I've lived here 11 months and still enjoying every second of this place. Management is really great, friendly, and professional. This is a Draper and Kramer property- they are the elite management company in Chicago and very well known for all their properties (mostly high rises) in downtown Chicago and on the Gold Coast- this La Grange Park property is the only one they have in the suburbs but get their professional level of service. Office people have always been friendly and the maintenance/grounds crew are even friendlier- things I've heard get fixed ASAP (like same day or definitely by the next) but I've never had an issue with anything.

There is a "hidden away, off the major street,neighborhood friendly" Jewel Food Store next to Homestead (which is a godsend!) along with a large park, library, Blockbuster, and Panera Bread. About a short five minute walk is a dining/shopping old fashioned main street district of La Grange with Metra, Whole Foods, Borders, and a numerous variety of other stores/restaurants. The city of La Grange Park is friendly- police are friendly and vehicle stickers are $30- and prorated if you move in later in the year.

The grounds at Homestead are always kept super nice and residents even plants flowers if they want- grass and bushes are always cut and never overgrown, every walkway and driving area is shoveled, plowed, and salted immediately. They remove everyone's trash monday,wednesday, and friday morning from your rear doorstep(outside stairway) which has a large round metal trashcan for each unit. There are a couple different floorplans, 1 bedrooms are huge- the bedroom is equal or greater in size to the large living room- AND all 1 bedrooms have a 3rd room about 75% of the size that can be used as a den/office or a second bedroom, bathrooms are nice and have that bubble block window glass, every place has nice wall to wall carpeting and blinds- closets are numerous! Some kitchens have a little more counter space than others I've noticed. And some apartments have been redone with dishwashers.

I was thinking of moving into a 2 bedroom and they are just enormous, with a large kitchen, 2 beds obviously, large living room, and large connected dining room. Units are AT T DSL and Comcast Cable ready(no gawdy satellite dishes allowed). Heating gas is included but not cooking gas (average $10 bill) and electricity is usually $30. Up to two cats are allowed, no dogs, but there is a pet fee. Mailman is cool and never ever had a problem with neighbors taking packages left underneath the mailbox- a neighbor across the courtyard recieved a package of mine one time and came over to personally give it to me. Homestead is made up of about 15 all U-shaped 3 floor courtyard buildings with lawn and trees throughout- the buildings all are steel and concrete- the walls are THICK- the floors are THICK- you'll never hear your neighbors and they won't hear you. There are about 600-700 people living here- but you'll never even cross paths with people in other courtyards, I hardly even see my neighbors go in and out - and the campus takes up a good part of the town and were built in the 1950's for returning WW2 veterans and their families. The cool thing is everyone is 22-60 years old- there are only a couple families with children or newborns and no teenagers- there are some college students here- but I've never ever heard a loud party- everyone here is respectful. There are no gang-bangers or thugs anywhere to be seen. As a result it is always quiet here.

There is a monthly newsletter the office puts out, there is a yearly free BBQ for all the residents in August, and a yearly Christmas living room window decorating contest with large cash prizes. There is a large playground on site and parking garages all over (for only $50 more- it's a nice perk- you can install your own electric garage door- and some people (pack rats) use them for extra storage- one guy uses his garage for all his weight equipment and works out in there! These are 2 car garages so you will have a garage neighbor- I've had two renters share a garage with me and both I had no problem leaving my car unlocked. Garages are large enough for a car and stand up shelving units along the walls. There are laundry rooms in the garden basement for every 12 units and even though there's only one washer and one dryer- doing laundry has never been a problem. There is a separate garden basement storage room (safe/secure)with about a 4x10 of storage for every unit.

Walking around you'll feel safe and secure- this is a great bedroom community town- still in Cook County- and nestled in between I-290 and I-55 with close access to I-88 and I-294. You'll have to drive around to explore what's nearby- there are Super Target/Home Depot/Walmart/Best Buy and other stores to the northeast on Cermak and to the south on La Grange Road. And a closer Dominick's/Taco Bell, Burger King at 31st and Wolf Rd. Units here are hard to come by because people fall in love immediately so if one is available act quick, you'll see!
BTW, your other choices around here might be Yorktown II or International Village apartments. I visited them in my search, they are a flat out joke- so visit Homestead and do yourself a favor.

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