This is a most impressive organization. I recently moved to the area and wrote to get a copy of…read moretheir official guide, which is loaded with great tips about the area. Makes anyone feel most welcome! I attended Midsommerfest which was equally impressive. Very nice collection of great vendors, food and people! A must-do every year, for sure! Check their website for more details!

Andersonville is the BEST! Midsommarfest, and a diverse, happy, friendly community - I LOVE living…read morehere.

Average suburban metra station. It's situated within walking distance of a small shopping center…read more The cafe in the station is only open during morning rush I believe so get your coffee and food before heading over. There are some vending machines at least for a quick snack waiting for the trains. I believe it's an every hour train to union station and the ride to union station is about an hour.

One of the nicer train stations in the area with a neatly kept building and attractive looking…read morewaiting areas, parking, etc. This is conveniently near the shops in the downtown area, making it easy to catch a ride into the city for commuters and there's plenty of places to sit down for those waiting for the train to come.

This is a pretty nice community center, and there's so much that it offers Des Plaines. There's…read morewhat you might expect from a park district community center, such as a quite large fitness center. There's at least one gymnasium. I know that somewhere in the building is a pool since this is where they host their swim program. There are studio spaces. In another area of the building, connected but not in the same building, is Prairie Lakes Theatre which hosts various suburban arts organizations and other events.

Ive been going to this community center for 4 years now to play pickleball. They offer it on the…read morebasketball courts Mon., Wen., and Friday from 8:30 till 11:00. When we arrive there used to be 3 courts set up and we had to set up the other 3 as they just left the nets aside the court. They offer no balls or a place to put our rackets like other community centers do. This year we arrive indoors once it gets cold and they haven't put up any nets, 6 are available. The friendly guy at the front desk said the nets are there and you can set them up. What happened to your maintenance man and good customer serve. I asked perhaps I should get a discount for setting thing up for you. I complained to the manager last year and nothing happened. Oh did I mention that when the kids are off from school we get kicked out early. Guess seniors aren't a priority at this center.

Zero stars. Never park here. The parking process is designed for entrapment. And then they won't…read moreactually provide a means for you to pay your ticket (electronic tickets mysteriously aren't available in their system online (even though they're electronic) so you have to mail in your payment). Then, after mailing in your payment you will be repeatedly told that your payment was lost in the mail, during which time the amount owed will continue to escalate. And because someone thinks it's 1972, you can't pay electronically. During which time you will waste hours and hours talking to different unhelpful people who transfer you to lines that cut you off or to hold music from which no one ever picks up. All just trying to pay a parking ticket. Incompetence and entrapment at its worst. A lovely place otherwise but not worth the ineptitude and bureaucratic hell that comes with a visit.

The Winnetka park district offers amazing facilities like the ac Nielsen tennis center and…read morecountless number of parks in the Winnetka town. They have parks that are pretty clean and very great looking and that once you get to something from the Winnetka park district you will be like wow! I know parking can be a pain in the ass, but everything else in this park district is amazing!

Would be nice if the announcement for vital record was at the entrance of the building indicating…read moreyou need an appointment. Super frustrating that you get there hoping to be serviced. People walking out being served WITHOUT an appointment. And when it's your turn the clerk tells you no that you need one. I clarified with so many people being served if they had an appointment and they said no. Thanks for nothing.

I needed to get copies of my daughter's birth certificate and visiting the downtown Chicago…read morelocation of the county clerk's office, although much closer, would probably have been incredibly frustrating. Skokie isn't that far away and just the availability of parking would make it an easier place to visit. This location of the county clerk, inside the Skokie Courthouse, is maybe a mile from Old Orchard Shopping Center (I guess I've never driven in this direction on that road because I had no clue it was here). There's ample parking at the courthouse. Obviously lots of court proceedings take place here but there's also offices for the Cook County Sheriff and other offices, including the clerk. It was a pretty quick visit for me--I was in and out of the building within about ten minutes. The woman who helped me seemed like a pretty unfriendly human, so that was too bad (I never understand this--it's not my fault that you work where you do or that you hate your job or whatever, so I'm not sure why people act as though they hate the fact you're making them do it). As of 2023, copies of a birth certificate are $15 for the first copy and $4 for each additional one. There's a cafeteria here though I don't know if they actually serve food here, at least anymore--maybe that changed during the pandemic. But they do have a lot of tables in the cafeteria. There's also at least one ATM in the building just past the security station. When you visit you'll have to put all your things through the security check so I'd suggest packing lightly.

