Homewood vs. Flossmoor (updated information) (Chicago, Oak Park: schools, income, living in)

[allen2323]

Originally Posted by ajolotl

Most break-ins involve people that are in some way familiar with the home and homeowner. The more seedy people you are in contact with or have familiarity with your home, the greater chance you will be a victim.

So very true. If you don't invite low lifes and thugs over to your home. Then chances of getting your house robbed in an area like homewood are slim to none. It's usually people who have older teens or young adults living at home who are hanging out with the wrong kind of people who end up getting there house robbed in a low crime area like homewood.

[deechee]

Originally Posted by urza216

I don't understand how Homewood supports three Starbucks - Especially with the Carbiou Coffee in town. And I sometimes find myself wondering where all the black people are when I'm in certain parts of downtown Homewood. I don't see any anywhere.

This forum is so far removed from the way people actually talk about Homewood in the real world. It is interesting hearing the west side perspective though.

Homewood is kind of the Oak Park of the south suburbs. I think Humboldt1 and Chet realize this on some level and that's why they keep on talking about Homewood.

White people are welcome in Homewood. It's a very welcoming place to all stripes of people.

I totally understand what you're saying. Where are all the black people in Homewood? I am in Homewood all the time, and I sure don't see them. I usually see a few in Kmart, a few in TJMaxx and the Bed Bath and Beyond...

All people seem to be welcome in Homewood. I must admit, I feel a lot more welcome there than in Tinley or Orland. I feel like I'm AT HOME. No stares, no security following me around etc. I eat at restaurants in the area and feel fine. I don't know why anyone wouldn't feel welcome there?

Actually, the blacks and other minorities I do see are driving some NIIIIIIIIICE cars . I certainly cannot afford a new Lexus or Mercedes...or even a newer GMC truck.

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

Homewood is not comparable to Oak Park.

Why do you hate on everything that is south suburban? Homewood in my opinion, is BETTER than Oak Park.

Originally Posted by webbermishoe

Who really cares. On this particular forum, it always a p@@##^& contest. These are all opinions. Every neighborhood has its issues. For example, you don't know what your neighbors may be doing next door to you. Case in point, the Tinley Park drug lab. I pass by that house all the time because it is within a 2 mile radius from where I live. The familiy was not minority but part of the majority.

YES!!!! I used to pass by that house all the time! Now, I wonder why no one was up in arms about that? What if it had been a family of a different race? Would people be less surprised? More surprised? Why does it even matter what race they are?

[chet everett]

There was a period when the State of Illinois was throwing money at teachers for "early retirement". A sizable number of established school districts saw a HUGE turn over in their most experienced staff. The resulting "brain drain" of teachers had negative impacts on the rigor of the curriculum, the level of decorum that was expected in the buildings and even the attitudes toward achievement.

As that was happening, a large number of families that had relied on good schools to help get their kids into competitive colleges were faced with the tough choice to continue to pay high taxes for schools they were no longer using at a time when property wealth was not something that they needed to worry about.

Coupled with the economic downturn that marked the demise of the Carter administration and really effected many people until well into Reagan's second term the overall direction of many towns that once had a nice mix of folks that may have risen up from pretty modest roots shifted pretty quickly.

It is very different to ask tax payers to support schools that they can credit with the success of their town than to say "keep supporting this school while going through some turmoil". In many towns that once had respectable offerings for kids of all abilities and multiple paths toward a range of colleges as well as vocational offerings and other options, pressure grew to cut the budgets of non-college prep departments.
Those cuts probably made sense in that the "rust belt" status of the industrial midwest saw a shift toward labor in cheaper states, as well as different kinds of strife between labor and management in firms like Caterpillar and John Deere which have much more of "company town" lock on heavy equipment than some of the plants that once had facilities in the southland.
There was a rocky period for firms like Allis-Chalmers, International Harvest and other once mighty manufacturers of mostly agricultural equipment.
Weird diversification and consolidation resulted in some "shell" companies that still have Illinois based headquarters, with a distinct bias of the "corporate staff" in the Loop or North Shore burbs, but some scattered remenants of plants & warehouses in the southland -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenneco,_Inc.
http://www.marmon.com/members.asp?cn...ber=true&mid=9
Brunswick Corporation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Smurfit-Stone Container - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Allis-Chalmers Manufacturing Company - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Originally Posted by Chuckity

I can't pinpoint the exact reason why the standardized scores started to decline - I just don't know ... and I don't think anyone does. It was about that time when talk began of the grade centers for the elementary kids .... at the time, it felt like a last ditch effort to restore the excellence to the HF district.

Did that cause parents of the best & brightest kids to move and pull them out of HF schools? I dunno. Maybe. Is that the reason why HF's scores dipped and have never regained? Maybe.

Did the scores fall and the best & brightest left? Or did the best & brightest leave and the scores fell? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

[Chicagoland60426]

Originally Posted by deechee

I totally understand what you're saying. Where are all the black people in Homewood? I am in Homewood all the time, and I sure don't see them. I usually see a few in Kmart, a few in TJMaxx and the Bed Bath and Beyond...

