Is Schorsch Village Chicago’s Next Hot Neighborhood? 3220 N. New England in Dunning
This 4-bedroom single family home at 3220 N. New England in the Schorsch Village neighborhood of Dunning came on the market in November 2017.
Schorsch Village is a west side neighborhood of single family homes built from the late 1920s to the 1950s.
The homes built in the 1930s and 1940s were mostly English bungalows and tudors.
Here’s one of the houses we’ve chattered about in the neighborhood in the past to give you a flavor of what the houses look like.
According to Wikipedia, its boundaries appear to be Harlem on the west, Narragansett on the east, Addison on the north and Belmont on the south.
In December, Redfin put out its annual list of the Nation’s 25 Neighborhoods to Watch for 2018 and 4 out of the top 5 were in the Chicagoland area, including Dunning, Ashburn and Jefferson Park in Chicago. Suburban Elmwood Park was the fourth neighborhood.
Chicago’s dominance of the list is thanks in large part to its low home prices relative to those in many other cities, according to a press release from Redfin. Chicago, it says, is “the rare major metro area that has remained relatively affordable and has largely bucked the severe inventory shortage trend seen across much of the country over the past few years.”
Redfin rated places in 80 metropolitan areas on several factors, including the size of the inventory of homes for sale and homes that aren’t selling too fast for buyers to find one for them, short commutes, good schools and safety.
Dunning’s place atop the list did not surprise April Kibler, a Coldwell Banker agent who focuses on Dunning and in particular its Schorsch Village section.
“It’s affordable, family-oriented and safe,” said Kibler, who is the listing agent on a four-bedroom Tudor on Nottingham Avenue listed at $315,000.
Along with the attributes Redfin considered, she said, are the charms of the Tudors that line the streets in Schorsch Village, and two parks, Shabonna and Hiawatha. Outside Schorsch Village, the houses in Dunning are a mix of bungalows, ranch houses and other styles.
Redfin called the locations on its list “places to watch” in 2018, but Kibler said buyers priced out of other Northwest Side neighborhoods have already started checking Schorsch Village out in the past year. Another group, she said, is suburban empty-nesters who want to return to the city but prefer a single-family home to a condo, and who want a quiet location.
This 4-bedroom English bungalow has been renovated in the last year.
Built in 1939 on an oversized 33×143 lot, it has a 2.5 car garage.
According to the listing, it has a new roof, drywall, insulation, doors, EFF windows, LED & Halogen fixtures, HVAC, and a whole house air purifying system.
The house has 9 foot ceilings.
The listing describes the kitchen as a “chef’s dream kitchen” with 42″ white cabinets, quartz counter tops, an island, stainless steel appliances and a wine cooler.
2 of the bedrooms are on the main level and 2 are on the second floor.
There’s a master suite with his and her closets and a bathroom with a double vanity and separate shower.
The house has a finished basement with a family room, and office, a bar, a laundry room, a full bath and storage.
Are there going to be more renovations like this home in this neighborhood in 2018?
Yaryna Ivanichok at Chicagoland Brokers has the listing. See the pictures here.
3220 N. New England: 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 1900 square feet, 2.5 car garage
- I couldn’t find the PIN number on the cook county recorder of deeds site even though the PIN is correct.
- Therefore, I could only find the last sale which was in June 2017 for $210,500 (per Zillow)
- Listed in November 2017 for $429,000
- Still listed at $429,000
- Taxes of $4953
- Central Air
- Bedroom #1: 23×15 (second floor)
- Bedroom #2: 14×14 (second floor)
- Bedroom #3: 14×13 (main floor)
- Bedroom #4: 13×13 (main floor)
- Laundry room: 12×10 (basement)
- Office: 13×13 (basement)
- Family room: 26×23 (basement)
Not a bad house but over priced and reeks of Faux Luxury
The MBR is going to be cold in the winter and LOL at the master bath
Wine cooler looks tacky as hell
What’s going on with the hole in the chain link fence and the sumps along the neighbors garage (planters?)
