Moving to south chicago area, looking for city ideas. around ford chicago assembly (Oak Lawn: rentals, crime)

[Shad3E]

Hello, I live in Brownstown Mi, a small township south of Detroit. i'm being transferred to Chicago assembly and am clueless as to where to live. I have two small kids that will be in elementary school. I have been renting for a year now a beautiful 1800 sf trylevel, with pool and hottub. @1,100 per mo. lucky as heck i know i wont see a price for that much space anywhere near Chicago. But i know there has to be nice towns in the suburbs. I've been told about Homewood/Flossmoor and would like more suggestions of towns like that. We want to live somwhere its safe to walk the streets at night, and some 24 hr spots like coneys and gas stations maybe a Walmart or Meijer. Close access to freeways or maybe the train. Were used to driving everywhere, Detroit area does not have a good public transportation system. i would like to take full advantage of chicago's system. Were a caucasion family and though i dont mind divircity, i just don't want to be in an area that is declining. I've seen first hand what happens to a city when divercity goes overboard. we would like to stay somplace that will continue to be the way it is, and has been for many years. and yes i can google places myself and wiki the census, but that doesnt give me a clear answer on a town like residents can. thank you, i hope to be a part of your community soon!

[NYrules]

Originally Posted by Shad3E

Hello, I live in Brownstown Mi, a small township south of Detroit. i'm being transferred to Chicago assembly and am clueless as to where to live. I have two small kids that will be in elementary school. I have been renting for a year now a beautiful 1800 sf trylevel, with pool and hottub. @1,100 per mo. lucky as heck i know i wont see a price for that much space anywhere near Chicago. But i know there has to be nice towns in the suburbs. I've been told about Homewood/Flossmoor and would like more suggestions of towns like that. We want to live somwhere its safe to walk the streets at night, and some 24 hr spots like coneys and gas stations maybe a Walmart or Meijer. Close access to freeways or maybe the train. Were used to driving everywhere, Detroit area does not have a good public transportation system. i would like to take full advantage of chicago's system. Were a caucasion family and though i dont mind divircity, i just don't want to be in an area that is declining. I've seen first hand what happens to a city when divercity goes overboard. we would like to stay somplace that will continue to be the way it is, and has been for many years. and yes i can google places myself and wiki the census, but that doesnt give me a clear answer on a town like residents can. thank you, i hope to be a part of your community soon!

YAAAA, you don't want to live around the Ford Plant here if you're white and you mean the plant in Ford Heights lol. Sorry and I know it sounds racist, but I'll just say it like it is, your ***** 'll get shot near there of course I'm be faucetious but by any means, it's a horrible area. Now Homewood/Flossmoor is nice, but again you mentioned declining. H/F is not declining, but it is becoming more and more like a "white island" over there and the areas near there (Chicago Heights, C.C. Hills, Lynwood, Lansing, etc.) are sketchy and you said you like diverse which is great, but 65%-80% black is not diverse... sorry, so hope that gives you an idea of what it is like there. You mention little kids and wanting to walk around at night and 24 hours type of atmosphere. Homewood/Flossmoor is very nice, but tends to be an older crowd (ALOT of retirees and empty nesters) and much of the town closes after 9PM. Of course this is the case in most of the burbs around Chicago. Check out the towns west of Central from Rte 30 north to 159th or west of Pulaski if you are north of 159th Street. Not saying don't look at H/F, by all means check it out they are nice, but the trend for the white folks is to keep moving west all the time in the south burbs.

[chet everett]

Tough choices. The reality is that wages in the remnants of Chicago's manufacturing belt simply will not go far in the City or nearby desirable areas...

NOTE: NYRules is not correct about safety issues near the plant -- the area is QUIET and very safe. The rough areas are far away from the plant, and are towns that really have no jobs! The stereo types of those areas being some sort of war zone are simply not borne out by crime stats. There are lots of down and folks in some of the towns that formerly did rely on manufacturing jobs, but crime is far worse in the pockets of Chicago where the haves and have nots are in closer proximity.


