Boone County Growth

I attended a meeting in Chicago a couple weeks ago, after which I was asked, by one of the other participants, about downpayment assistance programs in Boone County. Boone County sits just east of Rockford and just west of McHenry County, the suburban Chicago county to the farthest northwest. The person asking me about Boone County was from McHenry County and she was being asked about downpayment assistance programs from people who lived in McHenry and wanted to move to Boone. Another article that I found discusses the massive growth that Boone County has experienced in recent years. I've heard that home values have risen 140% of late. Even with that rise in valuation, McHenry residents see Boone as being an incredible value.

The flip side to that, of course, is that gas prices reduce the value of living so far outside of Chicago. Those who can afford to move from McHenry to Boone are those who actually work in McHenry. Working in Chicago itself makes for a very expensive commute these days. I would guess that the most economical way to commute to Chicago would be to drive to McHenry to catch the Metra into Chicago. Not cheap, but it sure beats our current gas prices.