I just don’t like it. The neighborhood, the layout, the finishes, the chain link, everything about it. I guess the lot’s good size, but I can’t think of anything else.
way overpriced for the finishes… so much (cheap) fake marble in so many forms, so many different cheap finishes… it looks like the flipper bought whatever was on sale at the Depot…
This is a very attractive neighborhood. I love these little homes, and the streets are just packed with them, along with some Chicago bungalows. It’s typically been a rather dull area, and the transportation options aren’t too great, though I guess the Blue Line isn’t too far. It’s also way too far from the lake for my liking, but anyone buying out here probably doesn’t care about that. I imagine most of these homes need serious updating if upwardly mobile young people are going to be moving in. This is a very traditional type of neighborhood, with lots of older people from different European ethnic groups. I’m guessing the decor and finishings in most of the homes haven’t changed much over the years.
Anyone else shocked how high the walkscore is? 80? Really?
JAN TERRI SEZ FUGLY AS HELLZ!!!!!!!!!!!
YUCKITY YUCK! LOLZ
Way overpriced for the location and finishes. This area is a definition of a transportation desert. I’d much rather buy this place (link below) in Jefferson Park and be within walking distance of multiple public trans options and just more action in general. (Never thought I’d give JeffPo the edge on that!).
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/5318-N-Magnet-Ave-60630/home/13501815
Dan #2
though I guess the Blue Line isn’t too far
Huh? It’s a 70 minute walk to the Harlem blue line, or a 30 minute bus drive. That’s far. Any millennial who works downtown and doesn’t want a soul sucking commute will not consider this neighborhood. You couldn’t pay me to live here.
Sonies – I’d put walk score at 15. Unless you need dialysis treatment, then it’d be 95. (only 2 blocks away!)
Also – will any of Jan Terri’s friends want to come out this far for an old style keggar?
Adorable. But I think we need to take off our inner city dweller goggles to evaluate this. The people buying here (at least IMO) won’t be walking to any transit lines. This is two cars, two kids, and a job thats 30 minutes away. Mom might even stay at home. Gasp. They may not quite want cardboard chateau in the far flung suburbs, but they’re not quite urbanites either. Fine by me. But this just reeks of HGTV flip to me. In a year from now when the kids have banged up the place and the fire feature thingy looks like the reduced-for-quick-sale section of Home Goods, they’ll wonder what they spent 429K on.
That J’Park home is an architectural disaster. Probably destroyed what was otherwise a perfectly fine exterior.
I agree with ChicagoDog. This house is fine for what it is… The buyers are not going to be urban greenzone refugees looking for farmhouse chic. This is a blue collar, Chicago middle america type house. Hubbie will probably be a cop or something. Mechanic. Plumber. Fireman.
How’s the parking situation at/near the Mont Clare or Mars metra stops? Those are the more realistic alternatives, if going downtown (which is unlikely to be daily for the typical buyer here). But that’s still an annoying 30 minutes to go 10 miles.
Sonies – I’d put walk score at 15. Unless you need dialysis treatment, then it’d be 95. (only 2 blocks away!)
plenty of things you could walk to around here. The park is a 1/4 mile away. I’m sure there are plenty of dry cleaners, grocery stores, bars (Cafe Prague anyone) and restaurants that don’t need a car to go to.
It is more of a public transit desert and your friends from Lincoln Park won’t be coming to your cookouts.
I agree that the price might be too high for the hood but it looks like they have tried to make every inch of the house livable.
The schools aren’t anything to write home about.
Hell of a commute downtown: slow one lane along Belmont to Kimball entrance of Kennedy, or worse, slower bus-ride to Belmont/Kimball station.
“Hell of a commute downtown: slow one lane along Belmont to Kimball entrance of Kennedy, or worse, slower bus-ride to Belmont/Kimball station.”
Maybe they work in Oak Park or Oak Brook. Maybe they are a doctor in one of the suburban hospitals or work at one of the many manufacturing companies in the western suburbs.
Not everyone works downtown. Even though McDonald’s is going to move downtown, Treehouse Foods is still in Oak Brook (for instance.)
“Maybe they work in Oak Park or Oak Brook. Maybe they are a doctor in one of the suburban hospitals or work at one of the many manufacturing companies in the western suburbs.”
So Russ thinks this is a Middle Class owner and Sabrina thinks a Doctor will own
Unless there’s some family ties to the area, I dont see a UMC buying here. And unless the Cop/Fireman/etc has some family help $430 is a pretty big nut
“unless the Cop/Fireman/etc has some family help $430 is a pretty big nut”
If it is cop/fireman + cps teacher/city-county employee, or there is the normal side business or whatever, that’s pretty easily $150k, with no need for retirement savings. That’s less than 3x.
