We all know the value of living in Beverly/Morgan Park. Not only do we have the prettiest neighborhood in Chicago , but it is also the friendliest. Many times I have heard neighbors say they will never move out of our community, they are happy their children moved back here to raise their families and they wish their friends would move here too.

Certainly over the years I have tried to persuade my friends into buying a house in the area. Living here makes us feel a sense of pride. But it should also make us feel a responsibility to tell others about Beverly/Morgan Park. Each of us should want to be an ambassador for the neighborhood.

A recent experience illustrates how powerful this kind of outreach can be.

In late July BAPA received a phone call from a woman living near the United Center , just west of downtown. She told us that she and her husband were looking at a house in East Beverly . They had spoken to some friends about the neighborhood and were contacting BAPA for more information before they made a final decision to purchase here.

We discussed some of the issues they currently have living so close to The Loop and in a densely populated area. Having two small children, they were curious about schools, the real estate market and other typical family related concerns.

BAPA is certainly the best place to get up to date information on our community, and we were happy to answer their questions. But we came up with a better way to introduce them to their new home. It occurred to us that we knew some people who live on the very block this family was considering. One person is a long time resident and the other is a newer neighbor who is raising a family. We decided to ask these ladies to be our ambassadors.

We suggested to the couple that they talk to these neighbors and they agreed. Over the next two days our ambassadors contacted the couple and sang the praises of our ‘village in the city.’ The conversations covered a wide range of topics with one lasting more than 45 minutes.

To say the least our strategy impressed this family. They did not expect to find so much information and outreach when they called BAPA . To top things off we made sure to invite them to Music Under the Stars that very weekend (which they attended).

This story shows how two neighbors helped bring a nice family to our community. Certainly these neighbors see the benefits of living here and want others to share in Chicago ’s best neighborhood. Think of the impact we could have if each of us was an ambassador for our neighborhood. How many nice new neighbors could we attract? How many more houses would be sold? How many new ambassadors would we create in the process? And how many more people would fall in love with Beverly/Morgan Park?