We now want to live in a more culturally diverse suburban community where our children will grow with children from other races and ethnicities. Additionally, our $10k+ annually in property taxes does not seem justified given the mediocre performance of the local schools. We're looking to pay b/t $400-$450k for our new home. Needless to say, we want to live where we believe we will feel welcomed: after reading several posts here about white flight to Frankfort, Tinley Park, etc., I'm alarmed that these communities wouldn't be very welcoming. Of course I am prepared to be the minority in a new community, I just don't want to feel as if we don't belong. Any thoughts?

[oldhousegirl]

I know this is an older thread, familyman nailed it though. Exactly what I have always abided by, having lived across the country, originally from Chicago, with a son who would have attended HF. It is definitely about the number of black kids that do well on the tests, in addition to other factors of course. You can have a school that as a whole performs well, but I always like to look at how the kids of color do, particularly the black kids. Thanks for your post!

[TrainedObserver]

Another vote for Olympia Fields. I feel that it is very underrated. I know the community very well and wish that my family and I could afford to live there. The vast majority of home in that community are within your price range. For 380 you could even buy a newly built home near the intersection of Vollmer Rd and Kedzie Ave.

[sigprn]

well to do black people live in matteson or olympia fields.

[Mamama Mia]

Originally Posted by TrainedObserver

Another vote for Olympia Fields. I feel that it is very underrated. I know the community very well and wish that my family and I could afford to live there. The vast majority of home in that community are within your price range. For 380 you could even buy a newly built home near the intersection of Vollmer Rd and Kedzie Ave.

Before white flight, Olympia Fields was probably considered more elite than Flossmoor, which, of course was always "better than" Homewood.
In many areas of Oly Fields you would be residing in the Rich Township School District. Not great test scores at Rich East, Central or Rich South.

[ajolotl]

Out of curiosity, when did whites flee OF? Was it in the 80s or earlier?

[Chicagoland60426]

Originally Posted by Mamama Mia

Before white flight, Olympia Fields was probably considered more elite than Flossmoor, which, of course was always "better than" Homewood.
In many areas of Oly Fields you would be residing in the Rich Township School District. Not great test scores at Rich East, Central or Rich South.

Olympia Fields is still wealthier than Flossmoor by income and home prices. Even though it experience white flight, Olympia still have an over 30% white population.