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

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