The Village of Romeoville is on the west bank of the Des Plaines River in Chicago’s Southwest Suburbs. The Des Plaines River has had a big role in the area’s history. In the 18th-century fur traders trapped beavers and stored supplies at Isle a la Cache. Then the adjacent Illinois & Michigan Canal opened up …
Culturally diverse, Carpentersville is a village on the Fox River in Chicago’s northwest suburbs. The village was founded by one Julius Angelo Carpenter (1827-1880), and the main park and gathering space in Carpentersville dates back all the way to his time. The banks of the Fox River here are lined with parks and Kane County …
By the riverfront and perched on the bluffs, Quincy is a picture perfect city next to the Mississippi River in western Illinois. In the golden age of the Mississippi steamboats this settlement was a hub for commerce and transportation. That status is impossible to ignore on Quincy’s tree lined streets, sophisticated parks and neighborhoods constellated with …
Just beyond the affluent suburbs that make up Chicago’s North Shore, Waukegan is a lakefront city that has come through a lot of regeneration since the year 2000. At the heart of this is the renovation of the wonderful Genesee Theatre, a downtown mainstay since 1927 and a key performing arts venue for the region …
In Chicago’s northwest suburbs, Elgin is a historic city filled with delightful architecture from the 19th and early 20th centuries. At that time the city was a manufacturing hub, and two beautiful Gothic Revival skyscrapers from the pre-Depression heyday command Elgin’s skyline. Holdovers from those boom days include a sprawling public park, an award-winning library …
A village on the North Shore, Skokie sits just 16 miles northwest of downtown Chicago and has a distinctive character. This is a highly diverse part of Chicagoland that was settled by a large Jewish population, including many Holocaust survivors, in the wake of World War II. Skokie continues to have a large Jewish community, …
This lively college town shares a sprawling University of Illinois campus with its sister city, Urbana. Champaign and Urbana are contiguous, and together offer a world of history, culture, entertainment and sports action, most of which is connected to the university. Awaiting you are big-hitting art museums and colossal sports venues, all contrasted by Champaign’s convivial …
On the leafy North Shore, Evanston is a city famed for its diversity and progressive politics. This is reflected in many aspects of local life, and for visitors it means ethical and sustainable independent businesses, especially in the shopping areas at Main Street and Dempster Street. Northwestern University, one of the top institutions of higher …
This northwest suburb of Chicago is a family-oriented kind of place with a bustling events calendar and masses of public green space. Big swathes of the Village of Palatine are given over to parks, golf courses and nature preserves, so there’s ample opportunity to get outside in the summer, whether you’re hiking in woodland, swinging …
Thirty miles southwest of Chicago, Bolingbrook is a village that took shape in the 1960s and has grown steadily since then to a population of 75,000. Bolingbrook stands out for its diverse population, and for visitors one of the big draws is a bustling outdoor mall flanked by national and international retailers like IKEA. Another …