"Illinois-i'm your boy.
Flat on the prairies
Soil and stone
Stretching forever
Taking me home." - Illinois by Dan Fogelberg
Tinley Park is a big, lovely town that serves as a suburb of Chicago. Its quite close to the windy city, but still feels like its own sleepy little village. People feel like theyre in a fairy tale when living in Tinley Park because it is designed like a large quilt of parks and subdivisions. Everything is fit tightly and neatly together like a puzzle, and the neighbors are friendly and all know each other's names. Therere parades every month of the year, and _Business Week _has voted it the best place in the country to raise kids! The schools have super high test scores all around, and there are over 30 parks for all kinds of outdoor fun and recreation. Theres also the huge, five-acre White Water Canyon Water Park, mini gold, sports leagues, a roller rink and batting cages for sporty types to indulge in. The best part, though? Its totally affordable. Happy wallet, happy resident. There are so many subdivisions that there is something in every price range, whether youre looking at new, beautiful houses by the country clubs or old, cozy homes near the historic center. New residents here report that they feel like they've just come home as soon as they arrive in Tinley Park. Maybe the next one to say that will be you!
If you've decided to move to Tinley Park, congratulations! You've picked one of the most likeable neighborhoods in the country to move to! Once you've decided that this is the right place to make your next home, you should do some driving and walking around to explore the neighborhoods and get a feel for what is offered here
"Illinois-i'm your boy.
Flat on the prairies
Soil and stone
Stretching forever
Taking me home." - Illinois by Dan Fogelberg
Tinley Park is a big, lovely town that serves as a suburb of Chicago. Its quite close to the windy city, but still feels like its own sleepy little village. People feel like theyre in a fairy tale when living in Tinley Park because it is designed like a large quilt of parks and subdivisions. Everything is fit tightly and neatly together like a puzzle, and the neighbors are friendly and all know each other's names. Therere parades every month of the year, and _Business Week _has voted it the best place in the country to raise kids! The schools have super high test scores all around, and there are over 30 parks for all kinds of outdoor fun and recreation. Theres also the huge, five-acre White Water Canyon Water Park, mini gold, sports leagues, a roller rink and batting cages for sporty types to indulge in. The best part, though? Its totally affordable. Happy wallet, happy resident. There are so many subdivisions that there is something in every price range, whether youre looking at new, beautiful houses by the country clubs or old, cozy homes near the historic center. New residents here report that they feel like they've just come home as soon as they arrive in Tinley Park. Maybe the next one to say that will be you!
Moving to Tinley Park
If you've decided to move to Tinley Park, congratulations! You've picked one of the most likeable neighborhoods in the country to move to! Once you've decided that this is the right place to make your next home, you should do some driving and walking around to explore the neighborhoods and get a feel for what is offered here. Want a big old house on a golf course? They have it here. Want a high-rise apartment with restaurants and shops you can walk to? Roger that. Narrow down your hunt to a few different parts of town, and then call up your broker and tell them you're ready to start the search. As you start looking, don't be deterred by the lack of apartments for rent in the area. You can find them if you know where to look and there are also plenty of homes for rent for reasonable prices. Bring along all the right paperwork to help move the process along in the event you find the place you're looking for right away. You're going to need the whole lock, stock and barrel - ID, Credit report, bank statements, proof of income, letters of reference, etc, etc. These guys don't mess around. It's a nice town with lots of nice homes, and they'll want to make sure they've done their homework on you to find out if you're a reputable character or not. If there's any doubt about whether you make 1.5 to 2 times your annual rent, you might want to secure a guarantor just to be sure that you don't lose out on your dream home. Good luck finding your new home and happy hunting!
Neighborhoods
Alexandria Drive/Bormet Drive: This is a tiny little section in the center of town and homes here run a bit higher than the rest of the city, too. Its mostly owner occupied and has a lot of apartment complexes and hi rise apartments mixed in with single family homes. You get a lot of property here and many of the homes are newer and built near parks.$$$$
Fernway: This is a large neighborhood that borders the large and lush Orland Grassland and contains the Tinley Glen Shopping center. This offers many daily conveniences and a lot of people like to live nearby so they can take advantage of both the grassland and the shops! There are a number of smaller parks in this neighborhood too. Its primarily residential and the homes here are quite big and mostly single-family homes for sale, as opposed to apartments for rent. $$$$
183rd Street/80th Aveune: I-80 runs right through this neighborhood, which will get you into downtown Chicago in a heartbeat! Commuters love it for this reason. The Graystone Golf Course also sits off to the east of the area and many of the homes around it are new mcmansion style gems. Prices here are about the same as around Fernway, and you can rest assured you'll be getting a lot of space and some beautiful grounds with any homes for rent here. $$$$
Village Center. This area is home to the Yankee Woods, part of the Cook County Forest Preserve, a beautiful area of preserved land. Oak Park Avenue runs though this neighborhood, too, one of the main drags of Tinley Park. The train station, a little stone tower straight out of a fairy tale, is right nearby too. The American Institute of Architects named it one of the 150 great places in Illinois! Homes here are little older and might need some TLC but its a lovely and historical part of town to live in. $$$$
Coachwood: A big chunk of Nelson Woods forms part of this neighborhood and the George w. Dunne National Golf Course sits to the east of it as well. Its a super quiet and pretty area nestled into the foresty park and you can find slightly less expensive homes and some small apartment complexes here. Get started looking early, though the vacancy rate is only 2.4%!$$
Living in Tinley Park
Its sort of unbelievable that home prices are as low as they are in Tinley Park, considering the unique charm this neighborhood offers and its proximity to Chicago finding a place of the same size in the city itself would cost you nearly three times as much! Wowzers! Avoid pesky traffic and become familiar with the public trasnportation. The Metra train can take you right in and so can I-80 and I-57 which run right through this neighborhood. Chicago has world-class shopping and dining, an amazing beach right under the city skyscrapers, charming little neighborhoods to walk through and all kinds of jobs to keep the residents of Tinley Park employed year round! Plus you can take in a Cubs, White Sox or Bears game anytime you want, if you're a sports fan. The live blues clubs and Chicago style deep dish pizza are certainly things worth writing home about, too.
