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metro chicago population 1930: ~4,365,000 metro toronto population 1931: ~810,000 metro toronto was simply a much, much smaller place than chicagoland back in the days of early 20th century suburban development. |
^mmhmm. suburban toronto is a mess, and for the most part awful. i've used google maps quite extensively and chicago seems to have lots of nice suburban areas (at least in the northern and western areas)
sorry to go off topic, but newer subdivisions suck. the lots are 40 feet wide, 20 of which constitute a double garage, because there is absolutely no where to walk to. and the houses are say maybe 10-15 feet away from the street making the area feel quite dense, without any of the benefits that comes with density. i'd much prefer to live in a pre war street car suburb or mid century ranch home thank you very much. |
^ that relatively high density single family home suburbia you see in metro toronto is not terribly common here in chicagoland. single family homes are generally given more breathing room here, but the suburbia being built today is still, for the most part, every bit as autocentric, disconnected, and mono-use, making for mind-numbingly boring communities.
i too much, MUCH prefer the suburbia of the early 20th century. it's the kind of suburbia i knew growing up in wilmette (north shore burb). as mentioned before, toronto just wasn't a huge place yet when that early pattern of suburbia first developed. in fact, in 1930, toronto wouldn't have even ranked as one of the 10 largest metros in US/Canada. 1930 metro population:
another difference to consider is that chicago has had a large and fairly comprehensive commuter rail network serving its suburbs since the late 19th century, whereas commuter rail didn't really become a big thing in toronto until the 1960s. as a result chicagoland is littered with traditionally urban suburban town centers built around railroad stations that have been organically developing for over a century now. |
I'd like to add Libertyville as another decent suburban downtown.
Not at the level of a Naperville, Oak Park (or even close), but quaint & attractive, with the Metra stop within vicinity. Also, there appears to be a good amount of housing development occurring near Libertyville's downtown. |
This is more a suburban development post, but given that Orland Park is positioning this development (and location) to be its 'downtown', I feel that it should be posted here.
I just happened to drive past it a few days ago as I was visiting some family members, it is pretty imposing even from a passerby vantage point on LaGrange. Ninety7Fifty on the Park (Gmaps link http://goo.gl/maps/gygCD ) http://medialibrary.propertysolution...999e16a848.png http://medialibrary.propertysolution...11b4a8c666.jpg http://www.ninety7fifty.com/ Phase One looks to be about 295 units, with some pretty ambitious pricing in my opinion. $1300+ for a one bedroom in the burbs is pretty steep. |
I like Oak Park but it seems to be stagnating. The way things are going, Naperville may soon eclipse it as Chicagoland's #2 downtown. I was in Naperville last week and there is a shitload of construction going on there. Plus you have the riverwalk.
Oak Park has the city feel and the better mass transit, but damn it I really hate how they have that goofy suburban shopping center with acres of parking right in the midst of downtown, and there seems to be very little new development happening. |
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Evanston is clearly perched at the top. But I think Oak Park may lose its #2 title soon if it doesn't get its act together |
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If you think Oak Park is stagnating, you must not have realized where they started. There's been a huge amount of development there... the skyline is totally changed, the pedestrian malls have been removed, new public buildings have been constructed.
Lots of new buildings and proposals. http://www.triblocal.com/oak-park-ri...2-12-26-40.jpg src Quote:
There is a similar development on the Oak Park side (has Gap and Old Navy), but the urban design is much better. That development appears to have a large amount of parking, but most of that is actually city-owned parking lots where a massive development is planned. (proposed site plan as of 2008; details may have changed) http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/c...id-america.jpg src |
Yay a thread on my home town Oak Park
Here's another possible building, seems like there is lots of interest seeming multiple developers are eyeing it. http://www.oakpark.com/News/Articles...South-project/ |
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Also, what ever happened to that 50 story high rise (kind of resembled the Legacy) that was proposed for Evanston a few years ago? I'm guessing it's completely dead by now but I remember that the plans were altered and resubmitted but haven't heard anything about it since then... |
That Orland Park development is huge, took out an old rundown strip mall also. And what is not seen in those picture is that they redid/upgraded the rail station next door to this development. Just cross a path to go from condo to train....Very nice.
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Express from Orland would be great, as part of the renovation i believe they built some extra track into that station, maybe for future express? or maybe for realignment of that bridge over lagrange. Also, they should expand service on the Heritage corridor, the lack of trains on that line is a joke.
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We've heard of proposals in Oak Park over the years but very little seems to be happening. I agree that it feels more 'genuine' than Naperville. I'm holding out hope for Oak Park, but you can't blame Naperville for trying. Once that hotel is built it will really do a lot to add even more vibrancy to its core
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http://oakpark.suntimes.com/news/lak...312013:article |
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There's some others not mentioned too, such as Whiting, Indiana. http://goo.gl/maps/mmSZ9 Michigan City, IN (would this be considered a suburb or sattelite city?) http://goo.gl/maps/zjUZ7 Edit, I saw Joliet mentioned already. |
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tooooooooooootaally.
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