Seeking input before committing to buy a house - Evanston (Chicago: 2015, crime)

[famonthemove]

Hello,
My family has been living in Evanston for three years now, and we have started to look towards buying a house here (we love Evanston!). We'd prefer a house with a yard because I have elementary age children and it would be great to have a place for them to run around and maybe even add a furry member to our family.
We have found a house that has just been remodeled, it looks great, is in move in condition and could fit our budget, but it is right by King Lab and District 65 building (behind the high school). I know that since the area is not considered the best part of town, that is probably why the price is right. But I want to ask if anyone here actually lives in the area, do you think safety issues are of consideration?
One of my kids attended the District 65 preschool program, so I used to drive to the area, it looked pretty quiet to me, but I would like to hear from people who actually live/lived there.
Thanks in advance for the input.




*Deleting other post because I wanted to add Evanston to the title

[ChicagoMeO]

I know a doctor that lives in a home that is 2 blocks from there and he feels safe.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by ChicagoMeO

I know a doctor that lives in a home that is 2 blocks from there and he feels safe.

With all due respect, if the OP is considering a home that is adjacent to the high school, two blocks makes a HUGE difference. Even in more affluent areas being adjacent to the high school means that lots of folks would encounter negatives -- band practice, football games, track meets all diminish the "peace & quiet" that many buyers prefer...

[damba]

Yes, I do- but the problem with various people on the internet commenting on safety issues is that everyone's take is a little different. Folks taking the time to post here probably wouldn't bash their own neighborhood if they lived right by the high school. Other folks, such as myself, working in and having lived in other parts of Evanston for quite some time, will be telling you the more difficult truth. Just look at the gun crime statistics/maps. FWIW, my neighbor there at one time was an Evanston police officer. Oh the stories he brought home from work with most of his calls coming from incidences ocurring within the 3/4 mile radius around ETHS.

Gun Violence Archive

Might it be worthwhile to move slightly further away to get a better neighborhood and schools that differentiate? It truly depends on one's perspective (and budget, of course). Maybe you are used to an area with gunshots on occasion but that's where many people draw the line.

For my family at least, waiting to relocate/paying more to get better schools, parks and a more consistent quality of life at the time was worthwhile, although I still like much of what Evanston has to offer. It's a cool place(!) Nearby the high school wouldn't be my first choice though, even to get a home at a big discount. Understandably though, the rest of Evanston quickly prices out nearly everyone except high earning buyers.

Originally Posted by famonthemove

do you think safety issues are of consideration?

[famonthemove]

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I appreciate your comments.

Thank you, Chet, I had not given thought to those activities that are just part of high school life. The house is not actually right by the high school, it's about two blocks behind it. I hope that will be enough of a buffer to spare us from most activities, like band practice for example.

Regarding safety, my understanding is that the incidents are very specific to well known addresses (always the same offenders) and that the most problematic area is a couple of blocks north of the high school. The City also launched a nuisance property crack down. Has anyone noticed improvement?
Thanks for your comment, damba. Yes, unfortunately the nicer neighborhoods in Evanston are just out of our range for homeownership. I'm trying to determine how much of a trade would be feasible.

[ChicagoMeO]

Originally Posted by chet everett

With all due respect, if the OP is considering a home that is adjacent to the high school, two blocks makes a HUGE difference. Even in more affluent areas being adjacent to the high school means that lots of folks would encounter negatives -- band practice, football games, track meets all diminish the "peace & quiet" that many buyers prefer...

Is that why? I wondered. For me, two blocks to a school like that is very close. But anyway thats all that i know and i wanted to share it.

[nana053]

King Lab is near McCormick. The High school is on Dodge and Church. You will have noise from Band Practice on the field and from football games in a location like that.

[damba]

While it's true that much (not all) of the worst crime is confined to several residences in those bad pockets, you still have to factor in things that are only multiple blocks away from your home. It's not out of the question to envision someone fleeing from a gun crime taking the side streets to head back to Chicago, etc.
People w/ small children benefit IMNSHO from thinking a bit more about the 'what if' than property owners with no kids to worry about. Again, much of this stuff boils down to one's perspective, life experience and future expectations.

