18th and Ridgeland Condo

[Peacelily]

Hi Everyone.  I looked at a condo recently near 18th and Ridgeland.  Does anyone know more about this area?  How safe is the area?  Are there places to walk to?
I saw some eateries and grocery stores on 16th Street, and I think the condo is a few blocks from the businesses on Cermak....  Thanks much!

[Bear]

Peace...Look in south Berwyn, south of the Burlington...
Your life will be less complicated and your investment will
be much more productive over time...

[Laura]

I live about a block from 13th and Ridgeland and we've found a lot of places to walk to - grocery stores and some restaurants on Roosevelt, a few little restaurants on 16th (check out Freddies), and we also walk down to Cermak on occasion. We have felt very safe and have great neighbors.

Some areas of north Berwyn aren't the greatest, but we've been happy with our location.

[wil]

What are some other neighborhoods in Berwyn that folks like?  Besides the depot district.  The recent condo conversions north of the Burlington (and north of / near Cermak) are very affordable, and there seem to be more and more conversions.  e.g. there is a brand new conversion on 19th, several blocks east of Oak Park Ave.  There is also a new conversion on 23rd. 

[OakParkSpartan]

I'm at 19th and Kenilworth, just a block north of Cermak.  There's a lot of single families starting on Clinton and going west to Harlem. 

Cheers,
Brian

[tgoddess]

If you're not committed to the condo thing, we've got some lovely homes up for sale on our block (Home Avenue) betwee Cermak and 16th.  I've lived over here for about 9 years and like the neighborhood a lot.

[BPM]

15th and Wesley is cool, don't let the talk about how great South Berwyn is sway you. Roosevelt Road actually IS developing whereas the Depot District is moving at a snails pace.

[T-Stan RPCV]

There is always going to be biased promoting the area where you live.  For example, my location just south of 26th near east ave puts me in the center and walking distance to Cermak & Depot District.

Find a few areas then walk those areas at different times (day, evening & night).  Get a feel for it and find out what works best for you.

[chandasz]

I never understood the north berwyn thing. It would be easier to get to the blue line from north berwyn... which would be nice....

Beware going too far south in berwyn or you may end up smelling stickney. Plus you've got all the train noise....

[Laura]

Unfortunately, Peacelily has decided on Forest Park instead of Berwyn. 

[scoon]

Unfortunately, Peacelily has decided on Forest Park instead of Berwyn. 

I think we scared her away.

[BountyHunter]

Adios

[wil]

Speaking for Peacelily and myself, we are still looking at condos in Berwyn.  We really love the bungalows and the vintage buildings (some of which are being converted to condos) in Berwyn, but we are also considering Oak Park and Forest Park. 

Our favorite hangout in Berwyn so far:  Flamingos ice cream on Cermak.  An amazing place!  We've been telling all of our friends about it. 

[Peacelily]

Hi Everyone.  Thanks for all the info.  We are considering a place in Forest Park right now.  Our first choice of location was Oak Park, but Berwyn and Forest Park were both our second choices.

I have a friend who has been a civil rights activist from the 1960s on and says Berwyn has a very bad reputation for racism towards African-Americans in the 1980s.  Who knows more about this?  Thanks, Peacelily

[Ted]

Hi Everyone.  Thanks for all the info.  We are considering a place in Forest Park right now.  Our first choice of location was Oak Park, but Berwyn and Forest Park were both our second choices.

I have a friend who has been a civil rights activist from the 1960s on and says Berwyn has a very bad reputation for racism towards African-Americans in the 1980s.  Who knows more about this?  Thanks, Peacelily

Peacelilly,

  It is true that Berwyn and Cicero had reputations in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s as being a refuge for white flight and where people of color were not wanted.  Many white families from Englewood and from the west side of Chicago and the Austin area of Chicago moved to the Berwyn/Cicero area because of the changing color of their neighborhoods and the price de-valuation of their property that also ocurred. 

    There was an incident in Berwyn in the early 1990s of a Jamaican immigrants' house being firebombed and that incident was widely reported in the Chicago press. 

  In the last 10-15 years, Berwyn's demographics have changed a lot.  The older generation of Czech, Italian and Irish immigrants have moved out with a large Hispanic population moving in. (FYI, the Berwyn Public Library has the largest collection of Czech language books of any library in the country.)

  So, Berwyn has changed a lot since that incident 15 years ago.  It is definitely a more tolerant diverse community than it was in the 1960s and 1970s.  In fact, at the time of the 2000 Census, Berwyn had a larger minority population than Oak Park.  Minorities in Oak Park represented 35% of the population (mostly African-American) while Berwyn had a minority percentage population of 44% (mostly Hispanic)

  Ted

[T-Stan RPCV]

Peacelily - As a 4 year resident of Berwyn, I also heard rumours of intolerance in this town and based on Ted's post they were probably well deserved. 

However, I believe most of this was from the actions of individuals in a past generation who are either no longer in Berwyn or are so small in number than they are not noticed.  Berwyn now appears to be very tolerant and I believe embraces minorities.   We have not only seen Hispanics moving in but there have been a number of African American families and we now have nearby neighbors of middle eastern ethnicity. 

[Bear]

T-Stan...Don't forget Scoonious...

He was a Cheesehead...This proves how tolerant we all are!

[BountyHunter]

"I have a friend who has been a civil rights activist from the 1960s on and says Berwyn has a very bad reputation for racism towards African-Americans in the 1980s.  Who knows more about this?"

YO mark !

LOL

Everything is right as rain now, Ms. Lily.

[Bonster]

I never understood the north berwyn thing. It would be easier to get to the blue line from north berwyn... which would be nice....
Beware going too far south in berwyn or you may end up smelling stickney. Plus you've got all the train noise....

North or South, it's a block by block thing...as one gets far south, it starts to look more like North Berwyn again.
I will say that the tagging on my street is much worse south of Ogden than it is north of 16th.

If you're extremely far North, I'd submit you're closer to food and shopping options in OP and FP.  Two starbucks, & two caribou's are 5 min away from Roosevelt Rd. 
Add to that highway access & three trains and you can do quite well for yourself. 

[Boris]

I never understood the north berwyn thing. It would be easier to get to the blue line from north berwyn... which would be nice....
Beware going too far south in berwyn or you may end up smelling stickney. Plus you've got all the train noise....

North or South, it's a block by block thing...as one gets far south, it starts to look more like North Berwyn again.
I will say that the tagging on my street is much worse south of Ogden than it is north of 16th.

If you're extremely far North, I'd submit you're closer to food and shopping options in OP and FP.  Two starbucks, & two caribou's are 5 min away from Roosevelt Rd. 
Add to that highway access & three trains and you can do quite well for yourself. 

I'll second that!