Elmwood Park??? Yah or Nay???

[moon2gemini30]

ELMWOOD PARK IS A FAKE!!!!My husb and 4 kids have lived here for the past 5 years, and I assure you that the crime rates they put out for the world to see are BULL!! We lived in Chicago for 24 yrs, and thought we were doing a good thing moving out of the city.Last Wed my 20 yr old daugh along w/her 17 yr old sister were home invaded by 5 men w/masks and loaded, cocked guns stold her rent money,and made it very clear that when they were done they had no intentions of leaving.They were going to gang rape them and if she kept her mouth shut,she MIGHT live thru the night.This was 4 days ago.Within 12 hours the cops had a first name, a PHOTO,and a my-space web sight that belongs to the ringleader.4 days,and no arrest, no nothing. The police in Elmwood Park have a rep for burying nasty cases like this one because there main concern is keeping property values up,and fooling nice families like yours into moving here. We own a brick 3 flat,and a home that was recently appraised at 420,000 dollars,and we have alot to lose here.But the hell w/the money!EP is not,nor has been for awhile a safe place to live.There are prostitutes and junkies,and the drug dealers,lots of them.I dont know abt you,but I think a town of 25,000 people shouldnt have this kind of stuff going on all the time!Move here at your own peril.

[moon2gemini30]

Friend,there are lots of down sides to living in EP.The schools are very good, in fact their better than their given credit for on this site.Garbage pick-up and all that is great.But if your walking thru an alley and see a peice of trash, and you pick it up and throw it in the closest dumpster, beware!!! In EP thats called illegal dumping, and it carries a $500. fine. Im not joking here. It happened to us, and although they didnt give me a ticket, they made it very clear that if I was reported again, I would be fined the 500 clams! If your coming here to buy investment prop., fine, but this is not the great place to live that they say it is.

[ten96lt]

I wouldn't take the last two posts seriously,
1. My dad is a LT. for Cook County and is almost as paranoid as most people and would know if that kind of crime happened.
2. When talking about dumping, people usually get in troube if putting in a dumpster or someone complains. There have been times where people try to take their garbage (bag loads) and put them in other people's dumpsters who have them for construction. If you're throwing away a ball of paper in the reg green garbage bins, nobody has a problem.

As far as E.P. goes, its a very quiet town, very nice if you want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The schools are decent but get a bad rap. The problem is that half the students try and do very well and half the students don't give a damn about school there, so the test scores show the worse when averaged. The honors program is very good at the high school if you have kids that do well in school. The High School does need a makeover though, since it's over 50 years old. Last year they spent $750,000 to put in new football field and update some of the baseball and softball fields and tennis courts. Now it's time to work on the building. My only problem is that some cops are jerks when being pulled over or a couple other minor things, but some are genuinely nice. If an accident occurs or a fire starts, there are usually 12 fire trucks at the scene from 4 different towns, and only 3 fire trucks and 2 ambulances for every accident even if minor because of how very little happens and the firefighters are bored. You might find it good, but I sometimes find it excessive for a simple kitchen fire or mild collision. Library and the public works are excellent. The library was built less than 10 years ago so it appears very modern. The pool is nothing to write home about but decent. Overall, if you're looking to get out of the city, E.P. is close enough where you can get into the city, but far enough where you don't have to deal with the hustle and bustle.

[superroxy]

Originally Posted by moon2gemini30

ELMWOOD PARK IS A FAKE!!!!My husb and 4 kids have lived here for the past 5 years, and I assure you that the crime rates they put out for the world to see are BULL!! We lived in Chicago for 24 yrs, and thought we were doing a good thing moving out of the city.Last Wed my 20 yr old daugh along w/her 17 yr old sister were home invaded by 5 men w/masks and loaded, cocked guns stold her rent money,and made it very clear that when they were done they had no intentions of leaving.They were going to gang rape them and if she kept her mouth shut,she MIGHT live thru the night.This was 4 days ago.Within 12 hours the cops had a first name, a PHOTO,and a my-space web sight that belongs to the ringleader.4 days,and no arrest, no nothing. The police in Elmwood Park have a rep for burying nasty cases like this one because there main concern is keeping property values up,and fooling nice families like yours into moving here. We own a brick 3 flat,and a home that was recently appraised at 420,000 dollars,and we have alot to lose here.But the hell w/the money!EP is not,nor has been for awhile a safe place to live.There are prostitutes and junkies,and the drug dealers,lots of them.I dont know abt you,but I think a town of 25,000 people shouldnt have this kind of stuff going on all the time!Move here at your own peril.

