Brookfield (Chicago, Cicero, Berwyn: crime, new house, buying)

[Milwaukee City]

Originally Posted by chet everett

Harwood Heights and Norridge probably are some of the worst examples of that Rat Pack Era style of building that has long since been demolished in Vegas

Haha that was my first thought upon driving through that area this week, I kept waiting for the Sands hotel to pop up at anytime.

[Brookfielding]

As someone who just purchased a home in Brookfield (small family, me, my wife and toddler daughter), the original post was a wonderful summary of the town and made us feel even better about the decision to purchase in this part of town. Long story but my wife's promotion brought us to Illinois. We rented in Brookfield for a year and after looking in La Grange Park, Western Springs, Westchester and thinking about Downers Grove, decided to stay.

We have not moved into the home yet (we close toward the end of the month), and only hope our neighbors are as welcoming as the ones the original poster encountered after moving in!

[hippie_chick]

I am scouting for an upcoming move to the Chicago Area. I will be working at Ohare. I have 2 preschoolers and am looking for a safer, stable, affordable area. I really like what I see in Brookfield. My realtor is pushing me away from it saying it is far too big of a commute. Anyone have any knowledge of the commute time to Ohare? Google Traffic only puts it about 30 minutes. I am suffering from sticker shock in most of the Chicago areas. I really like the feel I am getting from Oak Park & Park Ridge but the prices just seem too far of a reach. Any advice welcomed!

[chet everett]

There are certainly places that would have an easier commute to the actual working parts / freight terminals of O'Hare, especially suburbs closer to the western edge of the airport like Bensenville, Wooddale, Addison and Elmhurst, but the added distance to Brookfield is not going to be a "deal killer". I agree with the google maps estimate of about 30 minutes from Brookfield to O'Hare for an AM rush hour commute and suspect the ride home would add about 15 minutes. There are options to use surface streets too, but they generally will not be timesaver, just a way to mix up the routine and/or see some of the towns like Franklin Park, River Grove, Broadview etc...

I would certainly cross shop against similarly priced homes in Elmhurst or Lagrange Park but I think you will find the values of Brookfield hard to beat.

[hippie_chick]

Thank you Chet for the response! I've been lurking on these threads for awhile now and originally was into Hinsdale but I fear I would be very house poor!

I hate commuting but the charm I like is pretty non existent in Arlington Heights/Bensenville. I hadn't looked into Addison, and Elmhurst seems kinda eh. With childcare looking to be $2500-$3k a month it significantly cuts into ones housing budget. (I think I have found one next to the airport in Des Plaines).

As far as schools go (Elementary) would you say the La Grange/Brookfield/Riverside are pretty good? I don't need a mini Yale but I am an educated woman with highly intelligent kids and I believe some of education simply comes from the home.

[chet everett]

There are some folks that do specifically choose the Hollywood portion of Brookfield as it shares schools district with Riverside. That district is probably just a smidge less well ranked than the overall Lagrange elementary school district.

Portions of Brookfield are served by other districts that are a bit less desirable but still offer a good alternative to towns to the east at a price that is more affordable than towns to the west...

[sammen]

Originally Posted by agallan

Hi all,

My wife and I just bought a house in Brookfield a few months ago. When we were searching for a home (between La Grange, La Grange Park, Riverside and Brookfield), we found this forum really helpful to get information and opinions about different areas. I just wanted to put this post out there for anyone on the forum (especially anyone using a search to find information on Brookfield) so they can contact me and I can answer any questions they have about the town.

Again, I'm happy to answer specific questions, but I'll just give a quick summary about the town here for those interested. My wife and I really love it here so far and we would love to see other young couples "join the club".

PROS:
-Incredibly reasonably priced (out of proportion to the quality of the schools, a relative rarity in the chicago suburbs) (can get a very nice, large house for 300-325k, can get a solid home for 250ish, can get a fixer-upper around 200k)

-Location - close to the city, close to many major highways and has 3 metra stops. We live just a few blocks north of the metra and downtown area, which means my wife can easily take the train to work in the loop, and I can easily get to work in Hyde Park. It was a HUGE deal for us that there was a much smaller price bump to be near the train in Brookfield vs. LaGrange. We could afford a home in LaGrange, but not one very near the train that was acceptable to us. In Brookfield we could afford a prime spot. Also (and while this is debatable), I believe Brookfield is very well buffered against future decline due to it being insulated by Riverside to the east, La Grange to the west and somewhat south, and La Grange Park and forest preserve to the north.

-People - Growing up in Downers Grove (supposedly one of the top 10 friendliest towns in the country), we weren't expecting to be surprised with how nice the people of Brookfield were. Boy were we surprised. We had like 6 neighbors stop by to say hi in the first 2 days, we had homemade bread left at our door, and the neighborhood kids made us a sign that said "Welcome to the neighborhood"...within like 3 hours of the moving truck leaving! Other people around town have been great too.

-Schools - I consider this a big positive relative to the price point. Is it Hinsdale quality? No. But its a place where middle and upper-middle income families can give their kids a great education without the price-tag or home quality trade-offs. Most of Brookfield feeds into Riverside Brookfield High School, a top-rated high school in Illinois (Riverside Brookfield High School in RIVERSIDE, IL | Best High Schools | US News). The rest goes to Lyons Township, which may even be a better high school but unfortunately the part of Brookfield that feeds in there tends to be less desirable due to the lower-performing elementary school. There are multiple elementary school districts. Eastern Brookfield (the Hollywood neighborhood - probably the nicest part of town) feeds into Hollywood elementary school and is part of the excellent Riverside school district. The middle part of Brookfield (where I live), shares a school district with La Grange Park (which I consider a plus) and feeds into Brook Park elementary which is also an excellent school. The areas south of Ogden avenue (and maybe other areas, I admittedly don't know the boundaries) feed into a different district which by the numbers are just okay and sort of create a desirability and price divide between Brookfield north of ogden and south of ogden.

