Joliet is the fastest growing city in Illinois. Located just forty miles southwest of Chicago, it is also the fourth largest in the state with at population of 147,433. The downtown is located in a river valley beneath a sharp drop that leads to a flat plain. This offers many homes in the city great views of the river and valley.
Joliet is an interesting place full of seventies suburban style landmarks like the Chicagoland Speedway (NASCAR) and the Route 66 Raceway (NHRA). The town’s very old prison, The Joliet Prison, has been the location of many movies including The Blues Brothers (1980). The gigantic Neo-Gothic revival style ancient movie theater downtown was a hangout of Al Capone’s and featured in Kevin Bacon’s film Stir of Echoes (1999). It is also the only city in the state of Illinois to have two casinos; the Hollywood Casino and the Harrah’s Casino.
It boasts historic architecture including the enormous Italian Renaissance structure known as the Jacob A. Henry Mansion that is constructed of special red Illinois limestone and a rare red brick from Ohio. The homes really vary in style here from eighties townhomes and condos to very old Victorians and Gothic Revival style homes. Joliet is quite old having been founded by an explorer from Canada looking for trade routes in 1863.
There are also miles of biking trails that take cyclists through north and south through the city and link to the I&M Canal State Trail that stretches sixty miles to Peru, Illinois. The city also has two miniature golf courses at Haunted Trails just off downtown
If you like to golf you will also enjoy living here. There are four courses in town including the Inwood Golf Course, the Woodruff Golf Course, the WedgeWood Golf Course and the Joliet Country Club.
Like many cities in Illinois Joliet is not known for ‘out” LGBTQ communities. However it does have one famous bar called Maneuvers that caters to a fun mostly male clientele. The gay bars of the nearby Chicago are not far away and most LGBT residents commute to take part in the Chicago Gay Pride Parade and Festival, the beauty pageants at DragLiscious and the underwear parties at Jackhammer. Other gay hangouts in nearby Chicago are the Berlin Nightclub, the Wile Bar and Restaurant and the Manhandle.
The median sales price for home in Joliet has increased from the summer of 2012 by 9.9%. The average listing price for homes in sale in Joliet IL was $135,380 for the week ending October 2, 2013. There are lots of short sales in the area with 1,900 homes going through he foreclosure process. To find the area of town that is best suited for you to live in it is best to consult with a Joliet gay realtor who knows it well.
For more information in general about Joliet and its many attractions go to http://www.visitjoliet.org/.