I AGREE WITH YOU 100 %
I tought europeans were nicer and I and my family decided to move here.
Ive noticed weird people working on the low food store , ca****s and other ares close to those. They look like drug addicts. Also when I went running outside , just exercissing, I saw this man around 25-30 year old run naked with no clothes on towards me. He had followed me all around.. I got so scared that I ran like a train straight home. I think he followed me home. Im so scared right naw to live here. I think that this is a very dangerous place. It might be quiet but with criminals and a lot of rapersssss!

Move somewhere where you got a police station close 2 ur house , at least

[bungalowdweller]

Originally Posted by sukwoo

I think the schools are okay, but not great.

There are many homeschoolers who live in Elmwood Park, as well as Oak Park and the other nearby communities. It's a town with nice people. I'm shocked by some of these posts. I had no idea there was that kind of trouble in town. I have friends who live in EP but they've never had any problems. That's the great thing about threads like this though. You get to hear alot of opinions.

[dclark1958]

Anyone know of a nice 1 bedroom garden or 1st floor apt for rent in Elmwood pk on or close to Jan. 1 ? I am now in the city and looking to get out of my 3rd floor apt. HAVE A GREAT DAY!!!

[wjt]

Are you kidding the EP cops are horrible. They only out to harrass people. Call them for an emergency they take the sweet time. Call them noise,or there blacks in the neighbor hood there here in record time. Not just one either 3 or 4.

[IcantstandelmwoodparkiL]

I live in Elmwood Park, IL and in the beginning I loved the place at 1st, thought it was quiet but within a few days events were happening every week, they have something called THE taste" which last for three long days music so loud for the residents started from 4 pm to 11 pm that is ridiculous the people who were a part of the taste were very inconsiderate of the residents , I couldn't sleep, I had migraines for 3 days... I went to work very sleepy & cranky... This place is a piece of $&@# excuse my language it's not what is seems, there are a lot of polish or whatever they are they have strong accents I know this for sure, who are very rude and love to give dirty looks every chance they get , not sure about the schools yet, the area was very clean in the beginning also which changed along with the quietness , people started littering, I seen a loud commotion in front of the police station a guy came out mad about something and yelling at a cop that did nothing, I am still wondering why, was it because they were all white ? In my eyes it's racist in this area, what are they hiding !!!!

[whakru]

Originally Posted by IcantstandelmwoodparkiL

I live in Elmwood Park, IL and in the beginning I loved the place at 1st, thought it was quiet but within a few days events were happening every week, they have something called THE taste" which last for three long days music so loud for the residents started from 4 pm to 11 pm that is ridiculous the people who were a part of the taste were very inconsiderate of the residents , I couldn't sleep, I had migraines for 3 days... I went to work very sleepy & cranky... This place is a piece of $&@# excuse my language it's not what is seems, there are a lot of polish or whatever they are they have strong accents I know this for sure, who are very rude and love to give dirty looks every chance they get , not sure about the schools yet, the area was very clean in the beginning also which changed along with the quietness , people started littering, I seen a loud commotion in front of the police station a guy came out mad about something and yelling at a cop that did nothing, I am still wondering why, was it because they were all white ? In my eyes it's racist in this area, what are they hiding !!!!

Ok.....

This thread was started 8 years ago. If you have something new and relevant regarding Elmwood Park, you might want to consider a new thread.

However, it sounds like the things you are having trouble with are personal preferences rather than town issues. A three day festival may be loud and inconvenient to you, but it is only three days. Most towns have a festival of some sort once a year.

Not sure how to respond to the "polish or whatever they are" comment. I guess you should research your demographics before moving if that is the kind of thing that bothers you. Not even going to ask about why you think it is racist in that area because the irony/hypocrisy of it bothers me too much.