The Dirt Lawyer's Blog Archive

I moved to Bolingbrook, Illinois in April, 1971. I was 5. I consider it my hometown, and we still own property in town, right down the street from my old neighbor, Mayor Roger Claar. When I was a kid, we didn't really want to admit we lived in Bolingbrook. It had a cheap tract home reputation and everyone thought it was in the middle of nowhere. And I suppose it was. And it was also known for the world's first indoor amusement park and shopping mall, Old Chicago. The concept in its execution was ill-conceived, but in theory it was a great idea, and you now see larger, grander versions of this idea all over the world. We had good (year-round!) schools and teachers, nice parks, friendly neighbors, clean streets and pink flamingos! (That last one's an inside joke for old timers.) How things change. The village matured, and thanks in large part imo to Mayor Claar, Bolingbrook is #32 in Money Magazine's Best Places to Live 2008. The village beat out Wheaton, Aurora...

What does food have to do with dirt? Development, development, development, my friends. Let me say this right out of the box: I come not to bash Bolingbrook but to praise it. My parents moved to Bolingbrook when I was a little kid, and I consider it my hometown. And I still own property in Bolingbrook. I've written about this to some extent before so I will try not to bore you too much. Bolingbrook in the early 1970s was a small town in the middle of the world's largest cornfield. No stoplights, one grocery (Totura's, which is still in Lemont), no post office, one fast food restaurant (Mr. Quick), a 7-11 and, if I recall correctly, a Union 76 truck stop and three gas stations (Shell, Standard and Hauck Oil [now Speedway]). That was about it. The growth of Bolingbrook into a village of 75,000 has been a sight to see. And I have enjoyed the ride, even though the 70s and 80s were bumpy because of crowded schools, congestion and other growth-associated problems. It took about 2...