COMMENT BY
Patrice from Villa Park, IL
COMMENT ABOUT PLACE
Villa Park, IL
COMMENT
Great Smaller town just outside of Chicago
Villa Park is a great location in proximity to O’Hare international Airport to the North, the city proper of Chicago to the East, The area of Palos of great hiking and biking to the south, and the fox river to the west - all about 20 to 30 minutes away from Villa Park. It is a smaller town of about 21,000 people. It has the first rails to trails program in the United States, the prairie path that runs for miles and miles through several towns. Excellent for biking and walking. It is creating a try trail connector which connects the prairie path to the great Western Trail to the salt Creek Trail. The hub Of Villa Park is located near the old Ovaltine factory which is now converted to apartments. This area is very pedestrian and bike friendly. The local government is going through changes to better serve the residents because the residents are demanding it. Presently it has a very village board leaning power structure where are the residents don’t feel they have a voice due to restricted old fashioned communication rules em committee meetings. The village manager has all the power for decision-making and ordinance creating whereas most cities have a mayor with the most power. It is very behind the times with its lack of use of technology. Because the averages is now 38 years old change is afoot; Citizens are beginning to demand a more collaborative resident oriented approach to running the village. It is a wonderful place to live and getting better with citizen participation.