How's Homewood? (Chicago, Schaumburg, Flossmoor: crime, how much, homes)

[tahoeman101]

My wife and I are 32 and 28 respectively looking for a nice home in ANY Chicago suburb. We want to be in an area that is very close to Metra, but still in a nice neighborhood that offers some privacy. We are looking for 3br home and lower taxes. Not sure if lower taxes is a term in IL!!! But nevertheless, taxes less than $6k a year and we noticed many homes popping up in Homewood on our searches. Would this be a good place to look? Safe?

Any feedback would be appreciated! Thank you.

[urza216]

Homewood is a middle class to upper middle class suburb. It borders Flossmoor which is even more affluent. It is an integrated area with lots of black people and lots of white people. Crime is low. The public high school (H-F High School) is award-winning. Metra is local. If you can afford it, moving to Homewood is a great idea.

[allen2323]

Originally Posted by urza216

Homewood is a middle class to upper middle class suburb. It borders Flossmoor which is even more affluent. It is an integrated area with lots of black people and lots of white people. Crime is low. The public high school (H-F High School) is award-winning. Metra is local. If you can afford it, moving to Homewood is a great idea.

I agree with everything urza said, it's a wonderful area. I live in olympia fields which is on the other side of flossmoor and fully enjoy the area. Homewood has a vibrant walkable downtown area, with bar and grills, cafes, restaurants, shops, clothing boutiques, starbucks coffee, taverns, etc. There are several parts of homewood where the property taxes are reasonable (under 6k a year) and you will find lots of young families like yourself living in those areas. Although, homewood also has several areas where homes are more pricey and the property taxes are much higher. Homewood is a successfully integrated middle class to upper middle class community where you will find residents of different races taking pride in where they live. I would suggest checking out the different residential areas in homewood to see them for yourself and then check out the downtown area and having lunch or dinner at one of the local places. You will get a good feel of the area that way.

[mommy2010]

I have lived in Homewood for the past 5 years. Yes it's a nice, quaint town, we love that we can walk to Walt's or the train to hop downtown. But, now that we have kids, we are looking to move before they are in school. The schools aren't what they used to be and the high school isn't as blue ribbon as it once was. I can honestly say crime has gone up over the past 5 years. Yes the police force seems up to par, but I am very worried about the surrounding areas that are crime ridden...it's seeping into our nice sweet town. So I would say if you don't have children to raise, your money will go far here....check out Third Addition, nice older homes (you wanna buy my house? haha). If you do have children to raise, I'd seriously look elsewhere.

[Humboldt1]

When the schools start to go everything else soon follows.

Is it fair to say that Homewood is not as nice as it was 10 years ago? If so, why would anyone want to move into an area on the decline? I feel the same about Schaumburg, btw.

[allen2323]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

When the schools start to go everything else soon follows.

Is it fair to say that Homewood is not as nice as it was 10 years ago? If so, why would anyone want to move into an area on the decline? I feel the same about Schaumburg, btw.

First of all, homewood is way nicer than it was 10, or definitely 15 years ago. More retail, more upscale residential fill in, a better downtown with more boutiques and restaurants. All of the retail along halsted wasn't there 10 years ago. The bestbuy, bed bath n beyond, officemax, kinkos, more banks, etc, 3 starbucks coffee's in homewood. I think those who feel the area has declined WHO ACTUALLY LIVE IN THE AREA are in a very small minority . But, of course you can't talk about negative outside opinions about the area without mentioning the obvious reason why some have an unjust negative view of the area, and that is race. Many people in the chicagoland suburbs prefer to live in racially segregated suburbs. And, will go to great lengths to achieve this. Moving to far rural suburbs in will county and in indiana, and belittling those whites who choose not to follow them out there, with things like the education is so much better in indiana or will county. Contrary to popular belief most whites who live in the area enjoy living there as much as the african americans living there do. In fact, there has been a noticeable influx of young white families with children moving to homewood, particularly around the residential areas of downtown homewood. I think you will find that most whites as well as african americans who live in the area consider it to be a successfully integrated community. The public schools rank among the other top public schools in the southern or southwestern region of chicago. The choices in award winning private schools in the area are second to none in the southern or southwestern region of chicago.

[ImaloneJill]

Downtown Homewood is charming.

[Chicagoland60426]

Homewood is a good place to raise a family. H-f ACT scores were better, but it still a good high school. If the people of Homewood-Flossmoor want their communities to stay above satisfactory, the last thing you want to do is discourage middle class people from moving in.

[Humboldt1]

Please explain why test scores decline as african american population increases in areas such as Flossmor, regardless of how much money or education the incoming black parents have. I am not race baiting. I genuinely want to know why as a whole white kids do better scholastically even when you account for socio-economic factors.

I continue to believe that areas are only as good as their schools and not everyone can go to private school to avoid the issue.

[allen2323]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

Please explain why test scores decline as african american population increases in areas such as Flossmor, regardless of how much money or education the incoming black parents have. I am not race baiting. I genuinely want to know why as a whole white kids do better scholastically even when you account for socio-economic factors.

I continue to believe that areas are only as good as their schools and not everyone can go to private school to avoid the issue.

I think your statement is just flat out false. The fact is homewood-flossmoor is a great public high school with very competitive test scores. If you prefer an almost all white racially segregated learning environment that is fine and is totally your business. But, don't belittle other middle class, affluent, and educated whites and african americans who might want something different. What about stagg high school in palos hills? Stagg high school is almost 90 percent white. Homewood-flossmoor's median act test scores are higher than staggs. What about Tinley park high school? How come tinley park high schools act test are so much lower than homewood-flossmoors? What about the mediocre at best plainfield public high schools that you can't even compare to a public high school like homewood-flossmoor?

And the award winning private schools in the area are in fact second to none in the southwestern and southern suburbs. You cannot get a complete picture of the areas educational assets without taking into account the award winning elementary, middle, and secondary private schools since they are so heavily attended, and you can find one of them on literally every corner that you look out here. The private schools out number the public schools out here, and this is not a recent phenomenon as most of them have been established just as long if not longer than the public schools. With an $8,000 per year tuition price, Marian catholic is the same size as most public high schools (over 1500 students). Marian catholic is also a successfully integrated private institution with a 30 percent african american student body. The fact of the matter is you will find great schools in the area, but if you are looking for an all white racially segregated school in this area you won't find one. And, you won't have a hard time finding that anyway in chicago's mostly segregated suburban landscape.