So, like everyone else, it’s about the 10 or 20 percent. But this is almost cheap enough for an FHA, and that hypothetical family would be a good candidate, so that’s under $15k, and if you can’t save $15k on a $100k+ income to buy a house, you shouldn’t be buying.
Most of these comments are spot-on. It’s a pretty neighborhood but very awkward for both private and public transportation unless the owners work nearby and are content with the local shopping plazas. No comments about the schools yet – interesting since this clearly has a “family friendly” image.
I wonder if the streets of the Village were as decorated this past December as they used to be. Back in the 50s and 60s this was known as “Candy Cane Lane” with elaborate holiday decorations on every house and front yard.
The Montclare metra stop is the commuter option for this area. That’s about it. This is a suburb of Rosemont, O’Hare office market, Park Ridge and Oak Park as much as it is downtown Chi. Shopping is at the HIP, so no need to go downtown for that either. If you live here, you might as well eat and drink in Rosemont too. There are some decent cheap Polish bars all around here. If you live around here, your life becomes centered around Harlem and Cumberland Aves. It’s like living in Beverly and still saying you’re in Chicago, when you whole life is outside the GZ on Western and 95th and 111th.
Elliot: It’s a 16-minute drive to the Blue Line. Which I agree would suck. But that might be the price you have to pay for getting a cheap single family in this area. It’s not something I’d want to do, but lots of people in this country think nothing of driving 15 minutes to the train every morning.
“It’s a 16-minute drive to the Blue Line.”
OK, so that’s a 30 minute roundtrip for the person doing drop-off.
It’d be ok if it were drop off on the way to work for the driver, but otherwise that sucks. And if you’re suggesting park and ride, it’d take a lot more than 16 minutes most days, as there aren’t exactly park’n’ride lots other than at Cumberland.
“Back in the 50s and 60s this was known as “Candy Cane Lane” with elaborate holiday decorations on every house and front yard.”
I used to drive through this every year as a child. It lasted through the 1970s.
“So Russ thinks this is a Middle Class owner and Sabrina thinks a Doctor will own”
Is an Internal Medicine doctor who makes $90,000 a year and has a shit load of medical school loans not middle class?
Okay- then a nurse? A surgical nurse can make more than an general practitioner doctor.
Russ on January 10th, 2018 at 10:17 am
That J’Park home is an architectural disaster. Probably destroyed what was otherwise a perfectly fine exterior.
How so? Not arguing, I’m genuinely curious. The architectural layout/facade is essentially the same before they gutted it, if anything it’s much nicer and more functional. I would think that when you’re gutting a place like this you’re limited in what structural nuances you can change before it becomes more cost efficient to simply tear-down and rebuild.
Here’s another place I’d rather spend 400k on than in Schorsch. Same # of bed/baths, similar quality finishes, walking distance to 2 different metra lines, blue line, and plethora of bus lines, and proximity to 2 highways for driving.
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/5335-North-Northwest-Hwy-60630/home/13502284
Elliot, I was really just talking about the facade, not the interior. Too often the developers/homeowners strip away the original exterior character with cheap siding and out of proportion second story additions, windows, etc. These hack job renovations ruin the streetscapes and are eyesores.
“Here’s another place I’d rather spend 400k on than in Schorsch.”
I don’t doubt there are any number of good 400k places on nw side (miss you groove…) but a place on nw highway doesn’t seem ideal.
“If it is cop/fireman + cps teacher/city-county employee, or there is the normal side business or whatever, that’s pretty easily $150k, with no need for retirement savings. That’s less than 3x.”
The cop/fireman + office job spouse + sorta side biz (he has one but is kinda lazy) fam I know bought a place in mid 400k range (in Jeff park).
@Elliot, nice find. What do you think is the deal with the door-like thing on the 2nd floor in the last (29th?) picture? Think it might be an old door they sealed or something in case they next owner wants to expand the deck or build a little breakfast balcony off the bedroom?
