Once upon a time, one could take a relatively short drive, and find farms, country, and open spaces.

Now it seems that developers are going to ruin every bit of open space within 100 miles of any sizable city. I've found it increasingly difficult to find open country areas for photography, anywhere near Chicago.

What I have found is some of the most god-awful, insipid, uninspired architecture, one would hope to avoid. Yet, these houses are generally large, and unfortunately are not lacking buyers; so the mediocrity continues.