CNN/Money Magazine labels Western Srpings "playground of the rich"

[Larry Siegel]

I look at topics, not dates, when I decide to comment. Most people in Western Springs are middle to upper middle class, not rich. The Money Magazine article was ridiculous.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Very poorly research article, but fun to ridicule:

6-figure towns - Western Springs, IL (5) - Money Magazine

You know, Las Vegas, Manhattan, Paris, Western Springs. That's how they roll.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by BRU67

You know, Las Vegas, Manhattan, Paris, Western Springs. That's how they roll.

I hear that the French Riviera is losing a lot of business to Western Springs these days.

[OwenJO88]

Originally Posted by crbcrbrgv

Let's also not forget that mommy and daddy helped a lot of those Western Springs folks buy their houses.

If this is true, why does it matter?

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by OwenJO88

If this is true, why does it matter?

I like Western Springs a whole lot -- it is nice town, with many wonderful pluses and a great mix of people.

Many of the people that do live in town did grow up there and/or got help from parents in town or adjacent areas. That speaks to both the long term desirability that parents know it will be a good place for their grandkids, and some factors that do somewhat distort the real estate numbers. While most of that distortion is a positive thing for prices / long term value the generational mixing of money makes it different than the kind of town that people that known to in big earner fields are attracted to -- it less a showplace / destination than simply a generational place for families.

There are probably some folks in other nice towns that do have a similar pattern of generational help for kids to stay in-town but I would also not characterize such towns as "playgrounds of the rich". I mean this is no Monaco or Gstad. More like Mayberry for white collar types. Heck when get right down to it even places like Barrington or Oak Brook don't have enough polo players or fox hunters or F1 drivers to call them "playgrounds of the rich". I even get kick out of people trying to characterize SW Michigan as some sort of "Nantucket of the Midwest". They don't serve lobster roll at Redamaks and you can't get caviar at the Stray Dog, at best it is a little respite from the otherwise bleak economy of Michigan...