I’ve lived here for 10 years, and now that I’m finally leaving, I’m getting all nostalgic. This would be a beautiful place to raise a family: lovely parks, sidewalks, ice cream shops. And family-raising is in fact a primary industry here.

Likewise, it’s a good place for angsty 20-somethings to become deeply cynical about what happens when wealthy Christians dominate the culture.

I’ve definitely been cynical about this place (where, famously, college students are forbidden to dance), but I can’t deny I’ve benefited greatly from its peaceful environment. I lived in a house for 3 years and never once locked the door; I’ve been on many a moonlit walk down the Prairie Path without fear.

Like so many of the tidy western suburbs of Chicago, it’s a good place to live, but a terrible place to visit. If you do, check out the Popcorn Shop, gawk at Perry the Mastodon, take a driving tour of million-dollar homes and dozens of beautiful churches, have a pint at Muldoon’s, but get out before nightfall, or parking tickets and overzealous traffic cops will break your spirit.