Oak Park

Oak Park is the suburb that touches Chicago’s West Side at Austin Boulevard and feels like a leafier extension of it: a grid of Victorians and Prairie-style houses, the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings anywhere, Ernest Hemingway’s birthplace, and a walkable downtown on Lake Street with two L lines and Metra running into the Loop. The village has been deliberately integrated since the 1970s, taxes itself heavily to stay that way, and has a strong restaurant scene along Lake Street, Oak Park Avenue and Madison Street. It is the closest suburb to downtown Chicago by train.

Where it is

On the map, Oak Park runs from North Avenue south to Roosevelt Road and from Austin Boulevard west to Harlem Avenue, the River Forest line. The Green Line runs along Lake Street with stops at Austin, Ridgeland, Oak Park and Harlem, and the Blue Line runs down the Eisenhower with stops at Austin, Oak Park and Harlem; both reach the Loop in 25 to 30 minutes. Metra’s Union Pacific West line stops at Oak Park on Marion Street, 20 minutes to Ogilvie. The Eisenhower has exits at Austin and Harlem.

What to know if you’re moving here

Oak Park charges for what it offers, and the tax bill is the first thing residents mention.

• Housing is Victorians, Prairie-style homes, bungalows, two-flats and apartment buildings built from the 1870s on, with typical prices of roughly $300,000 to $1.5 million as a broad editorial estimate as of September 2026.
• Overnight street parking is banned village-wide without a permit, so a garage, driveway or village permit is part of the housing decision.
• Public schools are Oak Park Elementary District 97 and Oak Park and River Forest High School District 200.
• Property taxes are among the highest in the western suburbs, and the village’s equity and preservation programs are part of why.
• The Frank Lloyd Wright-Prairie School of Architecture Historic District and the village’s landmark ordinance cover a large share of the housing.
• The drawback is cost and the parking rules, which surprise anyone moving from the city.

What to do if you’re visiting

Take the Green Line to Oak Park or Harlem; Wright’s houses, Hemingway’s birthplace and the restaurants are all within a mile.

• Ask around and you hear that Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio on Chicago Avenue is where Wright lived and worked from 1889 to 1909, with tours run by the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust.
• Anyone who lives here knows Maya Del Sol on Oak Park Avenue is the Latin American restaurant with the big patio, and Hemingway’s Bistro up the block is the French room in the Write Inn.
• Regulars will say Amerikas on Lake Street and Cucina Paradiso on North Boulevard are the downtown dinner picks.
• Most first-time visitors learn that Hecho en Oak Park on Lake Street and Tacos ’76 on Madison cover tacos at both ends of the village.
• A local would point out that Kinslahger Brewing Company on Roosevelt Road pours lagers on the village’s south edge.
• Unity Temple on Lake Street, Wright’s 1908 concrete church, and the Hemingway Birthplace Home on Oak Park Avenue are open for tours.