Old Irving Park Area...A few questions... (prices, winter)

[MigsHiggins]

Originally Posted by Drover

"Really cheap" of course is relative. You should be able to find a spot in a garage for about $75/mo. It may sound steep but there are parts of this city where it easily exceeds three times that amount. It's also worthwhile because unless it's a G35x, you may have a hell of a time getting in and out of street-parking spots come winter time. Even with FWD I've struggled a bit with street parking this year.

Already had that happen to me twice out that way!

[Drover]

So MigsHiggins, have you made a decision yet or are you still looking around?

[HockeyFan]

Thinking about a place in Old Irving Park. House is nice, but the area's pretty quiet. I'd prefer more bars, stores, etc. in walking range, but it seems like the area is on the way up. How is the area viewed by locals? Is it safe, not only in the immediate area, but in surrounding areas? Is it a bit of an island, it seems housing stock is quite a bit nicer than in the other directions. Is there good potential for the are to become more busy and vibrant, more businesses, or do people move there because they prefer quiet?will I find any other 20s and 30s singles who like hockey?

Thanks!

[Drover]

Old Irving Park (and Irving Park in general) is probably one of the most overlooked parts of the city, especially considering its extremely convenient transit access. While there are some signs of health and vitality, a quick drive down Irving Park and, to a lesser extent, Pulaski, reveals there are an awful lot of vacant storefronts. There was some condo building going on, but it wasn't at a particularly brisk pace even before the credit and real estate markets collapsed. It's not really much of an island; the only notable some trouble nearby is to the south (Avondale), and even then it's not too bad along the Pulaski corridor until you get down to about Belmont. The bar scene is sporadic at best, and it tends to be highly old-school/locals/neighborhood-oriented. A lot of 'em are so old-school that they only take cash. You're not going to find many 20s and 30s in the area, unless maybe you count those who speak primarily Spanish. I don't think they're very big hockey fans.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by HockeyFan

Thinking about a place in Old Irving Park. House is nice, but the area's pretty quiet...

Oh nevermind.

[ajnpu23]

Hi,

I am in a marketing research class and one of our projects is to do a community research project and I was assigned the community of Old Irving Park. I have been in the area, but would like to get some personal views and opinions on what it is like to live in that area. I'm mainly looking for what the people are like in that area.
What is the atmosphere of the community, are people friendly, family-oriented, outgoing, etc? Are there a lot of children in the area? What are families like? Do both parents have a career? Is it a safe neighborhood? Those kind of questions. If you could let me know, that would be great.

Thank you!

[HockeyFan]

I came remarkably close to buying a house there a few months ago. I don't live in Chicago currently but I can give you my observations after spending a lot of time there.

Yes, it is a safe neighborhood. To me, one of the safer feeling neighborhoods in Chicago. Things change as you go south a ways. People... there is a strong presence of Polish people in the area, which gets even stronger to the west. The European influence can be felt with some of the newer architecture and in places like coffee shops, which are busy, social, and play a significant role in interaction. There is also a Mexican and Central American presence in the area, probably less so than just to the east, but that adds more to the diverse culture.

On the border of Old Irving Park and Portage Park is a large Sears and Jewel Osco. They are always busy -- the Sears is a large historic building and quite entertaining to explore!

[windy123]

I've lived in the northeast part of old irving park for over 4 years. It is definitely not a "cool" nighborhood. But I would say it is a fairly nice neighborhood. The housing stock is mixed but there are some georgous streets lines with million dollor victorian homes and other streets with larger apartment buildings mixed with two flats and houses. I do feel people move here because they want a bedroom community, not an active community to enjoy nightlife and what not. But it is easy to get most places from here either using the freeway, metra, or CTA. There are not many cool restaurants or stores. There are basic things that will suite your shopping needs. There definitely is that local feel. It is like a handful of immigrants, a handful of decidedly midwestern people who seem like they used to live here when it was farm land and the city just came and took over their land, a handful of young professional married or with familes. I don't see any singles/young people scene. Lots of families and older people. It seems mostly caucasion either american or eastern european immigrants. There is a large mosque in my area so you also see many Muslims mostly from arab descent, some from somlia or south asia. My immediate neighborhood also host two korean churches, a spanish speaking church, and a greek orthidox church. I find it a bit curious since there really seems to be no asian presence outside of the church members and a very small hispanic presence. Very, very few african americans. However there is a well to do inter-racial couple (african and europen descent) on my block who seem to have a very friendly relationship with the neighbors. So its not to say the neighborhood isn't welcome to diversity. I have never felt unsafe here. There is a drug dealer living in a building one block from me but that is the only building to avoid. Never had any real problems resulting except some vandalism to cars and I did hear of a case of some teenage boys getting beat up, but that's it.

So in short Old Irving Park is nice, safe, family oriented, boring, basic, conveinant to transportation and easy to find parking.

[ajnpu23]

Thanks HockeyFan and Windy123 for your help. I appreciate it!

[Hatchetman]

After a brief search it appears single family homes in Old Irving Park start at around $500,000 and quickly escalate. Is that correct? I'd love to live there, but I can't afford that plus Catholic schools.