Crestwood or Orland Hills? (Cicero, Orland Park: section 8, apartments, crime rates)

[mudkip]

I'm currently looking to buy a home and I'm trying to pick a suburb to live in, deciding between Crestwood and Orland Hill.

I work downtown, so anywhere I live needs to have convenient access to the Rock Island Metra

I currently live in Ashburn and my requirements for a new area are largely based on my experiences there.

My basic area requirements are:
No gang presence (this is killing Ashburn)
Basic home maintenance kept up (cut lawns, no rotting wood hanging off the house, etc)
Active police force that will enforce the law and not let the little stuff slide
Taxes of around $4800 or less

My home requirements are:
Listing price of around $185,000
3 beds
A basement (partial or full)
2 or 2 1/2 car garage with a long enough driveway to allow me to maneuver a boat into the garage.
No alley garages
Brick construction
I prefer the split-level or raised-ranch style of home

I'm single and I do not care about the quality of public schools as I won't ever use them. If and when I have kids they will attend a private elementary school and Marist High School. I credit my excellent Marist education for making me the person I am today and cannot fathom sending my future kids anywhere else.

The two areas I'm looking at are Orland Hills and Crestwood (near 127th and Central). I selected these areas for their relatively lower taxes, relatively lower crime rates, and the presence of brick split-level homes in my price range.

What are folks opinions of the two areas? Are there any areas in either I should avoid? Is either area in 10 - 15 year danger of white flight? Are there section 8 apartments in either area? If so where? What's the traffic like? Hows the parking at the Midlothian Rock Island stop? Do you see houses falling into disrepair or is there pride of ownership?

Are there any other nearby suburbs I should consider? If so, why?

Thank you for any and all assistance you can provide.

[dacas1]

Crestwood is located right next to Robbins, which is an awful area. There is definitely a danger of white flight happening there in the next 10-15 years.

Orland Hills sounds like what you want. It's sandwiched between Tinley Park and Orland Park, both of which are going to be safe for some time. The home prices and styles are exactly what you want.

One downfall, there is a section 8 develoopment in Orland Hills located at about 161st and 94th ave. I believe it's called Pheasant Chase. I used to live in Tinley and hadn't heard anything too bad about it, though. Seemed like decent folks.

[ImaloneJill]

Please consider Oak Forest, I think it would be a good fit for your requirements and is in a less congested neighborhood. In other words, the major traffic can be skirted around. The high school is good, the taxes low. There are many playgrounds and a skate park at the main park district. There is a Jewel and Food For Less right across the street from each other on Central. Surrounded by bike and walking trails. Rock Island on 159th and Cicero.
Most families are working class, in "starter homes" that keep things neat. Police dept. are always at the playgrounds at night making sure there is no trouble.

[chet everett]

I got news for you -- any town with crappy schools and low taxes is not a place that is going to make for a good long term investment / safety. Seriously the data from every source in the field says if you want your housing values to be stable or increasing move to a town where the schools are good and people are willing to pay a fair amount of property tax to keep 'em that way.

I personally owned investment properties (rental houses) in towns with moderately high property taxes because I knew that I would be able to get higher rents and see greater appreciation of the properties compared to towns with lower property taxes.

Obviously when you shopping at a very low price point you are not going for a mansion, but you would be surprised just how small your tax bill might be when you do shop a town that has average home prices signficantly higher than what you might be shopping for...

If you rely on commuter trains to get downtown there are MUCH wider range of towns that should probably explore...

[Singlenthecity]

The way you sound, I think you should move to Orland. I have not had any problems in Crestwood, Black single mother of one myself. The area is quiet where you are looking to move. Some Blacks do live in Playfield, but not a significant amount. I think most Blacks live nearby the baseball stadium. Shopping is convenient, there is a strip mall, Walmart and Target 5 minutes away. Police presence is not that amped up in my area, but my area is quiet. If you are looking long term for Crestwood to stay White, I doubt it but then again, its close to Palos and the houses in the area that you are looking around, some are 100 years old or more and kept up really nice, so that is a sign of stability. Also a lot of people sell there houses themselves. Good luck to you.

[sbking]

Orland Hills is far better than Crestwood. Personally though I would consider Worth, IL as well - I think it is more immune to the white flight you mentioned than Crestwood and is certainly nicer. You can also take 111th East to the Rock Island (catch at Blue Island) - of course there is the metra stop in Worth but that takes you to Union Station instead. Worth has their own police/fire and do a good job of policing the area so you should feel safe. It is relatively affordable and the home style you are looking for should be available there but the only downside is ease of access to 294. You have to drive a ways to get on the expressway (actually through Crestwood or at 95th to the North).