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From the

Chicago Sunday Tribune

JANUARY 23, 1949

DREAM TOWN GAINING GOAL SET IN 1920S

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Homes Rising in Westchester

BY RAY ELLIS

(One of a series on land use and municipal affairs in the suburbs.  This is the first of two stories on Westchester.)

Westchester, the dream community of the golden ‘20s which a few years ago appeared to be another real estate promoter’s nightmare, is achieving its original destiny.

Born in 1925, the village was hailed as the first Chicago area planned community and it was predicted it would house 40,000 persons.  In 1940 the village had a population of 621 living in some 150 buildings.

These structures covered 20 acres, less than 1 per cent of the community’s total area of 2,200.  The remaining acreage, divided into more than 5,000 parcels, was clouded with delinquent taxes and special assessments.  The village was in the red and its outlook was bleak.

Much Building Underway

Today the village has a population of more than 3,000 living in 877 buildings and more than 100 other single family living units are under construction.

There is virtually no tax delinquent property on the books and the village, which had a surplus at the end of its last fiscal year of $14,000, boasts the lowest tax rate in Proviso township; .284 per $100 assessed valuation.

In 1948 alone 170 buildings were completed with a permit value of $1,700,000.  The previous year 205 structures were erected with a valuation of more than $1,800,000.

The second addition in two years to the George F. Nixon school is being erected.  Simultaneously the Catholic diocese is constructing a combination church and school to be known as the Church of the Divine Infant.  A rectory already has been erected.  This construction will total more than half a million dollars.

Transportation No Problem

Varied are the reasons given for the phenomenal growth of a community which virtually stagnated for the first two-thirds of its existence only to increase its population and housing facilities nearly sixfold in the remaining third.

High on the list must be placed the “natural resources” of the village – 71 miles of dual storm and sanitary sewer system, 41 miles of mains carrying Chicago water, 40 miles of sidewalks, 20 miles of paved streets, complete street lighting system with 40 miles of underground cable, proximity to bus, elevated, and railroad transportation, nearness to large forest preserve and other recreational areas, and 15,000 elm trees which grew from tiny saplings to maturity.

More than 100 industries, diversified to the point where hardly any two are in the same field, are located in surrounding areas.

Zoning Ordinance Helps

Other factors which must be taken into consideration include:

1. A strong community spirit on the part of the residents.

2. Rigid yet flexible building and health restrictions.

3. A zoning ordinance.

4. The village efforts which results in the clearing up of tax and special assessment delinquency.

5. The public trend toward owning single family residences instead of income producing apartment buildings

6. Modern methods of home financing which permit mortgage payments to be spread over as long as 25 years.