Forest View · Cook County · IL
Active listings
Inventory in Forest View turns over week to week. Check back, or ask a Subdiview agent to set up an alert so you’re the first to know when a new one hits the market.
About the community
Forest View is a small village in Cook County, with a 2020 census population of 792. It was founded in 1924 by World War I veterans and conceived by attorney Joseph Nosek as a haven for ex-servicemen. The village is largely an industrial corridor: its residential section occupies only about 10 percent of its land, while the rest is the Stevenson Expressway corridor, industry along Harlem Avenue, and trucking facilities on 47th Street. It borders the Chicago neighborhood of Garfield Ridge to the south and sits in Stickney Township. Though only around 792 people live there, tens of thousands of people work in or pass through the village every day.
~790 residents
The 2020 census counted 792 people, one of the smallest municipalities in Cook County.
Founded by veterans
Established in 1924 as a haven for World War I veterans and originally governed by ex-servicemen.
Mostly industrial
About 90 percent of the village is the I-55 corridor, Harlem Avenue industry, and 47th Street trucking.
On the Stevenson
The Stevenson Expressway, Interstate 55, runs through the village toward downtown Chicago.
Old Caponeville
In the 1920s the Capone organization briefly took over the village, giving it the nickname Caponeville.
Lyons and Morton schools
Served by Lyons School District 103 and J. Sterling Morton High School District 201.
Forest View sits on Chicago's southwest edge in Stickney Township, hemmed in by the Stevenson Expressway and Harlem Avenue, adjacent to the Chicago neighborhood of Garfield Ridge.
Life in Forest View centers on a compact residential core that makes up only about 10 percent of the village's land, surrounded by one of the region's busiest industrial and logistics corridors. With a few hundred households and a relatively large average household size, it functions as a small, tight enclave, and homeownership is very high. Everyday shopping and services are largely found in neighboring Stickney, Cicero, and Berwyn.
Most residents drive to work, with an average commute around 25 minutes and the largest share commuting alone. The village markets its central position and expressway access as a draw while balancing local services against the heavy daily through-traffic of the surrounding industrial district. Nearby forest preserves along the Des Plaines River and the historic Chicago Portage give residents green space within a short drive.
Neighborhoods
Browse the listings above. Detailed neighborhood pages with market stats, school info, and lifestyle take-downs land here as we roll them out.
Schools
Boundary lines do shift. Always confirm in writing for a specific address before writing an offer.
Lyons School District 103
Schools serving the area
Forest View grade-school students attend Lyons School District 103, including Home Elementary in Stickney and George Washington Middle in Lyons.
J. Sterling Morton High School District 201
Schools serving the area
Forest View high schoolers attend Morton West in Berwyn within J. Sterling Morton High School District 201.
Around town
A handful of the places people who live here actually use. Not a directory.
Chicago Portage National Historic Site
A National Park System site on the Des Plaines River marking the portage that linked the Great Lakes to the Mississippi.
Ottawa Trail Woods
A Cook County forest preserve along the Des Plaines River adjoining the Chicago Portage site.
Hawthorne Race Course
A historic thoroughbred racetrack just east of Forest View in Stickney and Cicero.
Portage Woods
A Cook County forest preserve with natural-surface trails and birding connecting to the Salt Creek trail system.
Village of Forest View Parks
The village maintains small local parks and green spaces for residents.
Forest View Business Directory
The village's directory of local bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and ice cream spots.
Getting around
By the numbers
Property tax rates vary by exact township and assessor district. Confirm per address before pricing a purchase.
Property tax rate
1.89%
effective avg
Sales tax
10.00%
combined
Median sold price
$301,950
MRED · last 12 mo (6 sales)
Median household income
$89,702
ACS
How Forest View got here
The Village of Forest View was founded in 1924 and originally conceived by attorney Joseph Nosek as a haven for World War I veterans. It took its name from the view of the forest preserves and wooded prairies just west across Harlem Avenue. The original incorporation book dedicates the village to those who served in the World War of 1917 to 1918, and it has been described as the only known village in the United States originally governed exclusively by ex-servicemen.
In the mid-1920s the founders were forced out by the Capone organization, and Forest View briefly earned the nickname Caponeville, with bootleg distilleries and a notorious roadhouse before vigilantes burned down the headquarters and the operation moved north to Cicero. The Great Depression stalled growth until 1949, when Commonwealth Edison built a generating plant in the village, and annexation of industrial land after 1952 expanded Forest View from about 50 homes to more than 250. The town once called Caponeville later became known as the Cinderella Village.
The questions buyers actually ask
The questions I get most from buyers shopping Forest View. If yours isn't here, text 815-355-0582, same-day reply.
Your local agent
Most agents will list anything. I focus on the communities I actually know, and the details that determine resale value here aren't in the MLS write-up: which lots back to open space, which streets carry the most consistent demand, which floor plans buyers ask for by name, and what each HOA actually covers.
When you're ready to tour or list, you want someone who's walked the streets, talked to the residents, and read the last 50 closed comps in this market specifically. That's how I work. Text or call any time, and I'll give you a real take, not a brochure.
Thinking of selling?
Not a Zestimate. A real CMA from someone who's sold this neighborhood, knows the floor plan premiums, and can tell you which upgrades the buyer pool here actually pays for.