Taylor Park Area in Oak Park (Chicago, Hinsdale: live, restaurant, shops)

[chet everett]

I don't think anyone is disputing that Oak Park has a "core". The various trade-offs that go along with being further from that area is what prompted the OP to start this thread. Oak Park is not the kind of place that is small enough for everyone to be right in the center of everything.

Perhaps this will help:
MOD CUT: May not cite own blog


The bottomline is that in a bigger town like Oak Park you have to face the reality that some parts of town are going to be more affordable and others more desirable.

[linicx]

I don't care where one visits in America the same situation applies. More areas will be more affordable for more families. The upscale areas will not be affordable for most.

[chitownperson]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I don't think anyone on this thread has suggested that it is a "bad" school. The objective data shows there are schools within the same district that are better. That, together with the fact that it is a little further from the core of town, and is not as visually appealing as the leafiest blocks, largely explains the lower prices. Depending on how important schools and being close to the core are to the OP they ought to be cross-shopping smaller homes closer to the more desirable parts of town. The price stability in the better parts of town has shown more consistency, and as the pressure on budgets increases the potential impact of housing prices as real estate taxes rise should be a primary consideration. Frankly I have the same advice for home shoppers ANYWHERE given the current status of Illinois budgetary mess. Whether you are shopping for a single family home inside Chicago in a pricey area close to the lake or something more affordable out near Midway or in any suburb, from the most posh to the most pedestrian the potential to see real estate taxes sky rocket from current levels is more than a remote chance. Unless Speaker Madigan gets serious about make dramatic changes in how isolated the various pension systems in the state are (with separated responsibilities for CPS, other teachers, state employees and municipal workers...) the additional burdens that will be needed to sustain current services and make-up for decades of deferred contributions to the systems that state legislators did not make taxes could rise to paralyzing levels -- 50% or more increase are possible. If current taxes are already high for the level of services one receives what happens when things escalate? It just makes sense to have the kind of neighbors that can best cope with such increases instead of those that will suffer the most if there are cuts...

The implications of a less than good school are obvious in the not so subtly veiled, but it really doesn't rub me either way as the weight of the critique is as light as air considering the way the conclusion was reached. As Kindrakindra points out, the non low income students fare just as well, if not better, than many of the rich all over rich suburban institutions.

Talyor Park is equally as "leafy" as any other places in Oak Park... And there are not "better" areas in Oak Park, just some with more expensive homes. The school that has the over all highest AYP (AYP is a joke btw) is Mann, but that also have little low income or minority kids, so it obviously Higher for the same factors about parental involvement and inability to high tutors... Its location is in a bubble, but not as much of a bubble like Hinsdale. It only goes to show that Oak Park schools do have high quality education because the successes are the rule, not the exception.

Way to veer off on another tangential rant... Oak Park taxes are not high for the excellent services provided. You are pulling numbers out of some strange places. Most people in know are comfortable with the exchange of taxes of services in Oak Park because they know it goes to things that matter like good education. If anything people in Hinsdale aren't taxed nearly enough for the obscene amounts for money they make and pour into frivolous material items like"Lambos" and Prada handbags for the kids... but that's no surprise being that it's a conservative strong hold.

[kindrakindra]

Originally Posted by chet everett

I don't think anyone is disputing that Oak Park has a "core". The various trade-offs that go along with being further from that area is what prompted the OP to start this thread. Oak Park is not the kind of place that is small enough for everyone to be right in the center of everything.

Perhaps this will help:
MOD CUT: May not cite own blog


The bottomline is that in a bigger town like Oak Park you have to face the reality that some parts of town are going to be more affordable and others more desirable.

My whole point is that the area surrounding Taylor Park is a major part of the most extremely desirable 'hoods in Oak Park. I think if you were more familiar with Oak Park you would realize that. The fact that the Whittier area has smaller houses and/or apartments has nothing to do with the fact that the area surrounding Taylor Park is fantastic, and is considered a desirable address by those who know Oak Park. Why is that area desirable? Because the lots are 50 feet wide, the houses are big, the trees are huge and plentiful, front lawns are deep . . .

One last point. Did you know that there is one street one block away from Taylor Park where one side of the street attends Whittier and the other side of the street attends Mann? The house prices/quality/incomes are the same. Someone new to the area wouldn't know the difference, as they walk down a beautiful street in the FLW district.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by kindrakindra

My whole point is that the area surrounding Taylor Park is a major part of the most extremely desirable 'hoods in Oak Park. I think if you were more familiar with Oak Park you would realize that. The fact that the Whittier area has smaller houses and/or apartments has nothing to do with the fact that the area surrounding Taylor Park is fantastic, and is considered a desirable address by those who know Oak Park. Why is that area desirable? Because the lots are 50 feet wide, the houses are big, the trees are huge and plentiful, front lawns are deep . . .

One last point. Did you know that there is one street one block away from Taylor Park where one side of the street attends Whittier and the other side of the street attends Mann? The house prices/quality/incomes are the same. Someone new to the area wouldn't know the difference, as they walk down a beautiful street in the FLW district.

Most of the Whittier district is in the dreaded "east of Ridgeland" zone. Also lot sizes are (on average) smaller east of Ridgeland than west. The combination of the two results in these houses (on average) being priced lower than a house west of Ridgeland (all of Mann district.) This doesn't necessarily make NE Oak Park "undesirable", simply lower priced. Obviously there are individual houses that break this rule. For comparison, NE Oak Park still has larger lots and home sizes than the average Oak Park house south of Madison St.

[kindrakindra]

Originally Posted by oakparkdude

Most of the Whittier district is in the dreaded "east of Ridgeland" zone. Also lot sizes are (on average) smaller east of Ridgeland than west. The combination of the two results in these houses (on average) being priced lower than a house west of Ridgeland (all of Mann district.) This doesn't necessarily make NE Oak Park "undesirable", simply lower priced. Obviously there are individual houses that break this rule. For comparison, NE Oak Park still has larger lots and home sizes than the average Oak Park house south of Madison St.

OP Dude, the Whittier boundary goes to East Avenue (the east side of the street) and all the way down to Superior and up to Division. It's not individual houses, entire blocks of the 400-900 blocks of Ridgeland, Elmwood, Fair Oaks/Scoville and half of East all goto Whittier. Also, there are 50 foot wide lots east of Ridgeland as well. These streets are equally as gorgeous as NW Oak Park. Not trying to argue with you, just thought I would point that out as well.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by kindrakindra

OP Dude, the Whittier boundary goes to East Avenue (the east side of the street) and all the way down to Superior and up to Division. It's not individual houses, entire blocks of the 400-900 blocks of Ridgeland, Elmwood, Fair Oaks/Scoville and half of East all goto Whittier. Also, there are 50 foot wide lots east of Ridgeland as well. These streets are equally as gorgeous as NW Oak Park. Not trying to argue with you, just thought I would point that out as well.

I don't think we're actually disagreeing or contradicting each other!

[chitownperson]

Best Suburb

Oak Park is named the best Chicago suburb in a Chicago Reader poll.

[linicx]

Excellent post!

[chet everett]

Revealing.