SUBURBS

Southwest

ORLAND PARK

Median sale price: $399,900

Five-year change: 32%

With more than 650 acres of parkland, this village lives up to its name. Nature lovers have easy access to the Cook County forest preserve system via the Orland Grove on the north side of town and the Orland Grassland on the south. The “World’s Golf Center,” as Orland Park has proclaimed itself, attracts duffers with facilities like Silver Lake Country Club and its three public courses. Downtown Chicago is just a 30-minute drive (or about an hour via Metra’s SouthWest Service, with three Orland Park stops), and there are destination shopping malls in town, including Orland Square and Orland Park Crossing.

You can find cheaper suburbs nearby, but not with the great schools and other amenities Orland Park offers. Which is why this town of nearly 60,000 appeals to young families and empty nesters alike. “Generations have lived there, so that’s what makes it a community,” says Baird &