Questions about Maywood? (Cicero, Berwyn, Franklin Park: section 8, apartment, renter)

[Bunch]

I read threads about Maywood here and they are not at all positive but many of them are from years ago. I'm looking to buy a property on 1900 block of S 7th st. I went yesterday to see the place and we really liked it and the area didnt look run down or anything, to the contrary at least that street was mostly well kept single family homes. Any hints about how that area is would be helpful.

[chet everett]

If your goal is to maybe have a section 8 rental and the price is so low that losses are not going to effect you I suppose there are less interesting ways to waste money...

Realistically there is little reason to believe that things will do other continue their multi-decade decline...

There are lots of folks trying "sell a dream" to flippers and inexperienced investors.

[HarmanFox]

Maywood was been in decline ever since forced integration took place in that area for 40 years ago.

[Hatchetman]

I dunno. I travel through the area and it seems to be pretty stable. I don't see why it would get any worse. Rental rates are high and rising so that would likely keep property values decent. Depends on your tolerance for poor schools and governmental incompetence/corruption. Quick commute to the city. I've lived in a lot scarier areas than that, but then I didn't have kids at the time.

[BRU67]

It's not that I'm not pulling for Maywood to get better but unless your housing budget is about 30 grand or so, you could do a lot better than Maywood. There are other choices out there which offer much better value and are a whole lot safer -- Broadview, North Riverside, Berwyn, Stickney, Lyons, etc.

And even if I wanted dirt cheap, I'd invest in Cicero before Maywood. Less crime, better housing stock, and much closer to the City.

[chet everett]

There is a whole swath of the close to the city suburbs that have very little going for 'em -- once upon a time there were decent jobs in places like Northlake and Franklin Park and other towns. As the various challenges of taxation / workforce quality / migration shifting business needs have decimated the financial base of these places AND the poltical leadership has been inept / corrupt the fates of some towns looks horrible...

There are places that do have more "going for em" as Bru points out, and I agree that towns like Berwyn with good rail service to the Loop and a pretty well located hospital are lots better off than places that are more transportation challenged...

I am not a huge fan of the kinds of huckersters that have run Rosemont but they have effectively capitalized on their location near O'Hare / the expressways and are probably ahead of the curve for the region with regard to getting developers to build the kind "life style" places that with their nightspots, shopping and such are probably going to be appealing to the growing numbers of adults w/o children -- either married or single, working or retired there are going to be LOTS of people that fit that category...

These "sink hole" type towns are not just the older inner burbs too -- there are few in DuPage Co that I would avoid, as well as Lake Co and the fringes of Cook and the other collar counties too. In general, if they do not have some solid local employment base and/ or access to the Loop via good Metra service they need to really start thinking about what sorts of people are going to be able to support the high taxes and such that are pretty much inevitable as escalating problems with the state (it ain't just pensions...) squeeze the local units of government...

[BRU67]

Good point Chet, definitely make public transportation a criteria when choosing a suburb. I wouldn't buy in a community that didn't have at least one commuter train line that led into a major job center (i.e. the Loop), or easy access to such a train line in a neighboring town. I think that's going to become more and more important. The future of remote car dependent suburbs isn't as bright as it once was.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by BRU67

Good point Chet, definitely make public transportation a criteria when choosing a suburb. I wouldn't buy in a community that didn't have at least one commuter train line that led into a major job center (i.e. the Loop), or easy access to such a train line in a neighboring town. I think that's going to become more and more important. The future of remote car dependent suburbs isn't as bright as it once was.

The have many been shifts over the years in what forces pushed people to the 'burbs and what has "pulled" folks back into some areas. In the post WWII housing boom affluence was symbolized by a house of one's own (as opposed to being a renter in an apartment). In the late 60s urban unrest was a force that pushed people to "safer" suburban areas. The combined effect of "affluence" & "safety" are sort of embodied by developments that lavish large amounts of "open space" behind "gated communities" . Over the last decade or more that has been out of fashion in the region (and mostly nationally...) with a desire to have "real communitiies" that reflect traditional lay-outs and roles. It is my beleif that part of our "everywhere is virtual" communication infrastructure has oddly fostered this return to tradtional patterns as it helps to delinate "space" between work life and recreation / family life for a whole lot people across many age ranges -- younger people that have contempt for the values of their parents, workers that feel put upon by the 24x7 demands of constantly connected markets, older folks that feel marginalized online, etc...

While the work place grows more "high tech" there is desire for home to be more "high touch" -- casually bumping into neighbors on the way back from transit, sharing a "Cheers" type barstool to watch one's favorite sports team, living a Lena Dunham life are part of the appeal of places city or suburb that harder to see one's self doing in areas where the housing stock has an overly "utilitarian" quality to it. Beyond that the association of dysfunction / decay / crime / violence that one sees in programs like "The Wire" is something that points to the sort of rogue individualism that is more likely to be "tearer down" of place / institutions than a "builder up"...

[Midwest Revival]

Maywood is 50/50...Not the safest of places if your moving with kids

[kp21]

I am thinking of moving to Maywood as they do have a metra service and it is extremely close to the city and my work place in the west loop. Any other thoughts or what has already been said pretty much sum it up?