All people seem to be welcome in Homewood. I must admit, I feel a lot more welcome there than in Tinley or Orland. I feel like I'm AT HOME. No stares, no security following me around etc. I eat at restaurants in the area and feel fine. I don't know why anyone wouldn't feel welcome there?

Actually, the blacks and other minorities I do see are driving some NIIIIIIIIICE cars . I certainly cannot afford a new Lexus or Mercedes...or even a newer GMC truck.



Why do you hate on everything that is south suburban? Homewood in my opinion, is BETTER than Oak Park.



YES!!!! I used to pass by that house all the time! Now, I wonder why no one was up in arms about that? What if it had been a family of a different race? Would people be less surprised? More surprised? Why does it even matter what race they are?

Homewood is one-third black and Flossmoor next door is nearly half black, so there are plenty in the area. Many establisments downtown maybe predominately white or non black like Mama & Me pizza and Bogarts , but Halsted is loaded with black employees, cutomers, and the like. Where I pay my At&T bill on halsted has 99% black employment.

[deechee]

Originally Posted by Chicagoland60426

Homewood is one-third black and Flossmoor next door is nearly half black, so there are plenty in the area. Many establisments downtown maybe predominately white or non black like Mama & Me pizza and Bogarts , but Halsted is loaded with black employees, cutomers, and the like. Where I pay my At&T bill on halsted has 99% black employment.

I did not think about it that way. I've never noticed a Mama & Me...hmmm.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by Chicagoland60426

Homewood is one-third black and Flossmoor next door is nearly half black, so there are plenty in the area. Many establisments downtown maybe predominately white or non black like Mama & Me pizza and Bogarts , but Halsted is loaded with black employees, cutomers, and the like. Where I pay my At&T bill on halsted has 99% black employment.

I know the statistics and I know what the neighborhoods look like. And that was kinda my point.. I think Homewood is heavily patronized by white people who don't live in Homewood or Flossmoor.

Me and some friends went the original Aurelio's in Homewood on a Thursday night not too long ago. The place was packed with middle aged white people.

[deechee]

Originally Posted by urza216

Me and some friends went the original Aurelio's in Homewood on a Thursday night not too long ago. The place was packed with middle aged white people.

Yes, and that seems to be the norm there

[Humboldt1]

Deechee,

Homewood is better than Oak Park with regards to affordability. Same could be said about Hinsdale or Kenilworth.

I don't hate the south suburbs but do hate the culture of entitlement and ineptitude that has been thrust on south suburban Chicago thru influx of former CHA and Section 8 recipients.

[urza216]

Originally Posted by deechee

Why do you hate on everything that is south suburban? Homewood in my opinion, is BETTER than Oak Park.

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

Deechee,

Homewood is better than Oak Park with regards to affordability. Same could be said about Hinsdale or Kenilworth.

I don't hate the south suburbs but do hate the culture of entitlement and ineptitude that has been thrust on south suburban Chicago thru influx of former CHA and Section 8 recipients.

To "hate on" means to criticize unfairly. It is not synonym to "hate". And yes, you do hate on the south suburbs. Your whole argument beaks down if the influx is small and insignificant.

[deechee]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

Deechee,

Homewood is better than Oak Park with regards to affordability. Same could be said about Hinsdale or Kenilworth.

I don't hate the south suburbs but do hate the culture of entitlement and ineptitude that has been thrust on south suburban Chicago thru influx of former CHA and Section 8 recipients.

I hate the culture of entitlement too. I am working hard to maintain a good life for myself and to help the ones I care about. It makes me mad sometimes that others have it easy. However, it's still quite a long shot to say Homewood's only good point is it's affordability. There are many, many other things about Homewood that I am not sure if you have experienced that make it worthwhile. Again, I will keep my cheap AFFORDABLE south suburban home I don't have to make $300k a year to maintain.

Now I am sure you like the northern and western suburbs very much, but it is misleading to say that ALL of the south suburbs have experienced this "influx" of CHA residents. I wonder why I haven't heard any Palos Park residents complaining about this? Or Orland Park? Or Monee? Or Tinley Park?

Originally Posted by urza216

To "hate on" means to criticize unfairly. It is not synonym to "hate". And yes, you do hate on the south suburbs. Your whole argument right there beaks down if the influx is small and insignificant.

The so-called "influx" is not insignificant, but it has not ruined the entire fabric of the whole region. Homewood is not about to become a ghost town like some suggest. Neither is Flossmoor. Some of those 4 bedroom homes I would look at START at $350k!

People have to think about the fact that those CHA residents had to go somewhere. I don't necessarily know what to do about it either. Knock on people's doors asking if they're renters? Asking if they took advantage of low-priced foreclosures? Come on.

Maybe if people didn't cast such a big stigma about public housing this discussion wouldn't be so painful. Everyone who is living on food stamps or Section 8 is not a bad person. If I suddenly lost all of my income due to some unfortunate event or w/e, what do you think I'd be using? I would need welfare.