I used to live in Glen Ellyn in the early 70s. Can anyone tell me how much or little it has changed. Pls Thanks.

It pretty much looks the same, except a large majority of the storefronts on main are vacant.

CBees is now a large Condo Complex. The beautiful English Tutor Apartments on Penn and Forest (North East Side) are gone, replaced with a very sterile condo building.

The old clinic is gone, and a new and improved clinic is just to the west.

People still drive the wrong way down one way streets, however they now run over the light post on a semi regular basis. (Main and Penn).

The police will write you a ticket for most anything instead of the "Do you want me to call your Father" talk.

Youngs, Giesche's Soukups, the Glen are still around, Hestermans is gone and is now a office/bank building.

But the absolutely worst thing is the Yankee Doodle Dandy is gone and was replaced by a street vendor peddling hot dogs.

Oh yeah,

Private property is no longer private. You need a permit to do just about anything, they're even talking about a tree ordinance. Let's say your water heater breaks, well don't even think about replacing it until you get a permit.

Oh yeah, We also run a fantastic PADS program right in the CBD (Central Business District) So those days of sending the kids downtown for a movie and a soda. . . . . .Well their gone too.

When you sell your house to move elsewhere (anywhere outside of Glen Ellyn) The Village charges you an exit fee (or whatever they call it) anyhow, they take almost as much commission as your real estate agent.


Are you thinking of moving back?!

GEM, in the words of Ronald Reagan, "There you go again".
Great Memories, here's the glass half full version:

A large majority of store fronts are NOT vacant (a majority = 50% plus one, right?).

Some of the old firetrap-type buildings have been replaced with beautiful, modern structures with modern ammenities.

The police still write tickets to people who violate established laws and ordinances.

You can still get a great hot dog for just a couple of bucks. We have a couple of street vendors now and eclectic mix of shopping. We also have seemingly transformed into a downtown driven by restaurants and entertainment with a vibrant, adult crowd in the evenings, rather than just a kids, a candy store, and a second run movie theater.

Private property is still private. Building codes and permits have become more stringent, probably due to more and more unscrupulous building owners not making repairs/remodels to code, and sacrificng safety for frugality.

The people of Glen Ellyn are still as caring and giving as you remember, and this is no where more evident than their willingness to help those less fortunate, particularly the homeless.

The downtown in the evening is still a fun destination for kids of all ages.

If you get a chance, bring the kids down on Thursday or Sunday night.

I'll try to take a few snap shots this week so you can get a visual.

Then let me know if it looks like the same town it was some 30+ years ago.

Oh, I thought this thread was going to be about the Thorton Wilder classic play-in-3-acts - Our Town.

I'll just go sit down now.

To Gem and Leamington...Thank you so much!!!!! It is great to hear something...anything lol about my home town. I loved Yankee Doodle Dand's to. I also loved Cockrobins and Webs when i was a kid LOL. I posted a question on Yahoo Answers in the friends and relationships catagory maybe hoping i might come across someone i mght know ...... or at least try to remember LOL. I will keep an eye out for pics. Thanks so much again i really did'nt think i would hear from anyone.

I think i posted my question on the wrong page...sorry.

LOL

Alfie's Inn moved a couple blocks west on Roosevelt to a larger, similar, yet nominally better lit space.

quote:

Originally posted by GEM:
....People still drive the wrong way down one way streets....

SO not funny. My first memory of this town was in high school, I was about 17 and dating a guy who went to West. So I drove my mom's car out here to see him on Valentine's Day. Ended up hanging out with a bunch of his friends ....but didn't get to leaving until around 2 or 2:30....turned the wrong way down a 1-way street (for the life of me I have NO idea what street it was), pulled into the first driveway on the left (I realized it as I was turning), and a squad promptly pulled in behind me. The officer was incredibly nice, though (I was used to Carol Stream where they're not known for their bedside manner), called my mom to confirm my story and let me go with a warning.

quote:

When you sell your house to move elsewhere (anywhere outside of Glen Ellyn) The Village charges you an exit fee (or whatever they call it) anyhow, they take almost as much commission as your real estate agent.

Is THAT part of the reason why real estate in this town is so ridiculously high-priced??

quote:

The people of Glen Ellyn are still as caring and giving as you remember, and this is no where more evident than their willingness to help those less fortunate, particularly the homeless

THIS I will agree with you on, Leamington....despite that it seems as if you follow GEM around the board in an attempt to provoke him. I don't know if you do or not, just seems that way sometimes.

BTN: I had a similar thought when I saw the title, but figured I'd comment anyway (shocker, I know)

Great Memories: Lol at the wrong page thing. It's ok, we'll all roll with it anyway. On here, you'll get a response to almost ANYTHING you post....oftentimes in the form of me running my mouth (see above for example)

quote:

Originally posted by GEM:

When you sell your house to move elsewhere (anywhere outside of Glen Ellyn) The Village charges you an exit fee (or whatever they call it) anyhow, they take almost as much commission as your real estate agent.

Is this really true? How can this be even remotely legal? I don't recall applying to be a "member" of Glen Ellyn, which would signal some sort of "membership fee" or deposit forfiet type scenario. But, this sounds like a load of something I can't say here.

It is true.

They charge you if you leave. Maybe if they were nice, people would stay?

It's a very common tax throughout the collar counties, and in many states - neither native nor unique to Glen Ellyn.

Gee. . . . That doesn't sound like a money grab to me?

Here are some of the photos as promised.

This is the parcel that was once Cee Bees