Icarus – – you can see what was there before the renovation here (pic 3). Not sure what they really used it for but looks odd. Really too small for a usable balcony. It looks like they just used it as a form of exit.
https://www.redfin.com/IL/Chicago/5335-North-Northwest-Hwy-60630/home/13502284/mred-09315853
Icarus & Marco – my guess is that weird door was used as a private entrance into a separate additional dwelling unit that was likely an illegal conversion (or non-conforming) 2-flat. There probably could not have been a private entrance otherwise. Pictures 13 & 14 in Marco’s link respectively show an additional kitchen, and what I believe to be the inside of that top-floor door/entrance. When the rehabbers gutted it, they smartly removed the kitchen so that the new buyers wouldn’t have hiccups with appraisal/lender.
When appraisers see an additional kitchen in a property that’s classified and zoned as a SFH, it can create issues. My wife and I went through this when we almost bought a 2-flat with a coach house in Jefferson Park. Coach house (3rd non-conforming unit) was not recognized on the zoning cert so our lender told us we needed to remove the oven, cap the gas line, so that the bank wouldn’t see it as an illegal unit in the appraisers photographs. He said to literally move the oven 10 feet away just for the photos and then we could uncap the gas line and put it back lol. I’m so glad we ended up walking away from that clusterf*ck of a property.
“When appraisers see an additional kitchen in a property that’s classified and zoned as a SFH, it can create issues.”
Tell ’em its the kosher kitchen.
Gorgeous neighborhood, but the transportation problems would steer me away from here. A bit overpriced as well.
I live in Schorsch Village and commute Downtown every day. Best bet is the Addison 152 bus to the Blue Line, then Blue Line to Clark/Lake. It’s a 48 minute commute. It can’t be that much longer than taking the Brown Line from Addison, especially with all the stops. I see the Brown Line getting into the Merchandise Mart every morning. Everyone is absolutely stuffed in and looks miserable getting off. I have a relatively stress free commute and have a seat on both the bus and train ride. I can relax and watch my phone, read, etc.. Once a week I take the train to Harlem and my wife picks me up and we go to Miller’s Ale House for dinner. If you still can’t get past the extra 10 minute commute, consider the following; You can purchase a house for at least half the price you’ll pay in Lakeview. Your cheaper house will have a two car garage and lots of parking out front for your guests. You’ll be entertaining those guests in your backyard and not a 3 square foot balcony. When not entertaining, your kids and dog will have the backyard to themselves. Still want to walk the dog? 18 acre Shabbona Park rests in the middle of Schorsch Village, with a large indoor pool and lots of kids activities. Like to bike ride and think you’ll miss the lake? How about a ride on the Des Plaines River Trail that you can get onto at Irving Park Rd, and take all the way to the Wisconsin border? Shopping? There’s tons of it, Harlem Irving Plaza and Brickyard are nearby, plus Art Van Furniture in Harwood Heights. Ah, what about restaurants? The following types of ethnic food are nearby; Polish, Mexican, Thai, German, Columbian, Czech, Salvadoran, Ukrainain, Cuban, Greek, Middle Eastern, Bar-B-Que, Sushi, and of course, Italian!
a 48 minute commute each way with a transfer? Are you saying door to door or are you counting the time it takes just to get to the El and to get from the El to your job… either way good god man that sounds terrible
Other than that it sounds nice though
“a 48 minute commute each way with a transfer?”
That’s what google sez for from the busstop at Addison and New England to the Thompson Center.
“a 48 minute commute each way with a transfer?”
“That’s what google sez for from the busstop at Addison and New England to the Thompson Center.”
The bus is the weak link in all this. On the way in maybe you can time the bus okay (assuming you have flexibility in your work start time). On the way back you’d be at teh mercy of the bus transfer, though maybe taking an uber would be a backup. This could easily be an hour commute azz to azz.
Having a seat on the train and being able to deal with some emails etc provides some value.
“I see the Brown Line getting into the Merchandise Mart every morning. Everyone is absolutely stuffed in and looks miserable getting off. ”
You are balancing off a transfer and the variability of traffic versus a fixed time and perhaps more congested one stop ride on the train.
sorry but spending almost 2 hours a day on the CTA 5 days a week sounds like some sort of version of hell to me
The bus is the weak link in all this
I think most people in this type of situation, assuming they have a car, would drive as close as possible to the relative subway/El station and then take the train in the rest of the way.
