Is Lemont, IL a Good Place to Live? Moving to Lemont: Taxes, Schools and Commute
You've heard what people say about Lemont: big city amenities with a small town feel, natural topography, top rated schools, and a fun, cozy, limestone-lined downtown. That's why it's on your list, and you get all of it, plus top-notch outdoor recreation, easy access to two interstates, and more cha
Moving to Homer Glen, IL: Should You Buy a Home Here?
Homer Glen is the rare Illinois town that does not charge you a village property tax. It has not levied one since it incorporated in 2001, and its only property tax receipt is road and bridge funds. That is a real thing, and it does exactly what you would expect to the rate. Homer Glen's median effe
Moving to Minooka, IL: Should You Buy a Home Here?
Minooka is a young, fast-built town with a real downtown, municipal water and sewer, and a park system that got a serious upgrade in 2025. The median home here was built in 2003, which tells you most of what you need to know about the housing stock. Here is the thing that makes it different from eve
Are You Ready to Buy a House? (What Getting Ready Actually Looks Like When Your Paycheck Isn't the Same Every Month)
Someone I know is thinking about buying. He is moving in with his girlfriend, they want a bigger family, and when I asked him what he actually wants, he did not say a number. He said he wants a house big enough for that family that does not break his bank, and something he can hand down to his kids
Moving to Lockport, IL: Should You Buy a Home Here?
Lockport is the only town on my list where you can stand on a street that was laid out around a canal lock from 1848 and be looking at a subdivision that did not exist four years ago. That is not a slogan. It is the actual reason the numbers in this article behave strangely, and it is the reason a t
How I Rate Southwest Suburb Towns (and What Each Star Actually Means)
Every town guide I write ends with a star rating across eight categories. This page defines every one of them: what is measured, where the number comes from, and what separates three stars from four. I am putting this in writing for a simple reason. Almost every town rating online tells you a place
Moving to Palos Heights, IL: Should You Buy a Home Here?
The three Palos villages are easy to blur together, and Palos Heights is the one that sits in the middle, in price, in feel, and on the map. It offers something its two neighbors do not: an actual walkable downtown, plus Lake Katherine and a close-in Metra station, wrapped around a settled, establis
Moving to Palos Hills, IL: Should You Buy a Home Here?
The three Palos villages get talked about as one place, but they are not, and Palos Hills is the one that surprises people. It is the affordable, denser, more practical member of the trio, home to Moraine Valley Community College and a housing mix heavy on condos, townhomes, and modest single-family
Moving to Palos Park, IL: Should You Buy a Home Here?
People tend to lump the three Palos villages together, and they are genuinely different places. Palos Park is the wooded, big-lot, slow-down end of the trio: horse trails, forest preserve on three sides, and a village center that still feels like a small town. If you want space and quiet inside a re