Towns like Oak Lawn do have spots where you can rely on the Public Transit, but odds are a car would cut commute time by half... The Hegwisch neighborhood in the City was once home to lots of manufacturing workers, but the schools are a big reason that folks have moved further away. Family oriented shopping and entertainment is better too...

NW Indiana would a possibility, but even less transit options. Housing costs are probably lower. Might have better access to Mejier stores too...

Sounds like Ford is committed to their investment in the South Chicago Assembly Plant, but the lack of focus on making manufacturing a priority politically means that there is little respect given to the area by the mayor or other pols -- schools are far better in more white collar areas, shop
Ing options are very different, even the maintenance issues are not fair.

I really cannot recommend looking to Chicago, and frankly the trade off in even the nicest of NW Indiana towns compared to some of the more white collar oriented 'burbs might make me think twice if I could locate to an area where the pols really do seem to have appropriate concern / commitment to manufacturing jobs & the family issues that go along...

[chet everett]

If the transfer is like it was not too long ago the options are generally laid out so that plants that need workers with the skills do allow for some flexibility. Ford has sites in several states, and the combination of lower housing costs and a more equitable focus on the importance of manufacturing is something to weigh in the decision...

[slow_nerve_action]

Originally Posted by Shad3E

Were a caucasion family and though i dont mind divircity, i just don't want to be in an area that is declining. I've seen first hand what happens to a city when divercity goes overboard.

Yes, usually the schools are first to go.........

For $1,100, I'd recommend Highland, Dyer, and Schererville in Indiana. You'll find a lot of people that work at the Ford plant in those towns, and folks you will have things in common with. Munster is nice, but you won't find rentals in that price range. Public transit sucks across the NWI region (people there are dead set against it), but the South Shore train makes for nice weekend trips into Chicago.

As a former Michigan resident raised on Angelo's in Flint, Its hard to get decent coneys around there. The best hot dogs are Boz, but you'll find 24 hour fast food up and down Indianapolis Blvd.

Good luck.

[Drover]

Dyer or Munster for schools. If not for that, I'd say Hegewisch because your $1,100 would go further. As it stands it won't go nearly as far as it does in your current location.

[HumboldtParkShiner]

I hope you don't mean Ford Heights. Ford Heights is a rural ghetto suburb- the poorest in Cook County and one of the poorest in the nation. It reminds of me of some hood you'd find in Memphis/Mississippi, like something from Hustle and Flow. I used to do deliveries down there from a warehouse in the city. It's like one or two shack houses here and there in the middle of a field or forest, with some rusted caddillac parked out in the driveway fitted with 24" rims. Rinse and repeat for a couple miles, maybe throw in some low rise projects into the mix, and you have the great town of Ford Heights.

[HermanVillage]

Originally Posted by NYrules

YAAAA, you don't want to live around the Ford Plant here if you're white and you mean the plant in Ford Heights lol. Sorry and I know it sounds racist, but I'll just say it like it is, your ***** 'll get shot near there of course I'm be faucetious but by any means, it's a horrible area. Now Homewood/Flossmoor is nice, but again you mentioned declining. H/F is not declining, but it is becoming more and more like a "white island" over there and the areas near there (Chicago Heights, C.C. Hills, Lynwood, Lansing, etc.) are sketchy and you said you like diverse which is great, but 65%-80% black is not diverse... sorry, so hope that gives you an idea of what it is like there. You mention little kids and wanting to walk around at night and 24 hours type of atmosphere. Homewood/Flossmoor is very nice, but tends to be an older crowd (ALOT of retirees and empty nesters) and much of the town closes after 9PM. Of course this is the case in most of the burbs around Chicago. Check out the towns west of Central from Rte 30 north to 159th or west of Pulaski if you are north of 159th Street. Not saying don't look at H/F, by all means check it out they are nice, but the trend for the white folks is to keep moving west all the time in the south burbs.

Country Club Hills really went down the tubes fast!
Country Club Hills, Illinois - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Davante]

So if I move to South Chicago, you telling me that I'll be safe? mmmmm? I don't know.

[JBVirtuoso]

^I don't think anyone made any blanket statements about South Chicago being safe. A lot of the areas in question here are suburbs, and the Hegewisch neighborhood on the far southeast side of Chicago.