When I got transferred to Illinois for work I was originally very bummed. I figured I was getting cold, snow and ice year around with nothing to do. When I found out my location was Orland Park I was extremely unhappy. It is 30 minutes outside Chicago and looks like a fairly small city. When I looked up things to do I wasn’t pleased by my results. There was Centennial Park, The Aquatic Center and the Orland Park Square Mall. That’s it? I figured I would be driving to Chicago all the time. I also figured I would be bundled up in my home freezing cold. When my husband and I went house hunting the heating system was a priority to me. I wanted a high quality heating system that could stand the cold weather. We found a place that had a boiler system that was hooked up to piping. The whole house had hydronic radiant flooring. It made the floors toasty warm and silent all winter. I figured that would be good enough and I still wouldn’t like my location. Now that I have lived a full year in Orland Park I can only say good things. First, it isn’t always freezing cold. I do get months of nice weather where the heater turns off and I actually consider AC. Second, there are lots of things to do in my location, especially for families. The activities listed above are actually quite fun and offer lots to do. I hardly ever drive to Chicago because Orland Park seems to have everything.