1952 Columbus St

Ottawa, Illinois earns its nickname "The Town of Two Rivers" at the spot where the Fox River flows into the Illinois River, a setting that shapes daily life from the downtown riverfront to the trails weaving through nearby state parks. Roughly 90 miles southwest of Chicago, this LaSalle County seat of about 19,000 people moves at a deliberate Midwestern pace, with a walkable downtown core along Columbus and LaSalle Streets, independent dining and boutique shops, and four state parks within a 10-mile drive.

Neighborhoods north of the river feature tree-lined streets with older single-family homes and classic residential architecture, while the area closer to downtown mixes garden apartments and smaller mid-rise buildings with upper-floor rental units inside historic commercial structures. The rental landscape also includes townhomes concentrated north of downtown and a modest number of condo developments east of the city center.