"I'm shakin' the dust of this crummy little town off my feet and I'm gonna see the world."
GEORGE BAILEY in It's A Wonderful Life
I was strolling along a side street in Oak Park this morning when I came upon a yard sign with...
'the name.' I felt a twinge of contempt for my Banker and sensed a sudden urge to leap from a bridge. Then not. (As everybody already knows,
I can't swim.) From the corner of my eye I thought I caught a glimpse of
Clarence but when I turned for a closer look, he had vanished... into angel dust. I heard church bells ringing in the distance. My client was due to arrive at any moment. I looked up to the sky and waited for the snow to begin falling. Post-World War II
Bedford Falls at Christmas time and early April in Chicago during
any era have at least that much in common.
The
Frank Capra (uncolorized cut) sidewalk I stood on was circa 1940s Midwest personified. I framed the above posted yard sign, snapped my ironic shot, and decided to hug my wife when I got home this evening. After all, she "could have married Sam Wainright, or anyone else in town..." and she's a lot hotter than
Donna Reed ever was
.
I guess what I'm trying to indirectly say, without stating the real estate obvious, is that Oak Park, Illinois, is one of the most beautiful towns anywhere in the Midwest. It's a Chicago bedroom burg where Prairie style meets Mission meets Victorian architecture. It's a fusion of the Past and the Now. It's a town where, in the year 2009, a fellow named
George Bailey is actually running for office. And there, my friends, is at least one happy ending just waiting to happen--at least the way this Chicago realtor sees it.
