Chicagoland's view of NW Indiana (Naperville, Orland Park: school, to live, shop)

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by RamenAddict

I moved from one of those other states, Florida, and it is no panacea. Every state has its pluses and minuses. People would be on those boards complaining it was too hot and humid. There were too many bugs and snakes and wild animals. The schools were poor. You had to pay a ton for various types of insurance. There were lots of natural disasters. The list goes on.

CGab comes onto most of the suburban threads on the S/SW side and tries to convince people to move to NWI. If they wanted to move there, they would have asked.

You realize this thread is about Chicago's view of the region? The poster in question is not going out of their way to bring up NWI ;it is the topic at hand.

[Daze55]

Originally Posted by BRU67

I was thinking that too. I believe this poster mentioned that he/she was from Plainfield, which leads me to believe they may have originated from Berwyn or Cicero? The tone and attitude sounds very familiar to me, having lived in Berwyn post white flight. The former residents were always trying to tell us how crappy things were in our community and how great things were out in the far western exburbs where they went. Looks like they may have had to pick up and go further.

Anyway, we'll see how they feel once poor people from the south side and south suburbs start moving there in larger numbers. I can almost guarantee that will occur as taxes increase in IL and Chicago and more vulnerable families seek out cheaper living. That is going to be interesting to see, though I have a good feeling what the result is going to be.

I'm not too worried about people coming in droves from the south suburbs. Most of the people I know from the south suburbs would rather kill themselves than move to Indiana. Someone I know currently from Dolton is looking at houses in the Country Club Hills area where the taxes are outrageous for lackluster schools rather than moving over the border and saving thousands in taxes. They hate Indiana so much, even though they do most of their shopping here lol! But when people do move out of the south suburbs, it seems to be more common for them to leave for southern states than Indiana, where the cost of living is even cheaper. But even if people from the south suburbs were to start moving here in mass droves, they would probably choose the cheaper towns such as Merrillville, Hammond, etc., which already aren't the nicest anyway. Housing costs in the nice NWI suburbs are much more than most of the south suburbs, even though the taxes are much cheaper. But only time will tell what will come of the south suburbs/NW Indiana.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Daze55

Housing costs in the nice NWI suburbs are much more than most of the south suburbs, even though the taxes are much cheaper. But only time will tell what will come of the south suburbs/NW Indiana.

That seems to fly in the face of the premise that NWI is a cheap place to live with minimal taxes. If you consider the high taxes in places like Country Club Hills, NWI might offer a wash or better deal, even in the more expensive areas. Just because people are poor does not mean that they are stupid.
It also doesn't mean that you will escape subsidized housing requirements imposed by the federal government.

I don't understand why people living in violent communities in the City are going to have some kind of loyalty to IL, but be willing to go all the way down south into heat and hurricane country when they do decide to go.

I dont know. I have no particular dislike for NWI but this seems kind of like a bendy justification for things remaining the way they are. I'm not sure that's going to occur. I hope if it does, you can embrace the diversity!

[Daze55]

Originally Posted by BRU67

That seems to fly in the face of the premise that NWI is a cheap place to live with minimal taxes. If you consider the high taxes in places like Country Club Hills, NWI might offer a wash or better deal, even in the more expensive areas. Just because people are poor does not mean that they are stupid.
It also doesn't mean that you will escape subsidized housing requirements imposed by the federal government.

I don't understand why people living in violent communities in the City are going to have some kind of loyalty to IL, but be willing to go all the way down south into heat and hurricane country when they do decide to go.

I dont know. I have no particular dislike for NWI but this seems kind of like a bendy justification for things remaining the way they are. I'm not sure that's going to occur. I hope if it does, you can embrace the diversity!