This saves a little time and lets you have your car handy if you need to run an errand or go somewhere after work when stopping home first would be burdensome.
Curious, why are we suddenly discussing this 13 month old post?
“I think most people in this type of situation, assuming they have a car, would drive as close as possible to the relative subway/El station and then take the train in the rest of the way.”
Yeah I suppose but you might need two cars if your spouse needs reasonable use of a car. Any probably a hassle too when there’s snow, but I suppose the bus is not great then either.
Do you drive? How close in can you expect to generally be? I am curious what typical practice is. Thomas F (who as a proud resident and bus-to-train commuter of scorsch village is the reason we are discussing this post) seems to choose bus.
I’m about 10 min from the el, so much easier to walk.
Do you drive? How close in can you expect to generally be? I am curious what typical practice is.
In my experience, you usually have to park at least .3 miles away because of the usual Permit Parking DMZ. I walk fast so it’s not too much of an issue for me and usually at this distance, you don’t have to circle the block to find a spot.
“I walk fast”
CC-fast, like only 25 minutes to walk 3/4 of a mile?
Or do you mean Miu-fast, so 1.75 miles in under 10?
Or like normal fast, so that .3 is about 5, unless you have really bad luck with lights/traffic.
“Curious, why are we suddenly discussing this 13 month old post?”
Ba ha ha!
Someone posted a comment to it so it showed up on the “recent comments” thread. And then some of you started responding to it.
Maybe I need to write about Schorsch Village more this spring/summer?
“Maybe I need to write about Schorsch Village more this spring/summer?”
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Plenty of little gems of neighborhoods in Chicago to write about. Can you set up a wish list section we can put ideas into?
48 minute commute includes both the bus and train rides. I am timing it from the moment I get onto the bus at Neenah/Addison, to when I step off the train at Clark/Lake (Blue Line). The point here is what you’re getting in return for looking past Lakeview, Logan Square and Avondale. There is already a considerable trend of former Lake View residents who have moved to Portage Park. Because housing is considerably cheaper, I believe that trend will continue.
“CC-fast, like only 25 minutes to walk 3/4 of a mile?
Or do you mean Miu-fast, so 1.75 miles in under 10?”
LOL! good one
“Plenty of little gems of neighborhoods in Chicago to write about. Can you set up a wish list section we can put ideas into?”
I’ve already covered all of them, actually. They are right there in the archives (which is where this post came from.)
But plenty of people have sent me suggestions in the past and I’ve tried to cover those areas.
No one has yet noted that it sold for $419 in Mar-18.
“Maybe I need to write about Schorsch Village more this spring/summer?”
Yes, please! Turns out we will be exploring Shabbona Park this spring, maybe I’ll run into Thomas F
“There is already a considerable trend of former Lake View residents who have moved to Portage Park. Because housing is considerably cheaper, I believe that trend will continue.”
The trend of city residents to relocation north/northwest continues unabated, so much so that the 45th ward just got a new alderman, a political ‘independent’ and newcomer distinctly different from Alderman Arena’s machine political base. Same for Proco Joe Moreno’s near NW side district and even Roger’s Park ousted its long time 20 year alderman. The N/NW is changing. Heck, Gladstone Park is home to the newly formed NW side GOP party – something unthinkable even a few years ago. Times are certainly changing. It was quite the election Tue.
” the 45th ward just got a new alderman … distinctly different from … machine political base”
He’s been a Union Ironworker, a teacher, and a CFD union EMT. Not nearly so different as you may think, merely beholden to a different machine.
“It was quite the election” in what sense? The results are advertised as a shift in the direction of the so-called ‘progressive left. But I take you to be saying the shift was to the right, at least on the N/NW side.
anon, wojo,
I was just commenting on the changes happening all over the N and NW side. My comment was not biased one way or the other. You could certainly say that some areas have gone ‘progressive’ while other areas are trending more conservative. What I forget to add to my comment before hitting send was that this was in contrast to the south side which doesn’t appear to have changed much at all. Ed Burke was still reelected in his district despite being under indictment….and south side loyalists split their vote between Joyce and Daley which allowed someone like lightfoot with a handful of northside wards to come in second place. The good thing about this is that lightfoot being a lasalle street lawyer (well, Wacker technically) is against the commuter tax which would have not been good for commercial real estate as niles/park ridge/skokie and rosemont would likely changed their zoning codes to allow for high rise buildings on or near their borders with city. I know I would have immediately closed my chicago to avoid having to pay a 1% tax for the privilege of paying for pensions of former city workers.
