Berwyn Tries To Entice Young Chicago Professionals To The Western 'Burb
(CBS) – You see billboards all over Chicago for companies and products. But how hard of a sell will it be to convince people to live in one particular suburb?
CBS 2's Marissa Bailey reports on one new ad campaign targeting young residents of the River North neighborhood.
River North is full of high-rise buildings. From their apartments renters are seeing a new billboard in the area.
It's advertising the small suburb of Berwyn. City officials say they want to be the new "go-to" suburb for people looking to buy homes.
Scott Lennon, like many people, did city living for years but was eventually ready for a change.
"I looked in Berwyn, bought a condo there," he says. "It's a 15-minute train ride to the city, and here we are today."
Berwyn leaders say it's this exact scenario they're hoping to attract with the marketing campaign: Young renters looking for their first home. And River North is the perfect place to plant the Berwyn seed.
"They want to get out of those apartments and get into a neighborhood where they want to raise a family because we have a good schools and, yes, those areas are marketed and targeted," Mayor Robert Lovearo says.
By the numbers, Berwyn is 8 miles from the Loop. The average home price is about $244,000, and the average annual salary is $54,000, with the average resident about 32 years old.
The city of 57,000 was hit hard by the foreclosure crisis.
Officials say the marketing campaign is a way to help get houses filled again.
The city spends about $80,000 a year on a multi-layered marketing campaign. They couldn't give us specific numbers about increases in population but say it's well worth the changes they're seeing.