Yo ranges far and wide in the city and around metro Chicago. Earlier today we rambled out west to Geneva, in Kane County, for the final day of the 6-day Swedish Days festival.

Today was parade day, and Geneva's is the envy of many a larger town. Scores of local groups turned out to showcase their talents and their pride in their home town. One of the highlights of the parade for me was a non-local group – the Jesse White Tumbling Team. Jesse White, whose politics I know little of, is one of my heroes. Like many people, I'm in awe of his decades-long dedication to showing inner-city kids a path out of poverty and a window into a larger world.

You can see more of the parade, the carnival, Swedish Days, and Geneva at our YouTube Geneva playlist. Our visit was sponsored by Mill Creek, a master-planned community in Geneva. You can learn more about Mill Creek at its Web site and at New Home Notebook.

Tip: Right-click on the video to watch it at YouTube in high-def full-screen mode.

If you search Google for information on construction defects in new homes in Chicago or any other area municipality, you won't find much useful information. What you will find is a ton of come-ons from attorneys and home inspectors.

As anyone who's had any experience with new construction knows, some problems are inevitable. Good builders take responsibility and correct them promptly. Other builders ignore the problems – and that's why you'll find so many attorneys when you run the Google search.

You can visit J.D. Power and Associates to see consumer quality ratings of major Chicago Builders, but finding information about the track record of smaller builders isn't easy.

We've set up a discussion forum at New Home Notebook where you can share your past experiences with Chicago-area builders and, hopefully, some tips on how to avert the need for an attorney after you've closed on your new home.

Comments on this post are closed. Sign in to New Home Notebook or register with a valid e-mail address to participate in the discussion.

If you reckon you've got to light out for the territory far beyond O'Hare – we can save you some time and gas.

Before making the 50-mile trek to Volo or Johnsburg or Lindenhurst, or other far-flung points, check out our subdivision video drive-throughs (sampled above) at New Home Notebook's YouTube channel. The first dozen videos are up and we'll be posting 100s more over the summer, starting with the northern reaches of Lake and McHenry counties and working our way south.

You can blog your home search and share your photos and videos with other home buyers at New Home Notebook.

If you're not a Hollywood car buff, you've probably never heard of Volo, Illinois, much less visited it.

Volo was first incorporated as a village in 1993. The 2000 Census counted fewer than 200 residents and about three score homes in the tiny Lake County community.

Over the last 10 years, however, Volo has probably seen more newly-built homes in proportion to its population than any place in the state. Affordable new homes: at various Volo venues the price of a low-end condo in the South Loop will move you into a nicely set-up 3 bedroom, 2 ½ bath single-family home.

My son Jordan and I headed down from his base in Antioch this morning for the first of what will be an extensive series of subdivision drive-arounds. We stepped out of the car on occasion to capture sweeping panoramas like the one above, at Cambridge Homes' Symphony Meadows in Volo. You can see more from our day's ramble at New Home Notebook's YouTube channel.

Irish condo developer Chieftain Group is backing out of Grand Central, a proposed $150-million mixed-use development located at the corner of Harrison and Wells streets in the South Loop, according to a report from Crain's. Last year, Chieftain agreed to pay $20 million to buy the two-acre parcel from owner D2 Realty Services, but now D2 is putting the plot back on the market.

Chieftain's initial plans for the site had called for two 25-story high-rises with about 250 condominiums, 200 hotel rooms, and 200 rental apartments. A rough elevation diagram of Chieftain's plans for the site is above.

The two-acre property owned by D2 is just a quarter of Franklin Point, the eight-acre parcel located along the Chicago River between Harrison and Polk streets. The other six acres are owned by Russland Capital Group, which has no immediate plans to develop the site, according to Crain's.

A red dumpster is still visible in this photo that I took last week, but it looks like most of the work on this building at 1733 W Cornelia Ave in Roscoe Village is finished. Developer Jody Libman with Trianon Development says the first open house was held yesterday, which couldn't have been helped by that morning snow storm.

Liebman says that three condos are finished out and ready for prospective buyers to tour, although none of them have been staged with furniture yet.

The top-floor units should be ready for delivery within about 40 days, Liebman says. "The cabinets are in, they're finishing off the tiles today. The floors will take about four days, appliances are already on order, so we're literally four weeks away from having five out of the eight completed," Liebman says.

Prices for the eight 877 to 1,767 square-feet two- to three-bedroom condos range from the $330s to the $740s.

