The nicest thoroughfare in the area. This is a great and often scenic place to sit and relax or…read morejust pass through. There is typically art on display so it is usually a fairly interesting route or destination. Overall, a nice place to enjoy your beverages and snacks from home (or wherever else) and appreciate artwork in the outdoors.

Barrington's yearly 4th of July celebration includes 5 days of "Beer and Brats" in the tent they…read moreset up downtown. Its a great "small town 4th of July feel". Its also a great time to go drink some beer and eat some brats with friends! Can't wait until next year!

If you have never visited Elgin or haven't been there in a while you need to come take a look! My…read morehubby & have lived in Elgin for 6 years & they have putting a lot of effort into the downtown revitalization efforts...there's a lot more to Elgin than just the riverboat casino! There are plenty of neat places to check out so if you are looking for a new place to visit for the day or afternoon come take a look. You can check out my Yelp List, "I Heart Elgin" to see my reviews on the various great restaurants (oh so many I love!) and a few stores in the area we are fans of. The other non-eatery places I love in Elgin (but perhaps haven't gotten around to reviewing quite yet): -The Fox River Bike Trail (Algonquin to Aurora -you can go for miles, and miles and miles...) --The Fox River - plenty of nice easy areas to kayak -Several excellent parks, some along the river and some not, just to name a few: -Lords Park - one of my favorite places to relax (they have an area where they help rehabilitate injured wildlife so you can check out some deer up close along with foxes & a couple of buffalo, even!) -John J. Duerr Park (aka Blackhawk Park, aka 5 Islands Park) - it's along the Fox River Bike Trail -Walton Island Park (just across the street from the library -Festival Park -The Gail Borden Library (the second-best library ever- sorry the first one is in Columbus, OH) -Elgin's Historical District - love those big beautiful Victorian homes -A whole block downtown with at least 4 different antique shops -Mexican Bakeries - we have several, and yes that entire tray mounded full of cookies will only total $5! -ReStore -the Habitat for Humanity home store! -The Hemmens -Harvest Market on Thursdays (it's small but still nice)

Elgin is the best city in Illinois and should be rated on a national list. The only thing holding…read moreit back is the school system. I believe the school system is superior, but teachers and the community believes it is not up-to-standards. Otherwise, the parks are big and have plenty of space to fly kites, play soccer and enjoy life. Elgin has a big Hispanic and gay population, which makes us a very diverse community. The best part about Elgin is seeing all the families enjoying the community events, supporting the awesome government we have and loving each other! This city is a hidden secret!

Today you can get chef Luchiano's Kitchen and Chicken (since 1991) from one of the original White…read moreCaste locations- which is located at Wabash and Cermack - if you want White Castle then you just look kitty-corner and there you have it! According to the Chicago landmark plaque, "this tiny white glazed brick building is the best surviving example in Chicago of the buildings built by the White Castle system of eating houses." It is technically Whitecastle number 16.

*Note: This is the real address for Lake In The Hills (Village Hall) and NOT someone's residence…read more Idyllic in name and beautiful in setting. LITH is sandwiched in between Crystal Lake, Algonquin, and Huntley. In south central McHenry county about an hour NW of Chicago. Home of Elle's Bagels (formerly Ira's Bagels) NJ style bagels and bialys; Konrad's Bakery (Polish pastries), Antigua Mexican Grill; Triple Berry Café; Bistro Wasabi; Butcher on the Block; Children's Medical Group (pediatrician). Many of these received Best of the Fox 2020 or One of the Best for McHenry County! There are plenty of biking, walking paths; parks with playgrounds; a good sized lake for fishing and boating. Beautiful sunrises and sunsets because of all the trees and hills. See an occasional hot air balloon floating by. This little town has a lot to offer with from neighborhoods and schools for families. Easy access to I-90 to drive to/from Chicago or Rockford. Halfway between the Metra Stations in Crystal Lake and Elgin. About a 25 minute drive to Woodstock Square Historical District. Just under an hours drive to Lake Geneva, WI.

I really wish that my property taxes hadn't just gone up 30% this year, and that our part of the…read moreneighborhood had sidewalks, but aside from that, this is a village I love living in. The law enforcement in the community is friendly and responsive. They have annual celebrations that make us feel like they are close to us. I feel safe living down the street from the station. The parks and recreation team also have great events and programming. We take part in as much of the free stuff as possible, and have paid for activities and races. I would recommend living in LITH if you're checking it out. We've been here for almost 8 years and we hope to stay for awhile longer!

I know where Chandler and Joey are. But where did Roscoe?…read more Maybe to Yemen? Oh wait that was Chandler. Lovely little village with tons of eclectic ethnic food and awesomeness up in the north suburbs of Chicago. One of my favorite little neighbourhoods, and also has the second best deep dish slice in the city in my opinion. I come to Roscoe Village all the time and it's one of the places I would consider living if I was around here.

