Melrose Park, what has happened to it? (Chicago, Arlington Heights: apartments, rentals)

[Humboldt1]

I have been in Chicago since 2003 and even in this little amount of time I have seen changes not for the better in Melrose Park. From 2005 to 2006 I dated a girl who lived in Leyden Township, just north of Melrose Park. I also am a regular at the Ballys at north and 9th.

I have seen this area decline due to a number of reasons, changing demographics (not the same as ethnographics) due to its proximity to maywood and other less affluent areas as well as poor city residents being forced west and south with increased gentrification.

This a follow up to the Elmwood Park thread and I don't care if you are not PC. I actually prefer this, but please back your statements with data.

Melrose Park used to be German and then Italian and now is majority hispanic. Until recently, there were few blacks in Melrose Park but this is now changing. I don't think the decline of Melrose Park is so much a function of changing ethnographics as it is changing demographics.

I am curious to hear others thoughts on this board. Please spare me the "can't we all just get along" stuff. Thanks.

[SamA]

Zoning killed Melrose Park. The Village allowed way too many single family homes to be chopped up into several apartments. I have even seen some garages turned into rentals. That is just asking for trouble. No one cared enough to do anything about it or were too afraid of "the boys" to really stand up to those in power. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church invited immigrants to the Church and catered to them. I grew up there in the 70s and 80s. It saddens me to see it now.

[Anthera]

It used to be a nice working class community, but its been on a downhill slide for about 15 years.

[concerned resident]

All I Have To say is Proviso East school district. Also , I was wondering why the Elmwood Park thread closed. I am still waiting for a response from all the P.C. members. The last post read as follows.

Mr. Ultra Liberal, you can read stats and educate yourself, but you will never truly understand. All of the education in the world will never give you common sense or street smarts. Please stat man, can I give you some homework tonight before you read The Audacity of Hope for the seventh time. Can you please tell me when any minority group consisting of Hispanics and Blacks have moved into an all white town and that town actually improved. Please cite stats of the schools improving and the crime rate falling, once these groups moved into a town. And please tell me why all jails throughout the U.S. are primarilly packed with these individuals. I would love to hear your response.

[NCV9]

First, I'd like to say that there are many errors in your post and I understand since you have only lived in Chicago since 2003. I've had many family members (including myself) live in Melrose since the 1920's.

How have you seen Melrose get worse since 2003? It's actually improved since then. Melrose Park started to get bad in the 1980's (not 2003) and reached the peak of it's bad times in the mid to late 1990's. Since then things are much better in the village. Melrose Park is a great place to live UNLESS you have kids. You simply can't send your kids to public school if you live in Melrose Park. Provise East is one of, if not the worst high school in the state of Illinois. Worse than most public high schools in Chicago. The current mayor, Ron Serpico, should really do something about this.

You are wrong again as there are barely any blacks that live in Melrose Park. The few who do reside in those apartments on 1st ave, which is literally cut off from the rest of the village. Half of the village, between 5th and 14th avenues is so suburban middle class that it resembles Arlington Heights or Buffalo Grove. The black's who go to Bally's and all the other big stores on North are not from Melrose Park. They come from Maywood, Bellwood, even Austin. If there are too many blacks for you at Bally's then stop going there.

[aragx6]

The thread was closed because it, just has this one has immediately, devolved into racist rants, childish comments and bickering. This one is closed too. The next person to open a thread on the same topic will be infracted as well.