Cash for your junk car in Homewood

Homewood is southeast of us. The route is south on Crawford Avenue (Pulaski Road), east on 175th Street, south on Governors Highway and east on 183rd Street into the village, about 5.5 road miles and 11 minutes. Halsted Street and Dixie Highway addresses on the east side take a little longer.

The village of Homewood

Homewood is a village of about 19,500 people (2020 Census) on 5.3 square miles that touches four townships: Bremen, Rich, Thornton and Bloom. It borders Hazel Crest to the west, East Hazel Crest to the north, Glenwood and Thornton to the east, and Chicago Heights and Flossmoor to the south. Homewood uses two ZIP codes, 60430 and 60422, the second shared with Flossmoor.

On the Chicago grid, Homewood sits around 800 West and 18300 South.

Getting around Homewood

• Dixie Highway and Ridge Road, the historic downtown. Ridge Road follows the Calumet Shoreline, an old sand ridge from ancient Lake Michigan.
• Halsted Street (IL 1), the second commercial corridor, lined with chain retail between 175th and 183rd Streets, running south to the I-80/I-294 interchange.
• The Homewood station, served by both Metra Electric and Amtrak.
• The Canadian National Railway has its American headquarters here, with a large freight yard and shops.

Homewood homes and pickup spots

About 79% of homes are single-family houses and about 82% are owner-occupied. Roughly 15% of units are in buildings of five or more units, so some pickups are in apartment lots. Most are driveways.

Homewood’s street rules to plan around:

• Overnight: where posted, no parking on village streets from 2 to 6 a.m. without an exemption (§ 40-86). Police can grant a temporary exemption of up to 5 days, and stalled vehicles are one of the reasons the code lists.
• Snow: once 2 inches have accumulated, no parking on any public street until the whole street is plowed (§ 40-79).
• Alleys: keep 15 feet of alley width clear, and don’t block driveway entrances (§ 40-83).
• Downtown: no truck tractors or semitrailers parked overnight in the central business district (§ 40-88).

Homewood’s inoperable vehicle rule

Homewood’s rule focuses on storage. Under § 40-40, it’s a nuisance to store an inoperable vehicle, or parts of one, on any premises. A vehicle counts as inoperable when parts have been removed or it can’t run under its own power for 7 days or more. After written notice, the owner has to move it into a closed garage. If not, the village can cite both the property owner and the vehicle owner and tow and impound the car.

Exemptions cover temporary repairs, vehicles in an enclosed building, lawful wrecking or sales businesses, and antique-plated vehicles over 25 years old.

In practice, if a dead car can’t go in your garage, Homewood expects it gone. Our inoperable car notice guide shows how this compares with nearby towns.

Village vehicle license

Homewood requires residents’ vehicles used on village streets to carry a village license (§ 40-208). Once the car is sold, it drops off that list, and the state’s Seller’s Report of Sale closes things out with the Secretary of State.

Homewood’s neighbors

We also pick up in Hazel Crest and Flossmoor next door, and Harvey to the north. For a storm-damaged car, see flood and fire damaged cars.