Imagine Buffalo Grove without any major roads, strip malls or Starbucks. Try to picture, if you can, the area north of Lake-Cook Road without any subdivisions.
If you can do that, then you have a good idea of what Buffalo Grove looked like when Rae Pattarozzi and her late husband, Frank, moved here with their two sons in December 1959.
Pattarozzi still lives in her home on Hiawatha Drive, having made only minor changes to her house. She is involved with her church, and likes to attend plays and recitals in the area.
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"My husband worked in Winnetka at the time, but it was too expensive for us. So, we moved to Buffalo Grove. Almost no one had heard of it at the time," Pattarozzi said. She explained that she and her husband had only seen a model home they bought their house.
Pattarozzi said that she had seen a lot of dramatic changes in Buffalo Grove; Buffalo Grove Road, for instance, was a little, two-lane street. A general store on Buffalo Grove Road sold groceries and essential items. Buffalo Grove High School and Stevenson High School had not yet been built.
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The biggest change in Buffalo Grove, according to Pattarozzi, was the enormous growth in population. "There were only about 300 to 400 people when we moved here," Pattarozzi said. "We didn't have any traffic or congestion!" Buffalo Grove has since grown to more than 43,000 residents.
"I think people like to come here and live here because it's close to everything you could want, like schools and shopping centers," she said. "What I really like about the area is the people, and I'm happy with the way things are today in Buffalo Grove."
