What about Lemont? (Chicago, Naperville, Wheaton: real estate market, houses, neighborhood)

[promis1]

Is Lemont still a good area? How are the schools? Is the town more conservative or liberal? How is the downtown area? Is there a gang presence there?

[US-Traveller]

Originally Posted by promis1

Is Lemont still a good area? How are the schools? Is the town more conservative or liberal? How is the downtown area? Is there a gang presence there?

Lemont has always been a good area and it is becoming more desirable.

Lemont is said to have pretty good schools. They are not as good as the towns directly to the north like Hinsdale or Oak Brook.

Lemont is conservative. Most suburbs of Chicago are conservative. It is a Republican area.

I'm not sure about the downtown area.

There is no gang presence in Lemont.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by US-Traveller

Most suburbs of Chicago are conservative.

Not anymore!

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Not anymore!

Conservative meaning "quiet" / lack of flamboyant people or "voted for Obama"...

Honestly I was at a Memorial Day Parade / Veterans Ceremony in a town near where I live and there was a cohort of "turn DuPage Blue" losers (in the literal sense, as they did NOT win any offices in the spring elections...) that were in the frantic non-stop campaign mode, despite the fact that the next election won't be until 2010 (my goodness that looks like Science Fiction!) and I just do see any dissatisfaction with the current US representatives / State Senators/ Representatives / County Board/ Township Supervisors / Local Village elected office holders to swing to anything that would be from the Pelosi & Friends political spectrum.

McCain was a loser that did not have what it takes to overcome the Obama charisma, just as Dole was the absolute wrong guy to have any hope against Bill Clinton.

Does not mean the suburbs are suddenly SEIU central...

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by chet everett

McCain was a loser that did not have what it takes to overcome the Obama charisma, just as Dole was the absolute wrong guy to have any hope against Bill Clinton.

Does not mean the suburbs are suddenly SEIU central...

No, but it also means they are not reliably conservative. They used to be reliably conservative, and now they are moderate at best.

[promis1]

[quote=chet everett;8990605]Conservative meaning "quiet" / lack of flamboyant people or "voted for Obama"...

Honestly I was at a Memorial Day Parade / Veterans Ceremony in a town near where I live and there was a cohort of "turn DuPage Blue" losers (in the literal sense, as they did NOT win any offices in the spring elections...) that were in the frantic non-stop campaign mode, despite the fact that the next election won't be until 2010 (my goodness that looks like Science Fiction!) and I just do see any dissatisfaction with the current US representatives / State Senators/ Representatives / County Board/ Township Supervisors / Local Village elected office holders to swing to anything that would be from the Pelosi & Friends political spectrum.

McCain was a loser that did not have what it takes to overcome the Obama charisma, just as Dole was the absolute wrong guy to have any hope against Bill Clinton.

You mean the Obama B.S. You are all fools who believe in this man. And after 8 years of his ultra liberal agenda, this country will be tarnished far ever. I wonder how hard the terrorist detainees are laughing as Barack Hussein is fighting to release them into our country. This Liberal agenda will be the final nail in this declining countrys coffin!

[JanuaryGirl]

Lemont is conservative, but it is a different conservative than, for example, Wheaton. Lemont is heavily Catholic and personally I found it didn't have the same pervasive sense of conservativeness as areas that are more dominated by Protestant churches. I'd almost describe it as old-fashioned rather than conservative, if that make any sense.

[Lemonster]

I've lived in Lemont for 8 years. There are no police over 30 here because I believe they start them out at such a low salary. U was told - not sure if this is true but a degree is not required to be an officer as long as one completes their intern program. Also, the police give you a ticket for anything they can think of. I'm not sure if that is because they need to meet a quota set by Cook County or what, but almost every Lemont resident I know has received a ticket from them. And any of my friends or family that have come to visit me have received one also. I lmao when they gave my mom a ticket. She's 56 yet drives like my grandma.

The new police dept on 127th street boasts a HUGE brick paver parking lot as does the fire houses. Yet, they couldn't come up with the money for the elementary schools so they cut 70 jobs in the school district. Which now makes Lemont even less desirable in the real estate market.
My brother just graduated from the High School from which he swears that almost every kid is either an alcoholic or on some kind of drug. Three of his friends died while attending that high school. One was a drunk driving accident- died right here in downtown Lemont the other two were drug overdoses. The police used to come in and pull kids out of class. My brother said the one time the kid had over 20 foils of heroin on him!

You see people here are more concerned that their neighbor has a bigger television than they are about what their kids are doing.
No, there are no gangs. But there is an incompetent government, an untrained police department that lacks real world experience and almost every resident here is a snob- but a snob born from insecurities. It's like Naperville for losers. Oh wait, Naperville has even more of those than Lemont. Oh well.

Best part is, now that the economy is crap I'll never get out of here. I hate this place. I did and still do curse the day my husband demanded we move here because of it's location to his work.

Lemont is not trendy, it is simply old, run down and failing. Nearly every store front in the downtown area is vacant. Don't come here unless you'd like a bunch of bogus traffic tickets, catty women eyeballing you to see if you are better than them and oh yeah, teenagers on drugs.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Lemonster

Don't come here unless you'd like a bunch of bogus traffic tickets, catty women eyeballing you to see if you are better than them and oh yeah, teenagers on drugs.

Alright, I won't!

So what suburbs of Chicago don't have a lot of teen drug use these days? I keep hearing the same stories everywhere.

[dacas1]

Wow. It sounds like somebody is mad at her husband and taking it out on her neighborhood.

I live in Lemont as well and I can tell you that this woman's incoherent rant should be completely ignored.

The police and fire departments are adequately sized and well trained. As far as real world experience goes... well, they work in Lemont. It's Mayberry.

And it sounds like somebody may be hanging with the wrong crowd. Anytime you have kids with money, there's bound to be some type of drug culture. It's happening everywhere, not just in Lemont and I'm quite certain it isn't "every other kid". That's ridiculous.

To answer your questions...

Lemont is a great area. Nice homes, big lots, nice people. It's definitely upper-middle class and always has been, always will be.

Lemont has a great school system. Small class sizes and rated 5 stars on greatschools.org

Lemont and the area in general is definitely conservative. All reps from the area are Republican.

Lemont's downtown area is just OK. Some shops, and a few bars and restaurants. They recently put quite a bit of money into it, but it's been slow to pick up due to the economy.

Gangs? Absolutely not.

All in all, it's an area you definitely should consider. Plenty of golf courses, too!