“someone like lightfoot with a handful of northside wards to come in second place”
Um, she came in first.
Yes, but for Joyce, we’d probably have Lightfoot v Daley, instead of Preckwinkle. And there’s a good chance Daley would have had the most votes.
“Um, she came in first. ”
Yes, this is correct, my mistake.
“Yes, but for Joyce, we’d probably have Lightfoot v Daley, instead of Preckwinkle. And there’s a good chance Daley would have had the most votes.”
This is a dumb argument though because you can say the same thing about some of the other candidates.
Enyia got 8% or 42,000 votes. But for her, we’d probably have what- Wilson versus Lightfoot? Or Wilson versus Preckwinkle maybe. Daley wouldn’t even be in the game. Might have come in fourth in that scenario.
“What I forget to add to my comment before hitting send was that this was in contrast to the south side which doesn’t appear to have changed much at all. Ed Burke was still reelected in his district despite being under indictment….and south side loyalists split their vote between Joyce and Daley which allowed someone like lightfoot with a handful of northside wards to come in second place.”
They are counting the mail-in ballots now and that could change the results in some wards, but in addition to the 3 alderman ousted outright already, 10 others face the run-off. They are on the North, Northwest and South sides.
“Yes, but for Joyce, we’d probably have Lightfoot v Daley, instead of Preckwinkle. And there’s a good chance Daley would have had the most votes.”
I looked at this closer at the ward level.
Enyia performed the best in the wards that were won by Lightfoot, Preckwinkle and Wilson. She was in the top 5 vote getters pretty consistently against those 3.
If she wasn’t in the race, where would her votes have gone? Most likely to those three. They would have had thousands of more votes.
But for Daley, Mendoza, Joyce, her not being in the race wouldn’t have had that much of an impact. She was in the bottom half of votes in the wards they won.
Enyia actually had more votes than Daley in one of the north side wards.
She had a great election considering she had little money. Yeah- I know she had the Chance endorsement- but otherwise, look how great she did with few television ads.
So this whining about Joyce taking the election from Daley is just that. Whining. They ALL lost votes to some of the “lesser” candidates.
Nobody but Daley was whining about Joyce. Certainly not anyone on CC.
I was initially leaning toward Enyia until i learned she had awful credit and tax liens and judgments. A modicrum of personal responsibility is required to be mayor of Chicago. No offense to anyone with a on awful credit score but studies have shown time and time again correlations with financial responsibly, car accidents, health … You name it and there’s a correlation with a credit score.
“credit score but studies have shown time and time again correlations with financial responsibly”
I would certainly hope that it does this. Otherwise, what’s the point??
“Nobody but Daley was whining about Joyce.”
Of course, it is not unreasonable to view Jerry’s candidacy as primarily a giant FU to the Daleys.
Can’t be said often enough: Richie Daley’s lack of guts is the single biggest (NB: NOT sole) reason for Chicago current financial situation. The Daleys are all pissed whenever anyone points that out, but its the 100% truth.
re: Credit scores, I remember reading an article from this newsletter dude and he said
“A credit score is a measure of your character. I’ll go further. A credit score says more about your character than, in many cases, a criminal record. A criminal record is a snapshot of your behavior at a brief moment in time. Sometimes good people break laws now and then.
But a credit score isn’t a snapshot of your behavior at a moment in time. It establishes a pattern of behavior over years and years. There is a lot of data that goes into a credit score.
I would rather date someone with a criminal record than a bad credit score.”
I tend to agree
“I was initially leaning toward Enyia until i learned she had awful credit and tax liens and judgments.”
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Her “ban the boot” and rent control positions killed any chance of my voting for her. Her tax evasion was just icing on the cake
“credit score but studies have shown time and time again correlations with financial responsibly”
I think there is also a correlation between people who post things without doing the minimum 10 second Google fact-checking (“Um, she came in first”) and then positing theories like some areas are trending conservative without backing those theories up somehow.