rate these suburbs from 1 being most safe to 5 being least (Chicago: middle-class, apartments)

[usercity12]

Wheeling,Waukegan,Zion,Round Lake, and Beach Harbor.

[urza216]

All very safe, lily white and squeaky clean.. And filled with people who actually think 2-rated south suburban towns like Park Forest are crime-riddden.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by urza216

All very safe, lily white and squeaky clean.. And filled with people who actually think 2-rated south suburban towns like Park Forest are crime-riddden.

What?? Are you serious/joking? Do you know those towns at all??

Wheeling, Waukegan, Zion, and Round Lake have significant (over 1/3) minority populations, and have areas that are run-down and have crime issues. And maybe comparable to a south suburban town like Park Forest.

Not all the north suburbs are rich! Don't make assumptions about places you don't know.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by usercity12

Wheeling,Waukegan,Zion,Round Lake, and Beach Harbor.

Do you mean Beach Park??

All those you mentioned are some of the more economically less off areas in the further north suburbs. I will say Wheeling and and Round Lake may have more nice areas than the others though.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

What?? Are you serious/joking? Do you know those towns at all??

Wheeling, Waukegan, Zion, and Round Lake have significant (over 1/3) minority populations, and have areas that are run-down and have crime issues. And maybe comparable to a south suburban town like Park Forest.

Not all the north suburbs are rich! Don't make assumptions about places you don't know.

I will stick to Wheeling since I live near by (for 18 years), go through parts of Wheeling often and use their Park District. Some areas have large concentration of apartments and multi-family units. Some of these are the rougher (by suburban standards) areas. Other parts of Wheeling are middle-class and safe and some sections are slightly upper middle class and safe. To write off all of Wheeling because of some bad sections would be like writing off Oak Park because of a small section near the Chicago border or writing off Evanston because of some of its "rougher areas". People look at the entire town when recommending OP & Evanston. Now, I'm not saying Wheeling has the same appeal as Evanston & OP, but like those 2 towns you need to consider ALL the neighborhoods and sections of town when making these judgements.
Just because a town has minorities in it does not mean it is bad.
Many of the "minorities" move to Wheeling for affordable homes and decent schools. Most move here to provide their kids with a good education and basis for a productive career and life.
So either you are seeing Wheeling differently than I am or you are not as familiar with the town as I am and are making broad generalizations as many do on this forum.

[vilmer laktow]

I put Round Lake at the top. But they all have good areas and bad areas. Waukegan is especially big so there is a wide variety there, and Wheeling has good and bad areas, but mostly good too.

[pvande55]

From best to worst: Wheeling, Beach Park/Winthrop Harbor, Round Lake, Zion, Waukegan. Actually, Waukegan has some very good neighborhoods. And I agree Wheeling has a great park district. And by Round Lake, I am including all the towns with "Round Lake" in their names.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

I will stick to Wheeling since I live near by (for 18 years), go through parts of Wheeling often and use their Park District. Some areas have large concentration of apartments and multi-family units. Some of these are the rougher (by suburban standards) areas. Other parts of Wheeling are middle-class and safe and some sections are slightly upper middle class and safe. To write off all of Wheeling because of some bad sections would be like writing off Oak Park because of a small section near the Chicago border or writing off Evanston because of some of its "rougher areas". People look at the entire town when recommending OP & Evanston. Now, I'm not saying Wheeling has the same appeal as Evanston & OP, but like those 2 towns you need to consider ALL the neighborhoods and sections of town when making these judgements.
Just because a town has minorities in it does not mean it is bad.
Many of the "minorities" move to Wheeling for affordable homes and decent schools. Most move here to provide their kids with a good education and basis for a productive career and life.
So either you are seeing Wheeling differently than I am or you are not as familiar with the town as I am and are making broad generalizations as many do on this forum.

I may have miscommunicated. I apologize if I did. I wasn't knocking Wheeling or suggesting that it is bad because there are minorities. Quite the reverse. There are definitely nice to very nice parts of Wheeling. I was only replying to the second poster who made a broad generalization that all the north suburbs are lily-white and squeeky clean, and look down to the south suburbs.

I was simply saying thats not true, and unfair generalization on his part. I apologize if it sounded like I was knocking Wheeling. I most certainly was not.

[mas23]

Originally Posted by urza216

All very safe, lily white and squeaky clean.. And filled with people who actually think 2-rated south suburban towns like Park Forest are crime-riddden.

but none of the are lily white suburbs or squeaky clean. At least not compared to other places

[urza216]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

What?? Are you serious/joking? Do you know those towns at all??

Wheeling, Waukegan, Zion, and Round Lake have significant (over 1/3) minority populations, and have areas that are run-down and have crime issues. And maybe comparable to a south suburban town like Park Forest.

Not all the north suburbs are rich! Don't make assumptions about places you don't know.

Okay, I admit I should've at least done a little homework before posting my impulsive comment.