Improvement? Nope. Keep in mind that Evanston's 'nuisance property crackdown' by Tisdahl was only mentioned to the public relatively recently. And it's honestly similar in using (weak) language that I have heard in the past regarding cracking down on similarly plagued properties in the City of Chicago. Legally, you can't always do much unfortunately since the owners of those properties have rights too. It can take many years sometimes to truly clean up specific blighted neighborhood pockets.

Frankly, Evanston also has overall significant funding/budget issues that aren't at all unlike what's happening at a much greater scale now in Chicago. This affects city services and schools first and foremost. Why not consider buying into a slightly different but not horribly far away community with arguably less financial issues to deal with? For example, I know plenty of folks who opted for Skokie vs Evanston, and regularly drive the 10 minutes when they want to be able to enjoy the lakefront, activities at Northwestern and restaurants/shopping in downtown Evanston, etc.

Originally Posted by famonthemove

Regarding safety, my understanding is that the incidents are very specific to well known addresses (always the same offenders) and that the most problematic area is a couple of blocks north of the high school. The City also launched a nuisance property crack down. Has anyone noticed improvement?
Thanks for your comment, damba. Yes, unfortunately the nicer neighborhoods in Evanston are just out of our range for homeownership. I'm trying to determine how much of a trade would be feasible.

[twodoor2]

Originally Posted by famonthemove

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I appreciate your comments.

Thank you, Chet, I had not given thought to those activities that are just part of high school life. The house is not actually right by the high school, it's about two blocks behind it. I hope that will be enough of a buffer to spare us from most activities, like band practice for example.

Regarding safety, my understanding is that the incidents are very specific to well known addresses (always the same offenders) and that the most problematic area is a couple of blocks north of the high school. The City also launched a nuisance property crack down. Has anyone noticed improvement?
Thanks for your comment, damba. Yes, unfortunately the nicer neighborhoods in Evanston are just out of our range for homeownership. I'm trying to determine how much of a trade would be feasible.

Maybe I'm just a boring suburbanite mom, but why on Earth would anyone want to live in an area where there's gunshots and nuisance, and love it? I honestly don't care for Evanston to be honest. With the prices there, I much rather buy in better/safer sections of the North Shore with better rated schools. Sorry, I never saw the appeal of Evanston.

[nana053]

Originally Posted by twodoor2

Maybe I'm just a boring suburbanite mom, but why on Earth would anyone want to live in an area where there's gunshots and nuisance, and love it? I honestly don't care for Evanston to be honest. With the prices there, I much rather buy in better/safer sections of the North Shore with better rated schools. Sorry, I never saw the appeal of Evanston.

I lived in Evanston for 35 years. The only gunshot I heard was when animal control killed a deer that had been hit by the el train.

The only nuisance was Northwestern students walking by our house when they went to football games and that was not really bad.

I could walk to lots of restaurants, bike on the NU bike path or walk on the walking path. I could watch the fireworks from the lakefront. The *el* train provided transportation from one end of Evanston to the other if you did not want to bike or walk. The buses ran relatively frequently as well. The metra has 3 stops in Evanston so getting downtown is easy with either the *el* or the metra trains.

There are tons of activities for adults and for families and for kids.
Theatre - Arts & Culture | City of Evanston
Noyes Cultural Arts Center offers many different classes and activities
Noyes Cultural Arts Center - Arts & Culture | City of Evanston
For Ice Skating, we had Robert Crown Center
There are lots of interesting museums
Museums - Arts & Culture | City of Evanston
There are a ton of restaurants of many varieties.
The 10 Best Evanston Restaurants 2015 - TripAdvisor
The best Evanston restaurants from burgers to classic dining
Evanston's Library is one of the best (and you have branch libraries for convenience within walking distance if you are not going downtown. My daughter used our library when home from college at Carnegie Mellon because of the huge selection of books.
https://www.epl.org/index.php?option...d=87&Itemid=51
We had neighborhood parties in the summer on our block in a nearby park or on the cul de sac.
The beaches in Evanston are well kept and enjoyable. The fee for residents is pretty inexpensive. My daughter loved to go to the beach even when it was not *officially* open (after 6 pm). She never had any problems with anyone there.
The YMCA and YWCA had many great activities and good swimming when you did not want to swim in the lake.
Shopping is excellent although I miss Marshall Fields (been a long time since that was here).