The nice Northwest Indiana towns are an alternative to the southWEST suburbs, not the south suburbs. Towns like Munster and Saint John are a great deal when compared to Orland Park, Frankfort, etc. in terms of similar housing stock and prices but significantly lower taxes. Country Club Hills, Matteson, etc. are similar to towns such as Merrillville and Hammond. Everyone I know from the south side thinks Indiana is kkk land full of racists and republicans, even though racists and republicans are everywhere (including many illinois towns). The people I talk to like the south because it offers ridiculously cheap housing and there are actually nice towns down that have a fair amount of people of color. In Chicagoland it seems to be that flossmoor is the only place that has a high concentration of black people that is a somewhat decent area. Also I've never heard of the federal government giving people money to rent $3-400,000 homes like the ones in my neighborhood but whatever. Crown point I can imagine poor people moving there as there is a lot of cheap housing stock there, but Munster, Saint John, Schererville don't have cheap enough housing to support a mass influx of people on welfare. Also I don't have anything against diversity as long as they are decent people, just saying that I don't see some max influx of south suburbanites fleeing to Northwest Indiana.

[WildWestDude]

Originally Posted by Daze55

. Also I don't have anything against diversity as long as they are decent people, just saying that I don't see some max influx of south suburbanites fleeing to Northwest Indiana.

yes me neither. Lots of other places for them to choose from and with that train of thought Chicago and most of it's suburbs would have been going through more changes already

[CGab]

Originally Posted by Daze55

The nice Northwest Indiana towns are an alternative to the southWEST suburbs, not the south suburbs. Towns like Munster and Saint John are a great deal when compared to Orland Park, Frankfort, etc. in terms of similar housing stock and prices but significantly lower taxes. Country Club Hills, Matteson, etc. are similar to towns such as Merrillville and Hammond. Everyone I know from the south side thinks Indiana is kkk land full of racists and republicans, even though racists and republicans are everywhere (including many illinois towns). The people I talk to like the south because it offers ridiculously cheap housing and there are actually nice towns down that have a fair amount of people of color. In Chicagoland it seems to be that flossmoor is the only place that has a high concentration of black people that is a somewhat decent area. Also I've never heard of the federal government giving people money to rent $3-400,000 homes like the ones in my neighborhood but whatever. Crown point I can imagine poor people moving there as there is a lot of cheap housing stock there, but Munster, Saint John, Schererville don't have cheap enough housing to support a mass influx of people on welfare. Also I don't have anything against diversity as long as they are decent people, just saying that I don't see some max influx of south suburbanites fleeing to Northwest Indiana.

Totally agree with the above! My newest neighbor is from Naperville! More and more people are moving here from the SW suburbs of Chicago than the South suburbs!

[EddieOlSkool]

Originally Posted by CGab

Totally agree with the above! My newest neighbor is from Naperville! More and more people are moving here from the SW suburbs of Chicago than the South suburbs!

Naperville is technically a West suburb.

[CGab]

Originally Posted by EddieOlSkool

Naperville is technically a West suburb.

My point was more people are moving to NWI from towns in Illinois OTHER than the South suburbs. Even people from Naperville!

[Logic87]

I thought about moving to Munster and did some research online on the housing inventory but I drove into Munster on my way back from Michigan last month and I was surprised how run down the areas west of Munster were. Once we got into Munster it was fine but it doesn't really compare to most Suburbs in Chicago.

To be fair I didn't spend much time in Munster and only went into a Chipotle near some shopping plaza and drove through some streets that were nice with tree lined streets and English tudor homes but then other streets lacked that charm and looked ok.. Maybe the newer communities are better with cookie cutter McMansions and maybe that's where the value is (i.e. People looking for newer suburbs with good schools and lower taxes.) But I prefer older looking neighborhoods with different looking homes and tree lined streets and the are in Munster that offered this is near areas that aren't the greatest.

[RamenAddict]

Originally Posted by WildWestDude

yes me neither. Lots of other places for them to choose from and with that train of thought Chicago and most of it's suburbs would have been going through more changes already

The main issue with NWI is that the commute to Chicago is atrocious. With most of the IL suburbs, you have close access to the Metra, which is not convenient to most of the better NWI suburbs. Who wants to have to drive 35 miles to Chicago every day? For many, access to good public transport or a better commute is worth giving up some money in housing because you are gaining time and probably money you do not have to spend parking downtown and on gas/tolls. Sure you have to pay for the metra, but it is cheaper than driving.