Noreen Dollinger has a real sense of place, and her place is in Grundy County, Ill. The Dollinger farm has been in the family since 1852, but Noreen will tell you that the land was home to Native Americans first, then to the white settlement of Dresden. "It is nice living in a place like Grundy County where people know each other and have a long history together," Dollinger says.

But things are changing. The northeast corner of the county is only 60 miles from downtown Chicago, and urbanization is seeping in quickly. The once-tiny town of Channahon is a forest of stud walls and exposed trusses as homes and townhomes spring up almost overnight.

Move a few miles from Grundy's northeast corner and urbanization recedes quickly. Morris (population 13,000) is the county seat whose vibrant downtown looks like a Rockwell painting. Off to the east and southeast are nature areas along the Illinois, Kankakee, Des Plaines and Mazon rivers. Parks and hiking trails rub elbows with hunting preserves and fishing areas. The bulk of Grundy County is what you would expect in Illinois: deep black soils, some of the richest farmland in the world. Little towns like Verona, Mazon and Gardner grew up around grain elevators, railroads and highways.

Near Gardner, Scott Halpin milks dairy cows and raises his young family on land the Halpins have farmed for 90 years. The life is still good, but Scott looks with some apprehension at the expensive homes across the road from his modest white farmhouse. "If you want a picture," he says, "you should come out here when the cows are in the pasture and all those big homes are right next to them. That's the future here."

But that's not to say farms and new homes can't coexist. In fact, Noreen Dollinger is optimistic that they can.

"Part of our challenge and our goal," Dollinger says, "is to keep our community attitude and spirit alive as we welcome new people."