Lake Forest Apartment Living
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Around the Neighborhood
General
Sandwiched between Lake Michigan and the Tri-State Tollway, about 31 miles north of Chicago, Lake Forest is a beautiful place to live — it's got a long commute to the city but makes up for it with a tranquil, small-town feel and an abundance of forested beauty. There's a small amount of multifamily residential property, but most rentals are single-family homes.
First settled during the Civil War era, the city planners fashioned the curvilinear streets with seclusion in mind. The vast majority of the residents live in picturesque single-family homes on larger parcels of land. Not surprisingly, the local schools are outstanding, and teenagers typically attend either Lake Forest High School (the public school), Lake Forest Academy (one of the most prestigious private schools in the midwest), or the Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart (the local Catholic school). The city is also home to Lake Forest College and the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management.
Lake Forest is known for its opposition to commercial development. The center of the action is Market Square, built in 1916 and listed on the National Register Of Historic Places as "America's first planned shopping center." The square underwent substantial renovations in 2000 and contained a handful of national and local retailers to satisfy basic shopping needs.
As for fitness and recreation, Lake Forest has two 18-hole golf courses (one public and one private), a 9.8-mile asphalt bike path (starting at the south end of Highland Park), and a fitness center (with low annual fees for locals).
Commuters to Chicago either brave a long drive on the Expressway or settle into a Metra train, which stops just about hourly in the center of town and requires just over an hour of ride time to reach the city.