Is Berwyn a safe town to live in? (Elmhurst, Brookfield: apartment, renting)

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

But without looking at race, how do we judge "turnover" in a town like Oak Park? I think its population has been stable for the recent past, but for all the years I lived there (and since I've left) the local papers are FULL of real estate ads. It's never difficult to find a house in Oak Park - which implies to me that there is a significant amount of "movement" happening in that town.

So it may be obvious due to race that Berwyn has completely turned over, but maybe Oak Park has as well, and it's just not obvious.

It is interesting to compare the the two communities through the 2000 Census, the decade after Berwyn saw the big change in racial demographic numbers.

YEAR HOUSEHOLDER MOVED INTO UNIT

Oak Park

1999 to 2000 5,139 22.3
1995 to 1998 7,579 32.8
1990 to 1994 3,611 15.6
1980 to 1989 3,251 14.1
1970 to 1979 2,049 8.9
1969 or earlier 1,450 6.3

Berwyn

1999 to 2000 3,546 18.0
1995 to 1998 5,915 30.0
1990 to 1994 2,969 15.1
1980 to 1989 2,541 12.9
1970 to 1979 1,608 8.2
1969 or earlier 3,123 15.9

So your gut feeling is correct. Oak Park actually had more households turn over during the 1990s than Berwyn, both by percentage and in number. Of course, in Berwyn, you had a lot of Hispanic households with 2-3 kids replacing single Caucasian senior citizen households, so the change was much more visible and had a larger impact on the overall population numbers.

And Berwyn still had a markedly larger number of 30+ year old households (3,123 v. 1,450) even by 2000. And 15.4% of the population was 62 or older, compared to 11.3% in Oak Park. A lot of those households turned over during the following decade, I'm certain.

Some might think rentals may have something to do with that but the two communities have roughly the same owner occupied/renter occupied ratio (about 60/40). I think overall, Berwyn was an older community that saw a large attrition turnover, not necessarily a major "white flight" pattern.

[second_time_home_buyer]

So... if the issue is the demographics change and its signaling of something horrible happening or even that the community is getting weaker, let me ask this question:

what if the turnover turned-over, what if all the Hispanics started leaving the area and Berwyn became a mostly white suburb? Will this mean that the community is getting weaker? Or does the turnover works only one way?

The main question is, if a predominantly Hispanic area started to change and become predominantly white, will you move into that neighborhood?

[Mister Mappy]

Originally Posted by second_time_home_buyer

So... if the issue is the demographics change and its signaling of something horrible happening or even that the community is getting weaker, let me ask this question:

what if the turnover turned-over, what if all the Hispanics started leaving the area and Berwyn became a mostly white suburb? Will this mean that the community is getting weaker? Or does the turnover works only one way?

The main question is, if a predominantly Hispanic area started to change and become predominantly white, will you move into that neighborhood?

As to your last question, lots of people have done just that. Good examples of that are Bucktown, Wicker Park, East Village, and Logan Square in the city.

[CityToBurbs75]

Originally Posted by Djames9

I know it's a west suburb of chicago...so it can't be super safe..but just wondering if there is safe non-crime neighborhoods in Berwyn? since i might possibly move there

any advice?

wow, this thread started 4 years ago. Actually, in that time I think Berwyn has changed a bit. A few bars/restaurants have opened that cater more to the new commuter residents, like Autre Monde, Oliver Twist, and Cigars and Stripes.

We bought a bungalow in south Berwyn last spring, and it is a nice area. It's definitely not high-crime. I think some kids tried to break into our garage last summer, but that's about it. We moved from west Logan Square, and it is night and day. We live on a tree-lined street near Proksa Park, and it's pretty out here. A lot less sketch than we were used to in the city. And a bungalow in Berwyn goes for about 2/3 the price for one on the northwest side of the city.

[VNLO]

Originally Posted by CityToBurbs75

wow, this thread started 4 years ago. Actually, in that time I think Berwyn has changed a bit. A few bars/restaurants have opened that cater more to the new commuter residents, like Autre Monde, Oliver Twist, and Cigars and Stripes.

We bought a bungalow in south Berwyn last spring, and it is a nice area. It's definitely not high-crime. I think some kids tried to break into our garage last summer, but that's about it. We moved from west Logan Square, and it is night and day. We live on a tree-lined street near Proksa Park, and it's pretty out here. A lot less sketch than we were used to in the city. And a bungalow in Berwyn goes for about 2/3 the price for one on the northwest side of the city.

I completely agree with CityToBurbs. I moved to Berwyn from west Bucktown 4 years ago, and it's so much cleaner and safer than I was used to in the city. A lot of 30-something professional city dwellers are moving to Berwyn because the housing stock is so much nicer and affordable than what you can find in comparable neighborhoods in the northwest side, Beverly, or Bridgeport/McKinley Park. Also, because the El doesn't actually come into Berwyn (although it comes close enough in Oak Park and Cicero to be accessible), we don't have the homeless issues that usually come along with that.