IT REALLY IS THE VILLAGE IN THE CITY.Or is it the suburb in the city?…read more I lived here for a few years and since moving away have been reflecting on my honest thoughts with the neighborhood. I will first say that I am not a Chicago/IL native so I was always a little biased in terms of neighborhoods in Chicago and what is deemed "safe" and "nice" and "cool". In all honesty I would rate good old RV 3.5 stars rounding to 4 and here's why. There are no parks. The nearest park is Hamlin and that's not Roscoe Village. That's more west lakeview south on damen. There are also no farmers markets. Like none. The nearest farmers market is in East Lakeview or Logan Square. There is no efficient public transit nearby. Good luck getting anywhere in a timely manner. The nearest trains (brown Paulina and brown Addison are not exactly close nor walkable in sub-zero Chicago winters). Very inconvenient location from the Loop. Most people in this neighborhood seemed to be a two car family. Just like the 'burbs. Traffic is a nightmare. The main thoroughfares (Western, Damen, Ashland, Diversey, Belmont) are all congested traffic nightmares. Western is about to be destroyed down to two lanes from George to Waveland (one north, one south) for the next two years. It will make getting out to this neighborhood from downtown all the more inefficient. Evidently city planners didn't take into consideration the 4k students at Lane Tech, the 1k people at DeVry or the other hundreds of students at the other college prep school on California and Addison. Fail. Restaurants on the main strip of Roscoe are subpar at best. Volo is good but the rest I could pass on. We ventured more into other neighborhoods like Logan Square to do our eating and drinking. Now onto the good which is why it is considered a desirable Chicago neighborhood. It's great for families, very kid friendly at most establishments, and even better if you can afford a SFH. If you have one kid then I suppose a condo works, but since there aren't any parks nearby you may want a yard with that SFH. That'll run a cool $1M or so also so it's not exactly the most affordable. But it's a steal compared to Lincoln Park or Southport Corridor! I grew up with a yard and am partial to my kid having one too. Again if you grew up without a yard or were raised a more urban person you may feel differently. The neighborhood school is a top 5 CPS elementary. Bear in mind it's CPS which is insolvent and "best of CPS" really isn't something that's worth touting. It's like saying "what's the best motel 8 to stay at?" You get my drift. It's one of the worst public school systems in the nation which is why many Chicago parents (even in this neighborhood) go the private school route. It's crime free, relatively speaking by Chicago standards. Petty crimes mostly according to the CPD. Though over the recent fall months there was a crime spree of auto thefts and cars on cinder blocks.... you can imagine the shock when stepping outside and seeing your neighbor's car on blocks with all the tires missing like something Straight Outta Compton/East LA. So yes, crime even happens in Roscoe Village sadly. That said, like any Chicago neighborhood, a garage is a great asset. Overall it's a good place to live with lots of nice people, family oriented, long term neighbors, and a "village in the city" vibe. You lose a little bit of the metro feel out here, it's an outskirt of the city in terms of neighborhoods but can be the perfect blend for folks looking for something a little more quiet.

Bill Fucking Murray really did step actually here. It happened in Groundhog Day, a classic movie…read more Look for that place where he stepped in a puddle. Just a plaque, not much to look at. This is just a silly tourist attraction if you can call it that. Cool thing to put your foot where his foot was in that movie. It took place in Punxsutawney. The obvious difference is the movie was filmed in Woodstock. Producers liked the feel of this town more than the actual location. There's not much else about the actual plaque, but maybe take a look around for where the puddle is, and if it rained then you can also step in it and talk about it being a doozy like the movie scene. Cool for fans. If interested in more stuff, there's also a mural a few blocks from here. This is what it's best known for, and there's an annual festival celebrating it with the town's own groundhog, Willie.

In this life, I've met Bill Murray twice…read more Once briefly after his 2008 skydive stint at the Air & Water show a few years back where he stopped for only one person on his escape route from the madness, and it just so happened to be me. We locked eyes, shook hands and I died a little inside before he was rushed off from the quickly-forming crowd and I followed, love-struck behind. The second time was a bit more intimate... and I have photographic evidence to prove it (https://s3-media4.ak.yelpcdn.com/photo/-yADiZ7CwAMUl7PwrTapGQ/l.jpg). We were up in the club (a comedy club) and thanks to the one and only Carol J, I got to be the one and only 'civilian' amongst a buncha company stooges (newscasters and radio show hosts) to attend. We got to talk, take photos, brush up against each other, sweat profusely in excitement (okay, that was mostly me), etc. It was a grand ole day... and then about 10 paces outside the comedy club I stepped in the biggest pile of dog doo to ever land on a Chicago city street. And actually, in hindsight I can't even confirm that it was dog doo it was so huge. For all I know it was an urban bear or something, but it was absolutely huge. You win some, you lose some. This slice of cinematic history marks the Bill's (technically, Phil Connors') last step before he takes a short dip in a deep puddle off the curb after practically jumping out of his skin to get away from Neddy Ned Ryerson and his humbly aggressive attempts to pitch a life insurance policy on Phil's way to the annual Gobbler's Knob Punxsatawny Phil Groundhog Day ceremony. And while this historical marker located on the Groundhog Day Walking Tour (http://www.yelp.com/biz/groundhog-day-walking-tour-woodstock#hrid:nNx7lJ9Qgy5pAopxB4YIYw) isn't quite the real-deal, in person, out-of-body experience that actually meeting the the man, the myth, the legend is, it's a damn fine tribute for anyone who wants to walk where BM once, twice, thrice and beyond did... just beware of that puddle (1:44 - 1:46 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6NsVUHwQc8). It's a doooooozy!

Another visit to see Jack. Across the street is a great mural that includes Jack and the legendary…read moreRay Bradbury. It made for a nice visit.!