-Bars/Restaurants/Shopping - This can be considered a positive or negative depending on your style. It definitely has a small-town feel with almost no chain restaurants/stores (except on Ogden ave). There are a number of local eateries which are really great. There are a number of bars near the train and on Ogden Ave, and I find them to be enjoyable places. There are NOT a many nicer restaurants in town. While I originally considered that a negative, I actually now consider it a positive because I can go <2miles to downtown LaGrange for all that without my neighborhood being congested with LaGrange Road type of traffic that results from their vibrant downtown. I love downtown La Grange and it offers pretty much anything that Brookfield doesn't.

CONS:
-Inner-Ring feel - depending on your style, this could be a pro or con. This town has a different feel then where I grew up in Downers Grove. Smaller lots, alleys/street parking, a bit more of a city-ish feel. But at the end of the day, definitely still a suburb. My wife actually likes that it doesn't have a Naperville type of feel.

-Aesthetics - Depending on where you are in town, not everyone keeps up their house/yard as well as I would like. Don't take what I'm saying to the extreme. Its still a nice looking town with a lot of beautiful homes including many great bungalows and craftsmans. But more people than I'm used to fail to keep their homes up well. Drive around and see for yourself.

-Community Activities - Compared to La Grange or the further western suburbs, there are not nearly as many park district activities, sports leagues, family events, etc. Of course they still have a little league, preschool stuff, some family outings, a great 4th of july parade/party, etc. These activities are a big part of what makes a family-friendly community. But the price of La Grange real estate is a lot to pay for these things. The good news is that as a close neighbor of La Grange, Brookfield residents have access to all La Grange park district activities for just 10% more than La Grange resident rates (much cheaper than normal non-resident rates). And of course, we have the Brookfield Zoo!

-People - Now I don't consider this a negative, but some people might. This is largely a middle class town with a significant number of upper middle class families and some working class families. You aren't going to get the same types of families here as you will in a lot of La Grange. I have a lot of neighbors who are nurses, teachers, law enforcement officers, etc... in La Grange you get a lot of doctors, lawyers, bankers. I love the people here and have no complaints (and we are a doctor/lawyer pair).

Of course there are more pros-cons based on your individual situation, but I am just trying to give you some basic info in the most unbiased manner possible.

I hope this information is helpful for those looking for a family-friendly, affordable suburb near the city with very good schools - especially if you are just starting out and looking for your first home. Feel free to MESSAGE me questions as I don't check the forum very often. Best of luck!

I loved reading your info. My husband and I are coming to Chicago next week to look at houses. We're in our early sixties and retired. I was a theatre professor here in Terre Haute at a small college and my husband retired from the Federal Government in Washington DC. We are looking in a smaller range of prices: $150,000-$200,000--downsizing qu9ite a bit. We see a lot of lovely small home sin Brookfield; a few in LaGrange Park and some in Berwyn and Westchester. I'm partial to Brookfield. We lived for many years in Washington DC and I miss the theatre and cultural life a great deal. Any more info ANYONE on this forum has would be welcome! You can check the thread-"Older Couple Moving to Chicago" to see some posts! Thanks again--Sharon

[agallan]

Definitely agree with Chet that the Hollywood Elementary school is considered the best in Brookfield, and is shared with the wonderful neighboring town of Riverside. The portion of Brookfield feeding into the Hollywood school does tend to be more expensive than the rest of Brookfield, however.

Of note, I would argue that it is not just an "excellent" Hollywood school vs. "good" other schools in Brookfield. Another chunk of Brookfield (mostly the central part near downtown and north of downtown) feeds into Brook Park Elementary (District 95) which is shared with the neighboring town of La Grange Park, and eventually feeds into Riverside Brookfield High School. This may not be quite as excellent as Hollywood Elementary, but it is definitely "great". [For what its worth, both Hollywood and Brook Park are rated as 9/10 on Great Schools]. The rest of Brookfield feeds into District 102 (La Grange) or District 103 (Lyons) which from what I've heard are better described as "good". Also, there are 2 catholic schools serving Brookfield, which I don't know much about yet.

Originally Posted by chet everett

There are some folks that do specifically choose the Hollywood portion of Brookfield as it shares schools district with Riverside. That district is probably just a smidge less well ranked than the overall Lagrange elementary school district.

Portions of Brookfield are served by other districts that are a bit less desirable but still offer a good alternative to towns to the east at a price that is more affordable than towns to the west...

[royandkass]

Hopefully this thread isn't too old. My wife and I are looking to move from Logan Square to Brookfield. We want to get honest/realistic opinions on race relations in Brookfield. I'm black (41), my wife is black/white (38) and we're planning to have a kid. I moved here from California in 96, so I'm not familiar with Chicago suburbs. My wife grew up in Oak Park and she loves how diverse Oak Park is. We're curious to know how others feel and what their experiences are like in Brookfield. Thanks!

[chet everett]

You won't find another town as upscale as Oak Park with broader range of folks but Brookfield has a nice mix of families and is generally going to be a whole lot more affordable.

I would caution that in the region there is a nasty tendency for the more affordable towns to harbor a bit more of the traditional "working stiff" ideas about races and such so you'd prefer probably be wise to aim for the most community / sub-neighborhood you can find...