Arlington Heights satisfies divergent tastes

Ethnic food tonight? With Italian, Irish, Mexican, Thai, Japanese and more, downtown Arlington Heights offers an eclectic mix of restaurants sure to please any palate.

What's your preference?

For resident Bill Brucks, it's Irish cuisine.

"Peggy Kinnane's is one of our favorite places," said Bill Brucks, broker associate with RE/MAX Suburban. "My wife and I just ate on the patio there the other evening because it was so beautiful outside, and the food is always good."

After dinner, you can take in a movie, a live theater performance or outdoor concert. There's shopping at boutiques, specialty shops and galleries. And if you want to buy a condo in the heart of town, you can shop for that, too.

Luxury condo and loft developments offer homebuyers the opportunity to reside in a maintenance-free environment in a lively downtown area with amenities galore.

Many older homes with local significance occupy part of the downtown district, including the F.W. Muller Home, now part of the Arlington Heights Historical Museum. The museum occupies the site of Muller's Victorian-era home, his 1906 soda water factory, a coach house and replica of an 1830s log cabin.

With little vacant land in town, many residents are remodeling or tearing down older homes and replacing them with new construction, Brucks said.

"We have a lot of tear downs, and a new home going up as we speak. There are probably close to 70 homes for sale right now - plenty of homes for people to buy."

Many single-family homes sit along tree-lined streets near neighborhood parks, and often residents remain in their homes for decades.

Arlington Heights is comprised of three areas, said Susan Duchek, broker with Picket Fence Realty. There is the northern section with a little newer real estate; the downtown district; and the southern section, she said.

"Each area has its own personality," Duchek said. "You can have an address in any town, but in Arlington Heights, you have a sense of neighborhood. People are passionate about this town."

It speaks to so many different demographics - young people coming in, longtime residents choosing to stay in the community and older folks who have raised their families and want to stay near their children and grandchildren, Duchek said.

"It really is a tapestry as far as what is available. Not everyone wants the same thing, but at the end of the day we're all standing together. Personally, I just love that Arlington Heights offers a warm place to be family."

Although most of the early settlers were farmers, Arlington Heights was known as the earliest commuter suburb because many of its residents worked in Chicago. Today, with two Metra stops, the village continues to offer an easy commute for those who work downtown.

"People can just jump on the train and be downtown in 35 minutes on the express," Brucks said.

Easy access to the train and expressways and award-winning school and park districts help keep Arlington Heights' real estate attractive for homebuyers.

"The park district is so strong in Arlington Heights; it's something people might think is secondary, but it's so vital to the community. It offers something for everyone - preschoolers, moms and seniors - and the senior center is a lifeline for so many people," Duchek said.

The park district maintains 58 park sites, five outdoor neighborhood pools, two golf courses, indoor aquatic center and two indoor tennis courts. The 35-acre Melas Park features soccer and softball fields, sand volleyball courts and a large playground. The senior center and teen center are also part of the park district.

"We raised five kids here, and the park district is great with a lot of sports for kids," Brucks said. "There seems to be a beautiful park every four or five blocks. At Arlington Lake, you feel like you're at a private lake in Wisconsin. You see people sailing and on paddle boats. And you can walk or ride your bike around the lake."

Other attractions include the world-renowned Arlington Park racecourse, home of the Arlington Million and a beautiful facility that provides fun for the whole family; and the Arlington Heights Memorial Library, which has one of the largest collections in the state.

Arlington Heights also has a light industrial base housed in the far south end at Arlington Heights Road and I-90, and in the far north, east of Route 53 between Dundee and Lake Cook roads.