Berwyn YES or NO... fill me in!!! (Chicago, Aurora: section 8, private schools)

[BRU67]

Well, you’re entitled to that opinion but I have to disagree with a few of your points. For one thing, I don’t think Berwyn is a bad place to raise a family. My wife and I happily reside here and have outstanding neighbors who watch and care about what happens in the neighborhood, many with young children. I think this will be a great area to raise kids in. Could the public schools be better? Sure. But the elementary schools score quite well on the whole, which tends to be ignored by people who seem to want to sweepingly condemn the entire school system because of Morton West.

And there’s of course a myriad of private schools that offer a quality education – including St. Mary in Riverside, St. Leonard in Berwyn, and the Children’s School of Oak Park which just moved from Oak Park to north Berwyn earlier this year. Then there’s Fenwick, St. Joseph, and Nazareth high schools that you can practically walk to from Berwyn. I think that should be taken into account when we’re talking about how good a given place is to raise a family. That’s one primary reason why my wife and I -- both with advanced degrees and professional jobs -- chose to live here. We want our kids to go to quality private schools with an exposure to diversity. So this is great for that.

It’s also inaccurate to pigeonhole the entire community into “working class” folks struggling to get by. My wife and I work hard but we’re not by any means struggling to get by – at least in part because we chose not to spend $500k on a house and 1.5% of that on yearly property taxes in one of the Forum's darlings (Oak Park, Naperville, et al). Maybe that was a correct generalization to make in the past but today? Not so much. There are plenty of young professionals (and artists and gays and lesbians believe it or not) here with advanced degrees and good incomes -- drawn by the proximity to downtown Chicago, urban atmosphere, excellent public transit, housing stock, and walkability.

[skyeINIL]

My brother and his wife are both professionals with advanced degrees and good incomes and they love living in Berwyn. They bought and rehabbed a bungalow in late 2006. I've only visited the town, but it seems really nice and quiet in their area.

[Humboldt1]

Bru,

I never meant to imply that Berwyn is that bad but even you are not going to send your kids to public high school. If I live in a suburb I want to be able to send my kids to public schools.

There is a reason why Naperville and Oak Park and most of the north shore are darlings in this forum, they are great places to live.

My description of Berwyn may be closer to what exists in Cicero. Berwyn is ceertainly much nicer than Cicero but still has its challenges, though the area certainly gets better as you approach Oak Park.

Oak Park certainly costs more but I feel it is worth the difference. You may feel differently.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

Bru,

I never meant to imply that Berwyn is that bad but even you are not going to send your kids to public high school. If I live in a suburb I want to be able to send my kids to public schools.

There is a reason why Naperville and Oak Park and most of the north shore are darlings in this forum, they are great places to live.

My description of Berwyn may be closer to what exists in Cicero. Berwyn is ceertainly much nicer than Cicero but still has its challenges, though the area certainly gets better as you approach Oak Park.

Oak Park certainly costs more but I feel it is worth the difference. You may feel differently.

There's a focus on improving Morton West. Your kid can still get a good education there but it's going to have to improve if the community is going to reach the next level. A magnet school would be nice, as would getting some Berwyn people on the Cicero-controlled District 201 board of education.

[seattlehawksea]

I don't think there is a single suburb that gets so many different (and heated) opinions as Berwyn. But before I tell you why Berwyn is a great place to live, here's some background on my family: I am completing my PhD in Economics this year and my sister just became a radiologist. And, yes, we we born in and went to the public schools from K-12 in Berwyn. Gasp!

Now, here's some history: Berwyn has traditionally been a place when immigrants buy their FIRST home. I have put first in CAPS because the Eastern European, the Italian and now the Hispanic immigrants (and their kids) have and will buy SECOND homes in more affluent places after leaving Berwyn. Here's a suggestion: ask a bunch of people from the Chicago area about where their family is from, and Berwyn and Cicero will often come up as places that parents or grandparents once lived.

The reason that many people look down on Berwyn is that people often have a desire to show that they are better once they left. This is why roughly half of my relatives in all the posh western and northwestern suburbs may regard Berwyn as not a nice place to live even though it was fine when they lived there. The other half realizes that the schools and the community worked just fine for them and their family.

Now, is Berwyn a good place for your family? Well, I have a suggestion. If you want to impress people with an address, please buy (or better, rent) the cheapest place you can find in Lagrange or Oak Park. If you want good and affordable schools, proximity to the city and a place that has served many families well over the past 100 years, consider Berwyn.

[lil man]

i lived in berwyn for a year already i moved from logan square and humbolt park and berwyn is a really good place to live in theres no sigth of gangs just suburban wannables theres barlely any crime here and its a good place to raise children to me its a good place theres no gangs at all like i said just suburban wannabes its a really good place to live in

[TDKIII]

I think it is horrible that the old buildings were torn down for a mixed retail residents building at the corner of Stanley and Oak Park in Berwyn. Modern buildings and architecture are eye-sores and by no means replace the old storefronts that were torn down. If anything, this detracts from the depot district and cheapens it. Old buildings must be preserved.

[Calidreemer]

When I hear Berwyn I think of the Son of Svengololi - anyone remember him?

[MannheimMadman]

Berrrrrrrrwyn!


YouTube - The Koz Zone - "Bye Bye Berwyn" (1989)

[Calidreemer]

Yes! Exactly! "Berrrrrrrrwwwyyyynnnnnnn!" That's really all I know about Berwyn. So funny!

BTW I meant Son of Svengooli - typo. Ooops