Couple Loves the Small-Town Feel of Woodridge

Tom and Stacey Haskell have been married for 2 1/2 years and have lived in Woodridge since 2009. 

Q: What brought you to Woodridge?

Tom: We bought our first home together here.  There wasn’t anything in particular that attracted us to Woodridge.  I guess the fact that it’s literally in the middle of our universe.  It’s about a half hour drive to her parents to the south and my parents to the north and to our jobs – it’s just very centrally located.

Q: What do you do for a living?

 Tom: I work at an industrial supply company as a salesman. That’s over in Elmhurst. And Stacey is a customer service rep at a Joyce Brothers Record Center which is a record retention facility. And she’s in Elk Grove Village.

Q: What do you like about living in Woodridge?

Tom: I just like that it’s pretty quiet. I grew up in Elk Grove Village and even though that was a pretty nice town, it was really close to O’Hare airport so we always had the roar of airplanes. I mean to the point where you had to stop your conversation and wait for them to fly over. So here, it’s just really quiet, and I think just pleasant. It’s just sort of, I don’t want to say a stereotypical suburb but it’s definitely what the suburbs are supposed to be – quiet, kind of intimate, but still have all the shopping and amenities you’d expect.

Stacey:  It’s quaint but it’s big enough but not too small. And it’s very quiet and yet you still have all the shops available to you. I actually grew up in Lisle so I knew all about Woodridge when we moved here.  It was a town that I was interested in living in because I know the area very well.

Q: What improvements would you like to see in the Village?

Tom:  I would say, maybe some road improvements. Actually, they just tore up Janes Avenue and resurfaced it by us this year. I know a lot of towns, and again Elk Grove kind of being one of the examples, spent a lot of money on just beautification and putting in new street lighting and new sidewalks and all that. And I think they went a little far to be honest with you. But I think it would be a little refreshing to see a little more of that here. Just to kind of get away from the obviously aging, you know 50’s and 60’s architecture and street lighting and go with something a little more modern or pleasing to the eye.

Q: Would you like to see a downtown area in Woodridge?

 Tom: I don’t know if I miss it because certain downtowns like Naperville are kind of nice to go to but it’s such a pain to get around. There’s no parking and the streets are crowded and you’re always waiting for something.  I kind of like having to travel to a downtown but knowing that there isn’t one too far away. Now, that being said, if I think it would be kind of cool if there was maybe a town center. Kind of like the (Bolingbrook) Promenade or Schaumburg’s Town Center. Something like that, where it’s open, there’s plenty of space but it’s sort of a central hub for retail or government. We do like 7 Bridges; we go there for things often.

Q: Do you have favorite restaurants that you like to go to?

Tom: Well, I would say because of the economy and because we’re trying to lose weight, we’re trying to cut restaurants out of the budget. That being said, we do have our favorites. We love Buffalo Wild Wings over in Seven Bridges. It’s just one of those places where, yeah, it’s a little loud and it’s more sports-bar themed, so I wouldn’t suggest like taking families with young kids. But bringing friends there just to kind of hang out. The food’s great, not good for you, but it’s good. And other than that, I would have to say a lot of our favorite restaurants are outside the village boundaries.

Q: What are they?

 Tom: One of them would definitely be Lemont Street Café (at Lemont & 75th Street). They’re really good for breakfast and very personable. It’s kind of a tiny café so sometimes you have to wait. But man, they know how to cook a breakfast. They have these specials that are really good. Stacey loves their stir fry.

My favorite kind of pizza is Lou Malnati’s and they just opened one in Downers Grove on 75th St. It’s not a full-fledged restaurant, just a carry-out place but they do deliver to the Woodridge area. Stacey likes Doggie Diner.

Q: What’s your favorite thing to eat there?

 Stacey: The chicken tenders and fries, and I always have to have two honey mustards because they’re so good. I didn’t go there when I lived in Lisle – we usually just stuck to Lisle or Downers Grove. My parents used to live in Woodridge, that’s where they started out. So when we moved here, my mother, we were driving down Janes and she said “Oh My God, Doggie Diner is still around.” It’s one of my favorites – it’s quick, they’re 3 or 4 bucks so I love it.

Q: What other places do you like in Woodridge?

Tom: I like the library. It’s not the biggest selection of books but quite a decent variety, especially for a small town like Woodridge. I like that it’s located kind of centrally in town.I love it when they have the art displays. I always stop for the art displays because they’re usually very well done, whether it’s by students or amateurs.