Recaps have become so popular online, haven’t they? Spotify’s annual summary of a user’s most played songs and artists has inspired a social media phenomenon, where people not only share their annual summary, but businesses have taken to crafting similar recaps, but related to their business. Like an ice cream shop sharing a recap of their most popular flavores of the year.

So I wondered to myself earlier today, being New Year’s Eve, which stories engaged my most engaged readers in Tinley Park? Which stories about Tinley Park are the most likely to be remembered long after 2023?

Using my agency’s proprietary social listening software, I discovered that there were 20 stories that people could not stop sharing and talking about across the world wide web. And #20 I personally got to report on before any other local news outlet.

As a storyteller in a small town, I enjoy spotlighting stories happening outside of the more high interest Chicago area. And as a non-native, it has been so enjoyable to witness all the progress and developments across all the Chicago Southland suburbs. The Chicago Southside and neighboring Chicago Southland (or Southwest suburbs) are silently blossoming in ways that I think will make the North Shore jealous. And I’ll be right here, your faithful independent reporter.

Every year since I started this blog on May 13, 2017, the Chicago Southland stories have gotten more and more exciting. If I wasn’t writing about them, I’d just be keeping my family and friends in-the-know. The new businesses, the new buildings, the major renovations and restorations, the new cuisines, cultures, and influences making each suburb down here richer and more intriguing.

News outlets have historically paid more attention to what’s happening in the Loop and the Northern suburbs—nut that will change within the next decade, especially from what I’ve observed firsthand on all my family’s outings.

I hope you will enjoy revisiting these stories, especially discovering ones you may have missed.

If you’d like to show your appreciation for my reporting, feel free to buy me a coffee here.

Until next time, Happy New Year both dear and casual readers.

Top Tinley Park Stories in 2023