Because the building is located at the intersection of Cornelia and Lincoln, some of the larger corner units are wedge shaped, as the floor plate below shows. I plan to meet with Liebman at the development later this week to take some photos of the interiors, but below are a couple of photos that agent Rich Kasper posted on his Web site.

NewHomeNotebook:
• Rate and review Luxhaven

The model unit isn't quite finished at Phase 1 of EcoNorth, JCJ Development's 16-unit condo development at 1842 W Irving Park Rd in North Center, but Baird & Warner agent Mary Jaeger let me come in and take some photos of it anyway. The furnishings are pretty minimal right now, but she plans to bring in some more furniture and have it fully staged. However, I was still able to get a good sense for the space.

A lease has been signed by a creperie / cafe for the ground-floor retail space, and Jaeger says it should open in early summer. Some work is still being done on the hallways and common areas, but Jaeger told me that a couple of buyers are already moving into their homes.

All of the homes are corner units, and they all have two bedrooms, 2.5 baths, and 1,250 to 1,335 square feet of floor space. Prices range from the $390s to the $450s. The second bedrooms have attached full baths, which is somewhat uncommon, and as Jaeger noted, it's good for buyers who want to rent out one of the bedrooms and spouses that are having marital issues.

EcoNorth is a green development with features including ENERGY STAR appliances, bamboo floors, dual-flush toilets, and a green roof. One of the building's best features is its proximity to the Irving Park Brown Line station, which can be seen in the photo I took from the roof, at bottom. The complete three-phase development will have 48 homes, and the developer is seeking LEED Silver certification for the project.

NewHomeNotebook:
• Rate and review EcoNorth

On my way home from visiting The Silver District yesterday, I noticed an open house sign for this new three-flat at 2208 W Chicago Ave in the Ukrainian Village. I went in just as the Exit Realty agents were packing it in, but I was still able to poke my head in and have a look around.

With quartz countertops, stainless-steel appliances, and an overhead hood wedged between dark-stained cabinets, the look and feel of this place is typical of what I've found recently at smaller developments on the Near North and West sides. In fact, I've seen variations of this exact kitchen setup in probably a dozen different developments this winter, so maybe quartz is the new granite.

Two 1,700 square-foot three-bedroom / two-baths are listed in the $430s and the $490s. The average price per square foot calculates out to about $275, which is a bit lower than the average price of $308 per square foot that's being offered at 2001 West Race, another Ukie Village new arrival.

Parking is included in the price, and both homes are ready for immediate delivery.

NewHomeNotebook:
• Rate and review 2208 West Chicago

These two new-construction developments are located almost directly across the street from each other in the 800 block of Ashland Avenue in West Town. The building at left is at 830 N Ashland Ave, and the one at right is located at 815 N Ashland Ave. I'm wouldn't say they identical, because they aren't, but they're similar enough that if you take away that North Clybourn Group banner on 815 North Ashland, it's pretty easy to mistake one for the other.

The building at left, 830 North Ashland, has been on the market longer, and there's just one top-floor unit listed by Prudential Preferred Properties inside. The 1,200 square-foot two-bedroom / two-bath has a private elevator entrance and is priced in the $470s.

The banner just went up within the past month at 815 North Ashland, where North Clybourn Group has three three-bedroom / two-baths listed. Those three homes are priced from the $450s to the $540s, but since square footage isn't included in the listings, so we can't do a direct price-per-square-foot comparison.

The listings for 815 North Ashland also boast that it's a "direct entry elevator building," and they advertise a plasma TV incentive through April 15.

NewHomeNotebook:
• Rate and review 815 North Ashland
• Rate and review 830 North Ashland

We've been keeping an eye on this new 20-unit development at 2800 W North Ave in Logan Square for the past few weeks, and just last night a handful of new listings were posted referring to the new building as "The Silver District."

Karen Biazar with North Clybourn Group says an invitation-only grand opening was held about a week ago, and although just 100 invitations were sent out, at least 250 people swarmed the event. Now, four furnished models are fully staged, and Biazar's sales team will begin hosting open houses this weekend.

In an attempt to "hit a home run," as Biazar puts it, the developer is offering a slew of incentives to buyers that sign contracts before April 11. According to Biazar, the incentive package includes one year of free assessments, an audio / video home technology package valued at $5,000, a 1-percent closing cost credit, and homes will be delivered fully furnished as they appear in the models.

Biazar had previously told me that prices would range from the $310s to the $400s, but according to the price sheet that I just received, it looks like those price points have since been adjusted slightly. Now, the 20 two-bedroom / two-baths are priced from the $300s to the $410s.

NewHomeNotebook:
• Rate and review The Silver District