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I bought a two flat in Berwyn this past summer and my son is transitioning into living there. As I have been doing repairs I have spent countless hours in this place and have stayed overnight and I have seen nothing bad. It does not seem crime ridden and I am not afraid to be there. I have put spot crime alerts into my email for months now and I think only once it captured a crime in Berwyn. Where the crime my spot crime alerts me to all happens east of Austin Ave and north of Roosevelt road. So I think the crime is way overblown in this community. Does it exist? Sure there is some level of crime but not as much as people would think. I have found some wonderful craftsmen, painters, electricians and plumbers in this community as well as a small number of younger and older people who have moved in that have a real love for preservation and the bungalows there. I will admit that the schools don't have a great reputation so that could be an issue in the future. Also if you frequent this area, you will see many more people that are not white than you would in say Wheaton where I live. The stores they frequent as mentioned above are certainly more multicultural with lots of different kinds of people converging. I have gone into Cicero as well for various thing and its not as bad as you might think if you just read about it in the newspapers. Its sad when people steer away from areas that could be good places to live based on the fact people that are not like them live there. I can understand not wanting to be in a high crime area and having good schools but how are the schools going to improve if there is flight from the community?
I bought a two flat in Berwyn this past summer and my son is transitioning into living there. As I have been doing repairs I have spent countless hours in this place and have stayed overnight and I have seen nothing bad. It does not seem crime ridden and I am not afraid to be there. I have put spot crime alerts into my email for months now and I think only once it captured a crime in Berwyn. Where the crime my spot crime alerts me to all happens east of Austin Ave and north of Roosevelt road. So I think the crime is way overblown in this community. Does it exist? Sure there is some level of crime but not as much as people would think. I have found some wonderful craftsmen, painters, electricians and plumbers in this community as well as a small number of younger and older people who have moved in that have a real love for preservation and the bungalows there. I will admit that the schools don't have a great reputation so that could be an issue in the future. Also if you frequent this area, you will see many more people that are not white than you would in say Wheaton where I live. The stores they frequent as mentioned above are certainly more multicultural with lots of different kinds of people converging. I have gone into Cicero as well for various thing and its not as bad as you might think if you just read about it in the newspapers. Its sad when people steer away from areas that could be good places to live based on the fact people that are not like them live there. I can understand not wanting to be in a high crime area and having good schools but how are the schools going to improve if there is flight from the community?
As the former resident Berwyn cheerleader who has hopefully passed the torch to you, I hope you can do better than "you can sleep there and not get your butt shot." LOL!
I really don't live there. And keep in mind I am not there at night generally. But I would take the same precautions there in Berwyn as I would in some of the city neighborhoods I would even go into. Can you share at least something why you moved? I don't think its as bad as you can sleep there and not get your butt shot. I have gone shopping there during the day and I see nothing that bad but I certainly go straight from my car to the stores I am not "on the streets". I see you have moved to Tri Taylor....its not exactly crime free....I lived near there, farther east, back in the seventies and there was crime at that point too.
Well, ok. You're well intentioned as I've seen from your posts, and obviously very smart. You're basically saying here that you don't want certain types of people in your community (such as those in Berwyn, Cicero, etc.) because of the influence they'll have on the schools and ultimately your property value.
That's entirely fine and absolutely your right to take that position. I only needled you a bit because saying things like "protected" might put more of an elitist slant on this than what you intended. Not to lecture you but take it from me, people who are less intelligent and/or not standing in your shoes will misinterpret it. My $.02.
Anyway, I second what Lookout said. It's good you've chosen a somewhat diverse area, and Brookfield has many attributes. Nice alternative to true suburbia. More people around here should take such chances, and I hope you get involved in your community, and stay motivated even if some hopscotching (LOL I like that!) does occur.
This cracks me up. Like this poster is the "police" of what's racist/PC/acceptable and we must word ourselves carefully lest we get cited by BRU67.... Aren't you glad OP that you now have this poster's approval?? He has deemed your decision to move to Brookfield as GOOD! Like he is the King on the throne and the final arbiter as to what "good" means (and his definition says diverse=good). I roll my eyes yet again... Not that I am against diversity by any means, but diversity of a community does not automatically equate to "good". It is but one consideration among MANY. But he has approved of your answer and affirmed your right to hold your position. Thank you, O Most High One!
The superior tone and condescension this poster uses just kills me. And he is the one on the lookout for "elitists"! Oh the irony.
Some people will read into everything whatever it is they want to see, no matter the intention. And even if the OP were racist/elitist (whatever label you want to put on, but which I do not believe him to be - though it doesn't matter what I believe), he has a right to be/say whatever he wants, it is still a free country last time I checked. There are laws that protect people from being discriminated against where it counts (as in, being considered for a job, to whom you can sell your home, etc.). But so far there are no laws that govern a person's reasoning/rationale for making a decision about where to live.
