Does Oak Forest Match Its 'All Good Things Close To Home' Slogan?

The City of Oak Forest claims to be "All Good Things Close to Home." I wanted to challenge this statement. Is Oak Forest really all good things close to home.

Well, before we go on any further, lets define some words in this statement. It can be subjective. I define "close to home", as being within an hour. I define "All good things" as really anything that makes our lives better or more enjoyable. This can encompass many areas. I broke it down into 6 areas of interest, including entertainment, education, work, access to nature, dining, and recreation. So let's just see what Oak Forest has to offer.

ENTERTAINMENT:

Loosely defined, entertainment is anything that provides enjoyment or amusement. Oak Forest is within an hour of an abundance of enjoyment and amusement. There is downtown Chicago of course, where you can find every sort of theater, show, museum, sports arena, concert venue and really anything else you can think of. Within 15 minutes, you can have your pick of movie theaters, roller skating rink, bowling alleys, small theater groups, concert venues, live music and the list goes on. Oak Forest's claim holds true in the area of Entertainment.

EDUCATION

Of course every child in Oak Forest has access to a elementary school, a middle school and a high school. As far as Jr. Colleges, we have South Suburban and Moraine Valley both within a half hour of Oak Forest. When you get to colleges, you have St. Xavier, Trinity Christian College, Governor State University, Robert Morris, Prairie State College and Fox College all within about 7 miles. If you factor in all the colleges within an hour, you literally have over 50 colleges including Northwestern and University of Chicago which are in the top 10 best colleges in the country. Oak Forest's claim holds true in the area of Education.

WORK:

Oak Forest is a great location to access many cities including Chicago in less than 1 hour. We are minutes from both I-57 and Tri- State-294. We are about 20 min from I-355. With these expressways, you can reach many suburbs within an hour. Also we have a metra station within 5 minutes that will take you to Downtown Chicago or to Joliet. So you can literally work almost anywhere in the Chicago land area and access it within an hour. Oak Forest's claim hold true in the are of Work.

ACCESS TO NATURE:

This one is a no-brainer. Oak Forest is surrounded by forest preserves and we literally have forest in our name. We here in Oak Forest, are spoiled with nature. We have green spaces every where. We have walking paths galore. You can get deep into the woods right here in Oak Forest. Oak Forest's claim holds true in the area of nature and open spaces.

DINING:

In Oak Forest, we have over 20 restaurants. From pancakes to prime rib, you can get it in our backyard. If you want something different, Orland Park and Tinley Park are both a 15 minute drive and they also have many restaurants. And then you have Chicago. I think we can safely say, that Oak Forest's claim holds true in the are of dining.

RECREATION:

Recreation is defined as any thing that one does for fun when not working. I would include sports, beaches, parks, zoos and special feasts in the recreation area. As far as beaches, we are within an hour of all the Chicago beaches and the Indiana beaches also. We have a plethora of parks right here in Oak Forest. We are within an hour of the fantastic Brookfield Zoo and Lincoln Park Zoo downtown. As far as sports and special feasts, you name it and you can find it, all within an hour of Oak Forest. Oak Forest's claim holds true in this area.

So Oak Forest, it seems you really do live up to your tag line. Oak Forest is, all good things close to home.