Beverly Boomerang Effect (Chicago, Washington, Washington Park: real estate, houses, neighborhoods)

[NSH]

Great article for those unfamiliar with "The Village in the City" on the south side
Enjoy!
Boomerang Beverly: They always come back :: CHICAGO SUN-TIMES :: Real Estate and Homelife

[eljaykay]

Hi -
Thanks for the post!
I live closer to Chicago State and was shocked to drive down 103rd...and found Beverly - you can practically SEE the racial dividing line: scary. But, I'll definitely be going for some bike rides to peruse the properties for fun!

El

[ManheimMadman]

Hi all, it's my first post!

My fiance and I are looking to buy within the next 9 months, and we really, really like Beverly. I've had the chance to do some driving around the neighborhood to get a good feel for it. However, I have some questions.

What's with the sudden change from Beverly to Washington Park when you cross over Beverly/Vincennes? You cross four lanes, and the scenery completely changes! Also, I was near 105th heading eastbound, and I *did* happen to notice that there was a racial divide, like the previous poster mentioned. Why is this? Lots of folks were getting in and out of their cars (lunch break, home early?) and these were well dressed black folks, living in nicely taken care of houses with nice looking lawns. What's to fear?

Also, what is considered the "heart of Beverly?" I can only assume near 95th and Western near "The Plaza", because it seems so busy with a bunch of hustle and bustle, but please enlighten me. Otherwise, I loved the abundance of trees and the family atmosphere. Anything bad to say about this 'hood?

[Drover]

The change of scenery is mostly due to this: Washington Park is a sucky neighborhood and Beverly is not. Something you'll find out about Chicago is that neighborhoods can change very very quickly, sometimes within the space of a few blocks. This is particularly true when there is a physical barrier between them that makes travel from one to the other more difficult, in this case being a railroad line. The scenery difference is a little less cut-and-dry if you get off the main drags through Washington Park and check out the residential side streets. They tend to look a lot nicer than the main roads, though the houses are a little more modest than east Beverly. But make no mistake, Washington Park is pretty rough around the edges.

As for the racial divide, black and (other) just don't mingle well in this town. Whole theses can be and have been written on why that is. I'm sure people will eagerly point out the exceptions (east Beverly being one of them), but those exceptions are generally small slivers of transition on the border between otherwise homogenous neighborhoods.

[ManheimMadman]

Drover,

Thanks for the input. I've been reading up on Beverly, and there doesn't seem to be much to hate about it. Can you tell me what the "heart of Beverly" is?

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Drover

The change of scenery is mostly due to this: Washington Park is a sucky neighborhood and Beverly is not. Something you'll find out about Chicago is that neighborhoods can change very very quickly, sometimes within the space of a few blocks. This is particularly true when there is a physical barrier between them that makes travel from one to the other more difficult, in this case being a railroad line. The scenery difference is a little less cut-and-dry if you get off the main drags through Washington Park and check out the residential side streets. They tend to look a lot nicer than the main roads, though the houses are a little more modest than east Beverly. But make no mistake, Washington Park is pretty rough around the edges.

As for the racial divide, black and (other) just don't mingle well in this town. Whole theses can be and have been written on why that is. I'm sure people will eagerly point out the exceptions (east Beverly being one of them), but those exceptions are generally small slivers of transition on the border between otherwise homogenous neighborhoods.

Drover -- Do you mean Washington Park or Washington Heights? Washington Heights borders Beverly to the east and definitely manifests the traits you describe; i.e. the main drag on 95th looks high ghetto but if you venture onto the side streets, there are many well-kept bungalows (though many run down ones sprinkled in there too -- it's interesting to see). Washington Park, on the other hand, is pretty far northeast of Beverly (Garfield and MLK Drive-ish)

[Drover]

I mean whichever borders Beverly to the east.

ManheimMadam: I'm afraid I don't know what "Heart of Beverly" refers to.

[ManheimMadman]

Originally Posted by Drover

I mean whichever borders Beverly to the east.

ManheimMadam: I'm afraid I don't know what "Heart of Beverly" refers to.

It's madman, not madam.

I apologize for the confusion. In my original post I put Washington Park instead of Washington Heights.

Also, when you spoke of a physical barriers such as a railroad making things more difficult, did you mean that neighborhood would be less impervious to racial mingling?

[Drover]

Originally Posted by ManheimMadman

It's madman, not madam.

I apologize for the confusion. In my original post I put Washington Park instead of Washington Heights.

Also, when you spoke of a physical barriers such as a railroad making things more difficult, did you mean that neighborhood would be less impervious to racial mingling?

More like less impervious to sliding downhill. The racial mingling part has already happened on the east side of Beverly. That process started decades ago.

[ManheimMadman]

When considering the relative safety of Beverly, I wonder about the stats of robbery I have found using EveryBlock(Chicago) and the Police beat link that is seen around here.

There seem to be quite a few attempted robberies and armed robberies with a handgun. Am I missing something, or is there something strange to think about when it's someone getting robbed at gunpoint @ 95th and Claremont at 2 in the afternoon? Granted, it's not residential...but who wants to be going for a stroll and get robbed?