Buying in Mckinley Park - how is the neighborhood these days?

[jfre81]

If you buy it and don't like it, you could give it to me so I can go right over to Marz Brewing anytime I feel like it and drink some of the best beer in the city, and play pinball for free(!) courtesy of my other friends at Logan Arcade up this way.

<3

[Ms_Rae]

I’d like to bump this thread as I’m curious if anything has changed from the previous comments made. My husband is thinking of transferring locations for work, which would be in Archer Heights (Pulaski and 47th area). There have been a lot of delays/waiting for the Orange line, and we would prefer to live close enough to the Archer Heights area while still being able to go downtown or to the north side to visit friends easily. I’ve only driven through some of McKinley Park but what I saw was pretty ordinary. I really enjoy the convenience of having a restaurant or bar within a few block walk but that’s not necessarily a deal breaker. I’m assuming the rental prices in McKinley are still affordable?

[TBideon]

As with Bridgeport, the influx of Asian and Asian-Americans have stabilized the neighborhood following a rough 80s-90s patch. I'd say it's a pretty solid investment.

[BRU67]

McKinley Park is red hot right now, along with Bridgeport. So be careful about realtors, and maybe leasing agents too, trying to take advantage of that by marketing the community area south of it as "McKinley Park area" or even as McKinley Park. I have been seeing this more and more. Anything south of Pershing (3900) is not in McKinley Park or Bridgeport. It's in Canaryville or Back of the Yards, which are worth significantly less money and have a lot more issues with crime.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by Ms_Rae

I’d like to bump this thread as I’m curious if anything has changed from the previous comments made. My husband is thinking of transferring locations for work, which would be in Archer Heights (Pulaski and 47th area). There have been a lot of delays/waiting for the Orange line, and we would prefer to live close enough to the Archer Heights area while still being able to go downtown or to the north side to visit friends easily. I’ve only driven through some of McKinley Park but what I saw was pretty ordinary. I really enjoy the convenience of having a restaurant or bar within a few block walk but that’s not necessarily a deal breaker. I’m assuming the rental prices in McKinley are still affordable?

Originally Posted by TBideon

As with Bridgeport, the influx of Asian and Asian-Americans have stabilized the neighborhood following a rough 80s-90s patch. I'd say it's a pretty solid investment.

Originally Posted by BRU67

McKinley Park is red hot right now, along with Bridgeport. So be careful about realtors, and maybe leasing agents too, trying to take advantage of that by marketing the community area south of it as "McKinley Park area" or even as McKinley Park. I have been seeing this more and more. Anything south of Pershing (3900) is not in McKinley Park or Bridgeport. It's in Canaryville or Back of the Yards, which are worth significantly less money and have a lot more issues with crime.

I'm kind of curious about how people feel about Archer Heights. To me, it seems like Archer Heights is a decent enough neighborhood and pretty interesting in and of itself and meanwhile the trip to the Loop on the Orange Line is only a few minutes difference from doing the same in McKinley Park--possibly shorter trip time if you buy a place within closer walking distance to the station in the former versus a longer walk from the latter. So if the job is in Archer Heights, which I also perhaps mistakenly assume would have cheaper rent than McKinley Park being further from the Loop, then it's possible that the commute can be just a short walk and meanwhile the travel time to the Loop can be similarly short.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

I'm kind of curious about how people feel about Archer Heights. To me, it seems like Archer Heights is a decent enough neighborhood and pretty interesting in and of itself and meanwhile the trip to the Loop on the Orange Line is only a few minutes difference from doing the same in McKinley Park--possibly shorter trip time if you buy a place within closer walking distance to the station in the former versus a longer walk from the latter. So if the job is in Archer Heights, which I also perhaps mistakenly assume would have cheaper rent than McKinley Park being further from the Loop, then it's possible that the commute can be just a short walk and meanwhile the travel time to the Loop can be similarly short.

Still a hot market, though cheaper than McKinley Park for sure. As you said, make sure you're near the one L stop (Pulaski). Archer Heights' southern border is essentially the Orange Line so you can start getting pretty far from it as you work your way north and west. Pricing is roughly the same as Little Village, though I think the latter has a better chance of gentrifying. Archer Heights is pretty much a bedroom community, without any significant business districts outside of the area around the Orange Line on Pulaski. And that's more stripmall-esque.

Unfortunately, there's no more free lunch now with interest rates as low as they are and coastal and international investors having discovered the City. Unless the neighborhood is complete ghetto, you can expect strong competition for most buildings with value. That's why I'd advise waiting if possible.

[Gaylord_Focker]

Is McKinley blue or white collar Asian? Schools ok?

[Don Cuccino]

Originally Posted by Gaylord_Focker

Is McKinley blue or white collar Asian? Schools ok?

Blue collar. The lower income Asians are getting priced out of Bridgeport, which is fairly expensive. Schools are not good last I heard.

[hendersj31]

I was also going to suggest just getting a spot in Archer Heights but the housing stock isn't great. Mostly the typical bungalow belt home. It was strange hearing gentrification in the same sentence as Archer Heights as I have a ton of history with the neighborhood from the 80s and part of the 90s. Practically lived at Miami Bowl for a while. The neighborhood changed fast.