south suburbs? (Naperville, Arlington Heights, Orland Park: rental, crime rates, buying a home)

[CBexp.]

The Homewood and Flossmoor area is two of the better areas in the south suburbs, with a closer town feel than that of Orland or Tinley Park.The schools are ok , but not as excelled as Homewood-Flossmoor schools. The park districts don't compare either. H-F park district recently won another national award! Metra train service is in both towns. Check it out for youself though of course, and good luck! Oh, crime is low here too, except mabey the occassional teen stealing a lawn ornament!

[Frank the Tank]

I grew up in Glenwood and attended Homewood-Flossmoor High School, so I know the area pretty well. The public schools in Homewood and Flossmoor have always been considered among the best in the south suburbs. When I went to H-F, you would have been hard pressed to find such an affluent high school that was as racially diverse anywhere else in the country, much less the Chicago area.

That being said, from my own observations, that period of diversity might have been more of a transition period since there has been a marked amount of white flight from that area over the past decade to the southwest suburbs (i.e. Tinley Park, Frankfort, Mokena, etc.). One can argue why this has happened, but the fact of the matter is that the racial makeup of H-F has changed very quickly in a very short period of time even though the economic make-up and wealth of the area has stayed pretty much the same. It's empirical evidence that racial issues, while highly correlated with economic problems, are a lot more complicated than merely money.

[TPfromTP]

I feel sorry for RC42085 trying to weed through all of this info and the many biases. Where you choose to live will depend a lot on your needs (schools, commute, buy or rent) and how much you want to spend. You might want to check out realtor.com to narrow your search and then look at the web sites for the various towns. Older homes will be less expensive than new ones. I live in Tinley Park and older ranch homes are often cheaper than new condos/townhomes here. Good luck in your search. There are nice people of all colors and types throughout the south/southwest suburbs, and the job situation in the Chicago area is one of the most stable in the nation.

[danny478]

I live in the Oak Lawn area but would not recomend it. I would love to get out to Frankfort but it is a little too high for my budget. I am looking at Manhattan but it is really far behind as far as developement. I would recommend staying as far west of I-57 as you can.

[tktez]

I vote for the Homewood area also. The housing is cheaper than about any other "nice suburb" and it's not as congested as Tinley or Orland. The traffic in those two towns would probably drive someone from Iowa right out of their minds. If you need something more southwest than south, I think Worth might be worth looking into. It's near the Palos area, with their forest preserves and so on, and the housing is much more reasonable.

[sbooththesalient]

it's just growing, not really "reviving." although lincoln mall is undergoeing some revival right now.

[preppyboyofIL]

I read your post about where is a nice place to live on the south side and I think I have an answer for you.

Someone said, Frankfort and I cannot agree more. That is by far probably the nicest burb you could move into, yet it comes at a cost. Frankfort's homes are very elegant and the town is prospering very nicely. Everything is new and fresh as well as the schools, however it is further out away from the city, so if you have to drive downtown often you may want to consider being closer into the city and taxes are on the rise as the city is growing rapidly and needs things like more schools, police, fire, roads, water lines, etc.

Orland Park, while older in relation to homes and shopping verses Frankfort, is still a burb known for prestige and is already fully built meaning taxes now are stable. Homes in Orland Park vary in price widely. On the east side of the town, homes start at about $300K and work their way up the further west you go in the town with a few pockets of homes again around $300k in price in the middle of town around the library.

Orland Park has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 20 years from a once farming community, to a major urban area. Shopping is far to none the best on the south side with 2 large malls housing about every store you can name, restaurants are everywhere, schools are known for their excellence (Carl Sandburg High School, Orland Jr. High/Jerling Jr. High), and homes are all built under the strict standards that Orland Park requires.

There are parks everywhere in the town, with the largest being located off 159th Street and Ravinia known as Centenial Park. Centenial is home to the Orland Park Aquatic Center (a waterpark), an outdoor skating rink, lake that you can boat on, skating park, baseball diamonds, soccer fields, and much more.

A year ago Orland Park was rated right behind Naperville as the number 2 best place to live in the Chicago metro area as far as suburbs go. It has easy access to all major freeways and soon will be adding another access point; I-355 which will be only about 3 miles west of the city's limits. Property values continue to rise steadily, yet taxes are very low due to the heavy retail presence in the town which pumps tens of millions of dollars a year into the town's budget meaning the city doesn't have to look to it's residents for money. A house about $400K in value will get hit with about $6K a year in property taxes, so all things considered, that isn't that bad. Not to mention every year Orland Park does whats called the property tax rebate which is where due to the city's heavy retail tax base funding the city, the city is nice enough to refund you (Joe Q. Homeowner) 100% of your village paid portion of your property taxes. I receive about $350 a year in rebates of which the city just mails me a check for. Its kind of a thank you so to say for living here. Rather nice I think!

Orland Park and Tinley Park alike have taken much grief over the past 10 years for over building their cities and creating horrendous vehicular traffic, however both cities as well as I.D.O.T. have been working on widening many of the roads around the area for instance; 159th St. and La Grange Road which will be completed in 2008, the widening of 153rd Street as well as intersection improvements at 143rd and La Grange, so if you can put up with traffic or just learn alternate routes which many Orland and Tinley Park residents have done to get around the traffic, you will be fine.

Orland Park's easiest access point to downtown Chicago currently is La Grange Road to I-55 north. La Grange was improved 3 years ago where double left hand turn lanes were added at many of the intersections, the lights were all timed perfectly, and the road was widened at points to make it safer for everyone thus allowing one to be able to reach I-55 from 143rd Street in Orland Park in just under 15 minutes and about 20 during rush hour putting Orland Park about 45 minutes away from the Loop during normal traffic conditions and about 75 minutes during rush hour due to congestion on I-55.

Orland Park's population is about 55K currently, of which is about 85% white, and the average income level per household is about $80K a year. Here is a link for you to learn more about this city. Village of Orland Park

Good Luck!

[Drover]

Why do we keep flogging months-old threads back to life? If the OP didn't get his answer by now, he probably never will.

[bobsmith319]

Well you are right. Try looking at Chicago Ridge, Oak Lawn, Oak Forest, Orland Park, Alsip. Maybe Crestwood. I have heard mixed info about Crestwood. My grandma who lives near Crestwood says its fine. My dad always tells me its bad. Good Luck!

[Crocostimpy]

Originally Posted by Drover

Why do we keep flogging months-old threads back to life? If the OP didn't get his answer by now, he probably never will.

Because people like me are researching the area now, not then? : )

I've been reading a lot of older threads, and although they all contain conflicting information, any info is better than none.


Mike