Another real estate link

http://www.realtytrac.com/

Check out the foreclosures in your neighborhood according to zip code. Not just foreclosures to be sure, but also home values and trends.

Here are foreclosures for two ward zipcodes 60619 and 60628. Let us know what you find in your zipcode both in the ward or in your neck of the woods.

How about a message from the Alderman's newsletter about the neighborhoods of the Sixth...

It’s another month in another year of living and working in the wonderful 6th Ward. For those who may not be aware, the 6th Ward currently contains the communities of east Englewood, Park Manor, Greater Grand Crossing, Chatham, Chesterfield, West Chesterfield and Roseland Heights. I say currently because long time residents know that the boundaries have changed considerably. It is also worth mentioning that within the next 3 years, the boundaries will change again, due to the decennial census and the remapping of the Wards. But I digress.

The 6th Ward has been a mixed income community for more than 50 years. We have had and continue to have communities with residents of considerable wealth.We have had and continue to have communities that are  somewhere in the middle class and those who are desperately poor. Because of the change in the  make-up of the Black family; the loss of good manufacturing jobs; the transformation of the steel belt (Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, etc.) from making things (manufacturing) to serving people (retail, computer repair, etc.) the numbers of those in the middle and upper income levels is shrinking compared to those at the lower end of the spectrum. But we’re still here and we still have a middle class community when you average it out.

So what does that mean, you ask? It means that despite the break-ins that have plagued some of us; despite the gunshots you now hear when you lived here for 40 years and only heard them on New Year’s Eve; and despite the fact that the kids you see are 300% different than your children, we still are a community of choice. We have some of the best schools in the City in this Ward; beautiful and accessible Parks, fantastic housing stock, a variety of majestic Churches, an institution of higher learning, a new library on the way, a reliable (although problematic) transportation system, access to area expressways, a fair (not good) amount of retail and great neighbors. We’re a little short on medical care, but you can still raise and educate your children here, shop here, learn here, worship here, and be memorialized all within your community. So let’s start the year thanking the Creator for letting us see another year and allowing us to live in a community that remains vibrant, alive and thriving. Yes we have problems, but so does everybody else. The suburbs have crime and much higher property taxes. The North Side has crime and much higher property taxes. It’s not utopia and to be frank it wasn’t 40 years ago. But it is a great community to live in because each of you at my monthly meetings is dedicated to making it that way. We are here, we are going to remain here and we are going to keep working to make it a place your grandchildren can live in and raise their children, too.

May we continue to work hard to keep this ward a nice place to live, work, play and do business!

If you're under foreclosure and you need some help this is also contained in the Aldermanic newsletter. You should subscribe, because there is a lot of beneficial information contained therein:

Free Legal Services…The Poverty Law Project of the Legal Aid Bureau of Metropolitan Family Services can provide free legal services to low income clients in the following area: Housing-mortgage foreclosures, landlord/tenant disputes, Housing Choice Voucher Program, etc.; Consumer Law-repossession, collector’s actions, public utilities, etc.; Public Benefits-Advice and referrals for applications, etc. For more information and to register for Free Legal Services, call 773.371.3697.

Stay warm out there!