Nice library, clean layoit, well organized books. Staff is friendly. Bonus, they have a puzzle…read moreexchange corner. You take a puzzle for you yo build, you do not need to leave a puzzle to check out.

This is a great little neighborhood branch. They have a couple community rooms, so they have a…read morespace for activity (most of the time I've been there it's to vote, but they do have other programs). The main portion of the library isn't huge but luckily the Chicago Public Library system is vast and they can transfer items super quick if you can't find what you need here. Staff is helpful. I had to get my library card renewed a few years ago and it was quick. It's one of the newer branches in the system; fewer than 20 years old. I think it may also have been the first in the system to be LEED-certified. It's named after Lyman Budlong, who was a pickle farmer here in the 1800s. Can you believe there was a pickle farm in this area? I wouldn't have either, but the school is named after him too so it must have been a significant chunk of land. The Budlong Woods branch has a nice courtyard out front ,and there's a small parking lot as well which is helpful. If the parking lot is full, there's plenty of street parking (paid, I believe).

I really enjoyed visiting Glenview Public Library. It's a beautiful, clean, modern, and welcoming…read moreplace. The children's area is thoughtfully designed with plenty of space for kids to explore, read, play, and learn. I especially like that it's not too crowded, creating a calm environment where children can focus and use their imagination. The staff are always kind, friendly, and happy to help. Whether you're looking for a quiet place to read, study, or spend time with your family, this library is a wonderful choice. I look forward to visiting again.

On my last visit here, I learned about GPL's used book store. Thanks to my two grand-darlings who…read moreare somewhat regular visitors, they told me about it. I never even noticed it before, but it's located right by the main entrance, in a somewhat easy to miss nook (that's my official excuse anyway lol). All of the materials are donated, and they are organized and priced by volunteer staffers. All of the proceeds go to the library. I picked up a fun hard cover book on baseball humor for $4. They also had a March 1/2 price sale going on landscaping, gardening, and cookbooks. One of the grand-darlings picked up a cookbook and I paid $1 for it, and then she gifted it to grandma, duh! They also have music CD's and even some vinyl records and I'll check out the music selections on my next visit. Thumbs up!

This is a wonderful library that includes study areas you can book as well as the standard fiction,…read morenonfiction, AV, and new books areas. There's also a quiet reading room on the main floor if you're interested in a more immersive reading experience separate from the cozy chairs and tables in the various aisles. The main star of the show is the children's area downstairs: it's the entire floor, and the librarians do an excellent job of putting out award-winning books, different themed collections, and maintaining the various game stations. Recently, my partner visited, and I asked him to surprise me with a new mystery read. The librarians at the front desk were really helpful in his search, and offered him a selection of nine suspense, thriller, and mystery books to choose from. They really knocked this request out of the park. The ease of self-checkout is also coupled with the vast interlibrary loan program. I'm able to request any book within the system of regional libraries, which makes it so easy to get any book I'm curious about. Great parking lot out back with some street parking out front.

This little library is very cute. I stopped in with my child because they were having an…read moreinteractive story in the library, which sounded interesting. It is a cool concept, as they put different stations up throughout the library that tell the story. It's too advanced for my toddler but their publicity for this made it sound like this isn't a one-time sort of event, so I'll look forward to a future interactive story. Whilst we were here we stopped by the children's section. It's located in the library's basement. They have areas for kids of different ages though of course kids can hang out in the different areas regardless of age. In the section for littles, there's a pipe that spans a portion of the room and kids can talk to one another through it, which was kinda cool and fun. MGPL has some good programmatic offerings, and I'd like to take them to my kiddo when we can make it. They recently had a magician in their auditorium, and I believe they have an evening story time as well. The only thing I am unsure about is the parking and its relationship to the doors. I parked in the back since all the street parking out front was taken, but it doesn't seem like there was any door from that back parking lot and I'm not sure I was super comfortable with that when it was so dark and we were ack there alone. The side entrance may be open during all hours, though, so that may be the option.