Where to Buy Now
The silver lining behind the residential real-estate collapse is the opportunity for housing bargains. Here are 14 up-and-coming Chicago neighborhoods and suburbs where prices are relatively low and the promise for future growth is strong
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CITY NEIGHBORHOODS
SOUTH SHORE
Situated roughly between 67th and 79th streets on the north and south, and Lake Michigan and Stony Island Avenue on the east and west
When Michelle Obama was growing up in South Shore in the 1960s and '70s, the working-class neighborhood had been hit hard by the decline of Chicago's steel industry. The enormous lakefront steelworks south and east of the neighborhood had long employed many locals; now it has been in disuse for almost two decades.
Today, plans are in the works to create new residential neighborhoods, along with retail outlets and maybe a dock (for ferries traveling north to Navy Pier), on the old steelworks grounds—and a major beneficiary should be South Shore. "This is the last lakefront neighborhood that is underserved," says Sherell Slaise, who, with Sarah Ware, sells property with the Carter Ware Group.
Slaise could also have said that the neighborhood was underpriced. Last spring, a nicely maintained red-brick bungalow was sold for $179,500; another oversize bungalow on a corner lot went for $250,000 in February. And in April, a 12-room red-brick house built in 1911—this one in the pretty, landmark Jackson Park Highlands—was sold for $610,000. Each of these sales was a remarkable bargain; prices like these on comparable properties in Hyde Park or on the North Side haven't been seen since the beginning of the millennium.
PLUS: Rainbow Beach, with dramatic views of the skyline and places to picnic, swim, and kayak; the beautiful South Shore Country Club, now a Chicago Park District facility
MINUS: Shopping options are thin, though that deficiency could be overcome with the future development of the steel land; in the meantime there are new big-box stores sprouting up on Stony Island Avenue, and Hyde Park has good restaurants.
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Reader Comments:
Hi,
I like the concept of your article, reading with interest what neighborhoods will be up and coming in the near future, hoping that many realtors’ opinions would be shared as well. So, I examined with keen interest what the perspective is on Albany Park. However, this realtor finds your assessment of my neighborhood to be somewhat incomplete. Thank you for a great try, but maybe a little more substance is what is needed? For example, where but in Albany Park can you get a 3-4 bedroom, 2 bath home on an oversized lot for under $500,000? Smaller starter homes with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath are starting around $200,000 which is a resonable price for having your own home in the city. We are also close to some great trendy areas, like Lincoln Square and the Kedzie Brown Line stop, but yet close to the airport via Blue line or freeway and mall shopping in suburbs via the freeway. Thanks again.
Palos Heights is actually in the SouthWEST suburbs, a great area. The people are a lot friendlier than you will find on the north side and the areas and houses are overall not as old. Nearby Palos Park is one of Chicago's wealthiest and unknown suburbs and nearby Orland Park has everything!