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Letter: Fulfillment center could ruin idyllic hometown

My name is Rachel Lewis. I grew up in Homewood and then spent many years living in the city of Chicago. Six years ago my husband, 1-year-old daughter and I were looking to make a move from the north side of the city but we weren’t sure where. We came up with a list of five non-negotiable things that we had to have wherever we moved.

  1. Diversity. We did not want to raise our children in an all white community. 
  2. Walkability/bike-ability, especially to the train. Remain a one car family. 
  3. BIG OLD TREES.
  4. Good schools.
  5. Affordable homes with character.

I didn’t plan on moving to my hometown, but lo and behold it was the only place that checked all of our boxes. 

Six years later and we could not be happier with our choice. We live very easily as a one car family here. We bike and walk all over town and to Flossmoor. From our house we can walk to three parks, the library, train, Irwin Center, Lions Club pool, downtown Homewood, the farmers market, and when my kids are old enough they will ride their bikes to James Hart Jr. High.  

We like it so much here that we recently purchased our second home in Homewood. It’s my dream home. It’s a home we told our 7-year-old daughter we will be staying in. It’s a home we brought our new 4-week-old baby to and where we plan on being for the long haul. 

If this industrial trucking hub is built none of that is true for us anymore. We are older parents and our health and family is too important to us. 

If this industrial monstrosity were here when we were looking 6 years ago we wouldn’t have even considered Homewood.

You get to decide what the future of Homewood will be. Will it continue to be the town that attracts young families like ours who care about the environment? Or will it be a polluted deserted wasteland, a cautionary tale of what used to be. Or worse than that, a tale of what COULD have been. 

In spite of what the developers are saying, not everyone desires to live in the sprawl and subdivisions of Will County or Indiana. Our village is special and unique. Our towns here are small, older, established communities of neighborhoods. A large industrial facility has no place here. 

On behalf of my husband, my 7-year-old daughter, my 6-month-old daughter, my neighbors, and the local small business that I own, we strongly oppose the rezoning of the Calumet Country Club to industrial use.  

Sincerely,

Rachel Lewis 
Homewood

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