Situated on the edge of Chicago city limits, the tiny Marycrest neighborhood — no more than four blocks wide and a couple blocks long — has the feel of a suburban haven. Sprawling green backyards and large single-family homes mark Marycrest as a quiet community, perfect for those slowing down or just starting out. Marycrest inhabitants appreciate the privacy and seclusion of their pocketsize residential enclave, which does afford a few daily essentials hard to live without. The almighty corner coffee shop, for example, supplies that necessary morning boost, and a couple takeout joints is all you need to feed the fam on those nights you just don't want to cook.
Located at the southern tip of the larger Ashburn community, which borders the suburb of Evergreen Park, Marycrest is a relatively new Chicago neighborhood. However, the surrounding areas, particularly Ashburn, have a rich history that seeps into Marycrest’s culture and everyday life.
In the early 1890s, Dutch, Swedish, and Irish immigrants had settled the area of Ashburn in hopes that Chicago’s Columbian Exposition would meld the entire south side it into a bustling cosmopolitan hub, but alas, being so far away from the lakeshore (about 15 miles) made Ashburn a convenient outpost rather than another city center. The growth of transportation in the form of elevated trains never quite made it through Ashburn, and thus World’s Fair-goers never made it to Ashburn either. The disregarded community located next to the more industrial Chicago and Grand Trunk Railway and waited for success, again. It kept waiting. Eleven years later, well after the fair ended, Ashburn had grown from 30 homes to 48 homes, hardly constituting itself as any sort of destination.
Ashburn plunged forward into the 20th century. In 1916, Chicago’s first airport opened, the Ashburn Flying Field, the first step in the path to making Chicago an aviation center of the world. However, Ashburn’s mild aviation accomplishments were soon eclipsed. In 1927, Municipal Airport (now Midway) opened on the south side of Chicago. The Ashburn Flying Field struggled on until it closed in 1939. The airstrip was removed and the land was converted into a shopping mall and suburban-style subdivision in 1950.
Throughout the next several decades, Ashburn never caught on as a lively urban hotspot. Instead, suburbia crept in and around the area until Ashburn residents realized it was okay to be a more laidback community—hey, they still had the busy city center nearby, right? The neighborhood began to embrace its single-family homes, medium-sized malls, and small condominium complexes. And, in 1993 a new subdivision was constructed between the Chicago city neighborhood of Ashburn and the suburb of Evergreen Park. The pocketsize community was named Marycrest.
Marycrest is one of Chicago’s smallest neighborhoods with only a few residential streets, one main thoroughfare along 87th Street, and all the peace and quiet you can want—as the Evergreen Cemetery extends through the southern half of the subdivision. Despite its tiny size, Marycrest is the ideal neighborhood for families who are just starting out, career folks who crave the suburban lifestyle but want a shorter commute downtown (only 15 miles), or anyone who has a hankering for a large, lush lawn.
Marycrest facts
Location: about 15 miles southwest of the Loop Bordering Neighborhoods:Wrightwood, Ashburn, Parkview, Evergreen Park Boundaries: 85th Street to the north, Kedzie Avenue to the east, 87th Street to the south and Central Park Avenue to the west Crime Statistics: Go to CLEARMap to search specific streets and areas for crime incidents
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Marycrest Real Estate
Marycrest is a somewhat undiscovered neighborhood of Chicago. Surrounded by larger neighborhoods like Ashburn and Wrightwood, and bordered to the south by the suburb of Evergreen Park, Marycrest often goes overlooked. The neighborhood is only about four blocks long and its entire south section is occupied by the Evergreen Cemetery, so that doesn’t leave much room for housing or other businesses. But it is this limited space that gives Marycrest neighborhood such a wonderfully quaint and private community ambiance.
The neighborhood’s few residential streets consist of good-sized single-family homes that are set back from the street and have front lawns, large backyards and decks, and attached garages. Yep, there’s no doubt about it—folks who yearn for the less cramped atmosphere and free parking (and garage parking in the winter, in many cases) of the suburbs will fall in love with Marycrest. It was like this tiny cove of homes was made for those who want a lot of living space but enjoy the convenience and culture of being close to the city.
Most of the homes here are two-stories, split-levels or raised ranches. As you may have guessed, the number of homes on the market in Marycrest is rather limited because there aren’t that many to begin with. But that’s not to say dedicated home-seekers won’t find exactly what their looking for in this tiny south side Chicago neighborhood. As this subdivision was established in the early 1990s, the bulk of the properties are in great condition and provide all the modern amenities and conveniences a homebuyer would expect these days.
The average sales price for a three-bedroom single-family house in Marycrest is about $237,000, but you can generally find one for under $200,000. A four-bedroom place averages around $262,000, although a handful of homes this size sell for between $300,000 and $340,000.
The average sale price of a home in Marycrest is represented by the chart to the right. The red line indicates the average price based on the total time frame selected in the drop-down window. The blue line indicates the average sale price for the particular month within that time frame. For more detailed information on Marycrest sign up for the trends report below or contact your Dream Town broker.
The average number of days a home in Marycrest spends listed for sale is represented by the chart to the right. The red line indicates the average number of days based on the total time frame selected in the drop-down window. The blue line indicates the average number of days a home spent on market during the particular month within that time frame. For more detailed information on average market listing times in Marycrest sign up for the trends report below or contact your Dream Town broker.
The average sale price of a home compared to its listing price in Marycrest is represented by the chart to the right. The black line indicates the baseline listing price for homes during the time frame selected in the drop-down. The red line indicates the difference between the average listing price and the average sale price during the particular month within that time frame. For more detailed information on Marycrest sign up for the trends report below or contact your Dream Town broker.
The total number of listings in Marycrest is represented in the chart to the right. The red line represents average number of days based on the total time frame selected in the drop-down window The blue bar represents the current number of listings during the particular month of that time frame. For more detailed information on Marycrest sign up for the trends report below or contact your Dream Town broker.
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