Is Western Springs a good place for affluent african americans (Chicago: real estate, coupons)

[mh7]

Originally Posted by marlene915

I agree with this. WS is very homogenous, and there are so many Irish Catholics that you could potentially feel "left out" living there. Even though Hinsdale may only be a little bit more diverse, it could make a world of difference to the OP. What about Oakbrook or other surrounding communities?

Diversity in La Grange/Western Springs/Hinsdale means you have a good mix of Irish, Italians & Germans... I really don't think that you could possibly claim that any of them is more diverse than the others.

[chet everett]

The OP is DIVERSITY and is only looking for TOLERANCE...

[adele115]

Originally Posted by mh7

Diversity in La Grange/Western Springs/Hinsdale means you have a good mix of Irish, Italians & Germans... I really don't think that you could possibly claim that any of them is more diverse than the others.

I would disagree, you see more people of color in LaGrange and Hinsdale than you do in Western Springs. This doesn't say anything about tolerance, per se... In Hinsdale I see more AA, Asian, and Indian folks than I do in W.S.

A side note; growing up in WS, I never even noticed how Catholic it was (I'm not). Though in retrospect, all my friends belonged to St. John of the Cross church, some went to Nazareth, etc., so now I do see how that is a very Catholic area. But...so what?

[marlene915]

Originally Posted by adele115

I would disagree, you see more people of color in LaGrange and Hinsdale than you do in Western Springs. This doesn't say anything about tolerance, per se... In Hinsdale I see more AA, Asian, and Indian folks than I do in W.S.

A side note; growing up in WS, I never even noticed how Catholic it was (I'm not). Though in retrospect, all my friends belonged to St. John of the Cross church, some went to Nazareth, etc., so now I do see how that is a very Catholic area. But...so what?

I guess I feel that if you are new to an area with school-age children and many of your neighbors/peers are affiliated with one specific church that you do not attend, it could be that much harder to meet people and make friends. It is just something I noticed when I moved to this area from out-of-state. I do think that WS is a lovely, tolerant community and a very nice place to live.

[bulldawg1594]

Originally Posted by adele115

I would disagree, you see more people of color in LaGrange and Hinsdale than you do in Western Springs. This doesn't say anything about tolerance, per se... In Hinsdale I see more AA, Asian, and Indian folks than I do in W.S.

A side note; growing up in WS, I never even noticed how Catholic it was (I'm not). Though in retrospect, all my friends belonged to St. John of the Cross church, some went to Nazareth, etc., so now I do see how that is a very Catholic area. But...so what?

hinsdale is .8% african american. that is not much better than western springs.

[adele115]

Originally Posted by bulldawg1594

hinsdale is .8% african american. that is not much better than western springs.

That statistic may reflect 2000 census data, but there are other data points, including businesses, entitities, etc. that draw in diversity. For instance, commerce is much larger in Hinsdale, therefore there may be more presence of diversity through business owners / associates who don't live but do work in Hinsdale. Also, the Unitarian and UCC churches draw in more diversity. While mostly anecdotal, I do think there is more diversity present in Hinsdale than in WS - of course it ain't the city, we all know that - but IMHO Hinsdale has more Jazz.

[bicycleguy]

I've lived in WS for over a year and here's my take on its commitment to diversity.

There are many of us here who work downtown or in diverse environments and who are working for and welcoming greater diversity in WS. We send our kids to the (excellent) public schools, use public transit, spend plenty of time in the city, and also enjoy our cute little WS downtown and the grid of streets, but we don't think it's the only place on earth to live. Many of us grew up elsewhere, and, like the OP, looked at moving here for the good schools, METRA, safe neighborhood, and non-uptight people.

There is a group of people here who have grown up in WS or in the surrounding burbs, who have an approach to "race" that is a lot like midwestern small town white folk: little overt Southern-style racism, but plenty of naivete and lots of bad assumptions from what they've learned from watching racist TV news, etc., and, well, living in a place where many of the dark-complected people they see are... people from "outside" WS. It's a pattern of small town attitudes in a big-city suburb. (Some of the small town sensibility is really wonderful and fun, but, obviously, some of it is maddening and insulting.)

It does seem that the folks on the upper end of the income scale in WS (with whom the OP related) are the more "small-town" minded, while the less affluent here are the more progressive, better traveled and educated, and welcoming of diversity.

OP mentioned interest in the gifted programs. The advanced/gifted programs seem especially geared to (and populated by) the civic-minded, progressive, diversity-minded and diverse folks. We've been very pleased with this.

We'd love to have more people of color here. Hope you consider it!

[chet everett]

If you've only been in WS for a year then I doubt you've seen the uglier side of using zoning restrictions to prevent the development of lower cost housing... Believe me, when that was an issue the small mindedness of the older residents was much in evidence.

I also would caution that given the very high median housing price in WS even the younger less affluent folks are generally not from the lower rungs of income: https://www.city-data.com/city/Wester...-Illinois.html
Given the difficulties of deficit spending that is affecting most Illinois schools I suspect that should increased diversity come with additional demands to serve students the expenditures earmarked for higher achieving students would be cut back significantly. http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1N1-...C5D4DC908.html


BTW-- I am also curious about where one may tune into "racist TV news", in my experience all the Chicago based news outlets go out of their way to avoid mentioning race in 99% of their crime reporting...

[bicycleguy]

I've only lived here a year, but, from what I've heard, Chet is right on about some of the zoning ugliness. It's an environmental/energy problem, too: there are zoning restrictions against making houses "too small" (and therefore more efficient). But times--and minds--are changing...

Originally Posted by chet everett

I am also curious about where one may tune into "racist TV news", in my experience all the Chicago based news outlets go out of their way to avoid mentioning race in 99% of their crime reporting...

I don't get local news from the teevee, but the most watched national "news" network is hilariously bad in its approach to "race" (among its many other problems). Here's a little clip.

[chet everett]

In my experience the cable uptake rates are pretty low among the older citizens of towns like Western Springs; the views these folks have were probably formed back when the first Mayor Daley was in power