I just loooove the thought police... </sarcasm>
Go back to your little police station, Barney Fife....
Last edited by Bellamouse; 12-08-2014 at 03:00 PM..
This cracks me up. Like this poster is the "police" of what's racist/PC/acceptable and we must word ourselves carefully lest we get cited by BRU67.... Aren't you glad OP that you now have this poster's approval?? He has deemed your decision to move to Brookfield as GOOD! Like he is the King on the throne and the final arbiter as to what "good" means (and his definition says diverse=good). I roll my eyes yet again... Not that I am against diversity by any means, but diversity of a community does not automatically equate to "good". It is but one consideration among MANY. But he has approved of your answer and affirmed your right to hold your position. Thank you, O Most High One!
The superior tone and condescension this poster uses just kills me. And he is the one on the lookout for "elitists"! Oh the irony.
Some people will read into everything whatever it is they want to see, no matter the intention. And even if the OP were racist/elitist (whatever label you want to put on, but which I do not believe him to be - though it doesn't matter what I believe), he has a right to be/say whatever he wants, it is still a free country last time I checked. There are laws that protect people from being discriminated against where it counts (as in, being considered for a job, to whom you can sell your home, etc.). But so far there are no laws that govern a person's reasoning/rationale for making a decision about where to live.
I just loooove the thought police... </sarcasm>
Go back to your little police station, Barney Fife....
Do you live there also? If so, good luck. It's interesting that someone so supportive of free speech feels free to write a long winded personal attack on what I said. I have the right to an opinion too, yes?
Do you live there also? If so, good luck. It's interesting that someone so supportive of free speech feels free to write a long winded personal attack on what I said. I have the right to an opinion too, yes?
Sure you do. And I have the right to point out just how hypocritical and ridiculous your post is. Just voicing my opinion as well. I'm quite sure I won't get Your Kingship's approval though.... Only thing is, I don't care.
Sure you do. And I have the right to point out just how hypocritical and ridiculous your post is. Just voicing my opinion as well. I'm quite sure I won't get Your Kingship's approval though.... Only thing is, I don't care.
You have the right to an opinion, but hopefully it's supportable. How is what I said ridiculous? Are you saying it's ok to base a decision to live somewhere based on how protected it is from a certain economic class of people (due to your generalizations on what they will do to the schools and your property values), just because there are no laws preventing that? I'm also curious where you get hypocritical.
I'll have to support BRU here as he has been pretty helpful especially posting about the many threads on Berwyn and Brookfield areas. People come here and state their opinion some of it unvarnished. Maybe all unvarnished but people come here looking for advice and they can take it or leave it. I frequently post about the meh - ness of certain western suburbs and people have taken issue with it. Just my opinion. I do take some exception to the "protected suburb" comments and " suburbs that have been brought down" just because another ethnic group has become predominant there. I am sensitive to schools, crime and upkeep of property but I try to keep race out of it if possible. I also look at other factors such as shopping availability, aesthetics in the town, routes of transportation and parks and green space when commenting. Much of this information is ad hoc collected by me just on my rounds around areas and from friends and family I visit.
Toria- I'm a fan of your postings, and your level-headedness. But you're going to have to excuse for taking issue with what you said here - I never, ever, ever said or implied that any of the changes I described were due to any ethnicity/race. I didn't say it because I don't believe that. It would be easy for me to just ignore posts like this and the ones by BRU, who I otherwise value as a helpful voice on this forum. But you have to understand the implications of the words you're typing on your keyboard - its not just happening in a vacuum. You're throwing around a very, very serious and sinister accusation, and with that comes the responsibility to make darn sure you're right before you say it. Well, sorry, but you're not right about this. Hopefully the fact that I'm even taking the time to write this post suggests to you that I'm serious.
And in regards to the whole "protected suburb" idea in relation to property values and school quality... In my opinion you guys are jumping on the wording without thinking about the meaning. Protecting your property value and school quality are some of the same reasons the MANY people on this forum suggest people don't buy in newly built tract home developments far away from the city - all these posters must be discriminating on race or socioeconomics! Protecting your property value and school quality are some of the same reasons people move to affluent suburbs like Hinsdale instead of more middle class suburbs, because the investment is very stable and so is the school quality... everyone in Hinsdale must be discriminating on race or socioeconomics! And protecting your property value and school quality are some of the same reasons people move to Berwyn etc from worse-off neighborhoods in the city... all these families must be discriminating on race or socioeconomics!
At the end of the day, buying your house is probably the biggest investment you ever make in your life. People want to make a good investment, and want to send their kids to good schools. If you want to say that is based on discrimination, then there are a lot of people involved. Can we kindly drop this now and get back to offering people advice on what suburbs are best for them?
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Aren't you glad OP that you now have this poster's approval?? 
