West / SouthWest Suburbs

[fusillirob1983]

Originally Posted by doodlemagic

I love all of those areas, the only comment I would make is Beverly is IMHO a bit different from the rest. If you have kids Beverly may be slightly less attractive. I say that because most of my friends from Beverly all went to catholic school which is an additional cost and because Beverly is surrounded by some sketchiness in your teen years it's much easier to get into some trouble.

I'll respectfully disagree with the sketchy areas surrounding making it easier to get into trouble, having grown up nearby. The teenagers, especially those who regularly attend Catholic schools tend to hang out with other Catholic school kids from Beverly, Mt. Greenwood and SW suburbs stretching out to Orland/Tinley.

Proximity hasn't prevented the kids attending public high schools in DuPage County from having a heroine problem. It's probably worse than the drinking Keystone Light in public parks/someone's garage problem on the South Side.

I agree about the cost though. It wouldn't make sense because living there, you'd probably want to send your kids to Catholic schools. They're getting exponentially more expensive too unless your kid excels at a certain sport, except Marist, which is slowed the enrollment bleeding years ago by going co-ed.

[mrk00]

Update from OP:

- We really liked the feel of Beverly but found that the houses were 100 years old which made us nervous even after a remodel.
- We liked Palos Park and Palos Heights alot (also Burr Ridge and Hickory Hills) as they have a ton of trees and great lots, however, the houses in our price range were a bit more dated.

Ultimately we decided at this point in our life we didn't have a ton of time to dedicate to maintaining or updating an older home. We ended up finding a newer home in Oak Lawn that we really liked and are now under contract there. Our yard doesn't has many trees as I would have liked but there are definitely trees in the neighborhood and tons of amenities close by. Commute is about 30 mins to the university or downtown (easy train access to downtown) up to 45/50 mins in traffic.

Hope our thought process helps anyone else who is looking in these areas

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by mrk00

Update from OP:

- We really liked the feel of Beverly but found that the houses were 100 years old which made us nervous even after a remodel.
- We liked Palos Park and Palos Heights alot (also Burr Ridge and Hickory Hills) as they have a ton of trees and great lots, however, the houses in our price range were a bit more dated.

Ultimately we decided at this point in our life we didn't have a ton of time to dedicate to maintaining or updating an older home. We ended up finding a newer home in Oak Lawn that we really liked and are now under contract there. Our yard doesn't has many trees as I would have liked but there are definitely trees in the neighborhood and tons of amenities close by. Commute is about 30 mins to the university or downtown (easy train access to downtown) up to 45/50 mins in traffic.

Hope our thought process helps anyone else who is looking in these areas

Years ago there was a pretty solid contingent of physicians and attorneys in the nice parts of Oak Lawn, probably even some who either graduated from or taught at UofC. Over the years the way that health care firms have hunkered down into "brands" made it more of a challenge for physicians to be on staff at hospitals in competing organizations and that really impacted physicians who liked to see some patients in Oak Lawn or Evergreen Park and still have privileges at UofC Medical Center. Population shifts in the communities served by D218 and D229 have not been positives for the area either.



That said I know there are some well built homes at attractive price points in Oak Lawn that should also make for a manageable commute to UofC that gives you good options. https://www.redfin.com/IL/Oak-Lawn/5...home/101740437



It would be wise to keep a close watch on trends in property taxes, that has proven to an on-going challenge -- https://www.chicagotribune.com/subur...213-story.html https://www.chicagotribune.com/subur...722-story.html

[fusillirob1983]

Good choice given your commuting needs. It's a bit underrated by many on this board. The downtown area near the Metra station is pretty nice, but not as quaint as other suburbs as 95th Street is 3 lanes in each direction, but it has restaurants, bars, a library, the train station and grocery store (not a chain, but you're not far from a Jewel, Mariano's, etc.).

There's been a fair amount of teardowns and a couple areas of new homes in the last 10-15 years there, though typically not near the center of town, but it's a very safe town with lots of retail nearby and close to the city. Bonus - it's also near some of the best pizza places in the Chicago area.