Berwyn also offers a very engaged and open community that is committed to dealing with public issues from schools to traffic congestion. There have been impressive investments in the commercial corridors that continued throughout the recession, which bodes well for a rebound in housing prices.

[Pinschers]

In general, would you recommend Berwyn to a 30-something female looking for a SFH around $200K? I would not be opposed to doing some work on the house (maybe 203K) loan, but prefer to stay at or below $200K. Just need 3 BR, garage and nice size yard for my dogs. I work in the loop, have doctors at Rush and some other commitments out in the burbs near Schaumburg. I currently rent a SFH near Schaumburg and for what I rent, I could easily own. My current commute stinks, as I have to drive 1-2 days per week.

I used to work at FPOP at Austin and Madison 10-15 years ago (when I still lived in the city) and that area wasn't so hot. So for me at that time, based on what I saw and was told, anything south of 290 was "bad". Heck, the location of the bank was bad. More recently, I do take Roosevelt when the Ike is backed up some mornings and it does not seem as bad as it was made out to be. Are parts of Berwyn much better now?

I'm also considering River Grove, Elmwood Park, Franklin Park, Dunning, Jefferson Park and Portage Park but in no real hurry. I hate my commute, but I really don't want to make a $200K mistake either.

[ToriaT]

There are some really good values in housing to be gotten in Berwyn. Look at some of the real estate sites. The old brick bungaloes and other older style homes in Bewyn abound. Some can be gotten really cheap but are fixer uppers. It seems to me Berwyn could become an upcoming place as its got good access to the city and housing prices are not so high. I have not lived there so I would rely on the experience of others to tell about crime. I have looked at some real estate there to buy as an investment and prices are pretty good right now and mortgage rates are at an all time low.

[chet everett]

For a whole range of reasons that revolve around the FACT that I once learned "it is harder to fall when you are already on the floor" I like getting the cheapest house you can tolerant in the nicest town you can afford. If you r max budget was maybe 20% or more lower I would be all over Berwyn. The rest of the neighborhoods / towns you list frankly just don't do anything for me in terms of present value or longer term trends, well maybe I'd be OK with Jefferson Park if you had to live inside Chicago due to employment restrictions.

I would look to a town like Brookfield for a really well priced in good shape for around $200k. If you are ok with fixer uppers you might be able to stretch into an even nicer town like Elmhurst but you'd be looking at some really rough places that need some intensive work to bring up-to-date.

Originally Posted by Pinschers

In general, would you recommend Berwyn to a 30-something female looking for a SFH around $200K? I would not be opposed to doing some work on the house (maybe 203K) loan, but prefer to stay at or below $200K. Just need 3 BR, garage and nice size yard for my dogs. I work in the loop, have doctors at Rush and some other commitments out in the burbs near Schaumburg. I currently rent a SFH near Schaumburg and for what I rent, I could easily own. My current commute stinks, as I have to drive 1-2 days per week.

I used to work at FPOP at Austin and Madison 10-15 years ago (when I still lived in the city) and that area wasn't so hot. So for me at that time, based on what I saw and was told, anything south of 290 was "bad". Heck, the location of the bank was bad. More recently, I do take Roosevelt when the Ike is backed up some mornings and it does not seem as bad as it was made out to be. Are parts of Berwyn much better now?

I'm also considering River Grove, Elmwood Park, Franklin Park, Dunning, Jefferson Park and Portage Park but in no real hurry. I hate my commute, but I really don't want to make a $200K mistake either.

[BRU67]

Chet always offers sound advice but repair costs can add up quickly. $50k will go like nothing on a fixer upper. Thus, it may not make sense to buy right at the top end of your budget in a town like Brookfield or Elmhurst, unless you don't mind your 200k turning into a 250k investment. That may be especially true of a first house.

I do think Berwyn's a good investment, as indicated above. A huge advantage of Berwyn's housing stock for someone looking to make improvements right off the bat is that bungalows qualify under the Berwyn Code to be designated as historic landmarks. That means you can get the Illinois Historic Preservation Tax Freeze if you put 25% or more of the home's current assessed market value into repairs and upgrades -- 8 years of frozen taxes and 4 more years of gradually increasing taxes. And in today's market, with a lot of bungalows going for 150k-ish, that isn't a high threshold to reach.

Overview « Berwyn: City of Homes

[BRU67]

Also, you don't say it directly but if you are single, another thing you may want to keep in mind is that suburbs notoriously do not have many single people. The people you will meet in a typical suburb will view you as somewhat of a novelty, and you may grow tired of their lame attempts to set you up and constant questions about your social life, LOL!

I'm certain Berwyn is better than Brookfield or Elmhurst on this as it's more "urban" and has more rentals but it still isn't great. However, you're at least close enough to the City so you can drown yourself in activities where you will meet other single people without completely driving yourself into the ground (both literally and figuratively!). Again, I don't know how much value you put on this (if any) but it's something to keep in the back of your mind.