Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 06-10-2018, 01:45 PM
 
4 posts, read 3,879 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

So my search continues... I found a property that is well priced on a street of older charming homes in the city of West Chicago. I drove by yesterday at 6pm and the neighborhood seemed quiet and the properties on average well take care of.


What do you know about living in West Chicago?


For context, I'll be moving my older parents (70's) with me, and like to walk my dog early in the a.m. and late at night. I don't mind racial diversity - as long as it's equally diverse and the area is safe.


Thanks!!

Last edited by Marka; 06-11-2018 at 01:18 AM.. Reason: per request
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 06-10-2018, 02:44 PM
 
28,455 posts, read 85,116,969 times
Reputation: 18726
West Chicago is more affordable because of a few factors. The biggest reason that it is less costly than neighboring areas is the perceived reduced desirability of its schools; this is kind of a non-factor for someone without school-aged children but likely may still impact resale. Recently the BOE and administration have been somewhat successful in trying to improve performance of the High School and that should be a loner term positive.

Other longer term factors include more intensive industrial areas than other adjacent towns. One part of town actually had some issues with the remnants of former industrial sites, though that has been fully remediated one may see articles about that past.

The combination of the above issues meant that a higher percentage of low income workers did live in town and many of them were from racial groups that historically were less concerned with such things, often with roots in Latin American countries. That has had the effect of a larger number of folks classified for school purposes as low income and/or English as a Second Language.

The overall safety of West Chicago is very similar to more costly towns and the only caution would be to avoid areas with larger percentages of renters / transient workers -- that sort of workforce was once a bigger percentage of the population but as agricultural has diminished such arrangements are far less common.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-12-2018, 09:01 AM
 
Location: Scottsdale, AZ
5,649 posts, read 5,933,730 times
Reputation: 8317
I would stay in the north end of town, mainly north of Main St. There are nice pockets south of there, of course, but its just not as desirable overall. I prefer the neighborhoods over by Turner Elementary school (ie Elite St). They're quiet, well-groomed, and overall safe. The city did struggle with a big gang problem decades ago, and that largely seems to have been squashed, but there are still gang members in town, mainly congregated in the Hispanic neighborhoods.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-13-2018, 09:17 AM
 
Location: USA
5,738 posts, read 5,424,379 times
Reputation: 3668
It's one of the less desirable parts of Dupage County. Homes in these kinds of suburbs are rock-bottom cheap for the Chicago area and are fine for living if you're OK with some of your neighbors speaking Spanish and aren't concerned about schools. Crime is negligible, just lock your doors when you leave and don't leave bikes & things like that in your yard.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-13-2018, 01:02 PM
 
Location: All Over
4,003 posts, read 6,073,740 times
Reputation: 3162
Quote:
Originally Posted by It'sAutomatic View Post
It's one of the less desirable parts of Dupage County. Homes in these kinds of suburbs are rock-bottom cheap for the Chicago area and are fine for living if you're OK with some of your neighbors speaking Spanish and aren't concerned about schools. Crime is negligible, just lock your doors when you leave and don't leave bikes & things like that in your yard.
Translation...

"West Chicago is fine if you don't mind living around a bunch of Mexicans"

Not trying to knock you, I get it, the whiter the burb the more desirable it is. Don't get me wrong, I'm not some social justice warrior to talks about how cool I am for living in diverse Oak Park, personally I'll be the first to admit I'd probably prefer living around people like myself, its human nateure. , but I have nothing against anyone else.

The people who tend to pat themselvs on the back about diversity are cool with diversity if it's the right mix of the right type of people.

Anyhow, its always funny to me how the suburbs with even a hint of brown people are treated as... "well if you want to live there I suppose" kind of thing.

Bolingbrook, Villa Park, Aurora, all great burbs that kind of get this type of bad rap. To me VP is probably the best value in Dupage County and the western suburbs minus the taxes which seem a little high
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-16-2018, 08:55 PM
 
5,317 posts, read 3,201,968 times
Reputation: 8240
West Chicago is also far from a lot of public transportation, so you better have multiple cars. This is one reason houses tend to be cheaper, you make up for the cost of living with driving.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-17-2018, 10:23 AM
 
Location: All Over
4,003 posts, read 6,073,740 times
Reputation: 3162
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobsell View Post
West Chicago is also far from a lot of public transportation, so you better have multiple cars. This is one reason houses tend to be cheaper, you make up for the cost of living with driving.
While that's true the same could be said about pretty much every suburb outside the collar suburbs. I wouldn't say Naperville or any other burb is much better in that respect
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-17-2018, 11:09 AM
 
4,633 posts, read 3,444,230 times
Reputation: 6322
Quote:
Originally Posted by doodlemagic View Post
Translation...

"West Chicago is fine if you don't mind living around a bunch of Mexicans"





People should really start saying what they mean. If you're bold enough to have the thought, be bold enough to speak it.



Quote:
The people who tend to pat themselvs on the back about diversity are cool with diversity if it's the right mix of the right type of people.

Anyhow, its always funny to me how the suburbs with even a hint of brown people are treated as... "well if you want to live there I suppose" kind of thing.

Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-17-2018, 11:10 AM
 
4,633 posts, read 3,444,230 times
Reputation: 6322
Quote:
Originally Posted by doodlemagic View Post
While that's true the same could be said about pretty much every suburb outside the collar suburbs. I wouldn't say Naperville or any other burb is much better in that respect

Exactly. Give me a break.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-17-2018, 12:55 PM
 
12,999 posts, read 18,840,942 times
Reputation: 9236
Could it have something to do with the airport? There is no scheduled air service, but heavy traffic. Of course that makes it attractive to industry, giving it the reputation as an industrial suburb.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top