It's an interesting question. I'd love to dig into it, but I don't really have the time to do it fully.

One point is that the zoning code includes an R-4 "Central Core Residential" district. The entire downtown area, a sizable trapezoid of land bounded by River Road, the UP New Line, the the CN/Metra North Central Line, and Oakwood Avenue, is zoned either R-4 or higher, and many of the 4+1 (or 5+1/6+1) developments in the R-4 are built as-of-right. The only exception is the triangular, Olmsted-esque Silk Stocking neighborhood, which is all single-family.

Politically, I don't know how Des Plaines managed this. One wild-ass guess is that the City of Des Plaines focused its growth on the periphery for decades, and by the time they ran out of developable land in the 1980s, the single-family blocks around downtown were low-income/blighted, making an upzoning more politically palatable.

Des Plaines also seems to have different demographics than surrounding suburbs, with a much higher percentage of Latino and Eastern European immigrants that may not share the same desire to maintain single-family homes.

Apparently Lucien Lagrange isn't quite done with us
 

One Winnetka - Elm and Lincoln
71 apartments, 40K sf retail
http://i60.tinypic.com/mie050.jpg
http://i61.tinypic.com/vfdo9i.jpg
http://i59.tinypic.com/260e6nt.jpg

^^Meh, it's Winnetka, it kinda...fits there...I guess. Nice watercolors, though.

^ Yeah, looks like LaGrange has been banished to the burbs.

Better than defacing downtown

Most of the stuff there is (or attempts to be) Tudor or neoclassical. Not a lot of the Second Empire stuff LaGrange tries to imitate. Definitely nothing this ostentatious.

That block is also already fully developed. The existing architecture isn't anything to write home about, but it's varied and (dare I say) more appropriately scaled. Of course, I don't have a problem with building higher; but be a little deferential to your surroundings, dude, and do it more tastefully. This thing he's vomited up is meant to grab attention in the worst way.

That Tribune article is ludicrous.

This is the "skyscraper" that Clarendon Hills residents are afraid of:

http://www.88parkavenue.com/images/slideshow6.jpg

^ I know exactly where that corner is in CH and let me tell you, that suburb is probably king among entitled, white, indignant NIMBY tosspots that one could possibly imagine. It'll NEVER get built.

Incidentally, CH also has one of the highest percentage of swingers in the country - don't ask me how I know this....

^ Wow.

Strange looking developments in downtown Glen Ellyn:

Giesche redevelopment - 125 units, retail, parking garage, 3 different styles
http://s22.postimg.org/mowpkbpm9/Scr...1_44_10_AM.jpg

On the other side of the tracks, the McChesney redevelopment - 245 units, 77k sf retail, parking
http://s1.postimg.org/629ffbk1b/AR_151119528.jpg
http://s1.postimg.org/5s1wvz5f3/EP_151119528.jpg
http://s1.postimg.org/3m7m1h1yn/EP_151119528_1.jpg
I can't imagine it will look this ridiculous in real life :yuck:

Anyone know what's going on adjacent to the south of City View at the Highlands Apartments here in west suburban Lombard? looks like they're adding on or building a new midrise structure of ~5 floors. . . I can see this from my office every day but have not been over there to inquire. . .

. . .

Too bad, that Giesche Shoes building was a really elegant little modernist jewel box.

I don't even mind traditional architecture in this case, but these replacements are huge and bombastic instead of modest like the rest of downtown Glen Ellyn. Higher buildings have their place, but I wouldn't put them right on Main.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8518/8...01a8a88c_c.jpg

^^^ Criminal, that is a MUCH nicer building.

The entire Glen Ellyn McChesney proposal is located here. A lot of renderings, concept photos:

http://glenellyn.org/Economic_Develo...V%20110815.pdf

:haha::haha::haha:

All that shit about the golden ratio is priceless...

^ What is that all about, anyhow?

Their proposal for Arlington Heights looks like crap--I thought they are about walkable TOD?

Anyhow, I'll take their Glen Ellyn & Winnetka stuff. I'm all for suburban TOD, even if it looks schlocky. It's better than autocentric garbage.

It's a ratio often found in Classical architecture... roughly 1.618:1. The Parthenon, for example, is a rectangle with these proportions. In the modern era, the UN Secretariat tower in NYC is a vertical Golden Rectangle.

It's not a bad principle, but Lagrange seems to be drawing random lines all over his elevations and insisting that the proportions were inspired by God.

Based on the rendering and developer (Ranquist), I'm assuming this will be a Miller Hull building. 28 units + retail

You are correct.

Hmm...this article mentions Northworks (unless they are collaborating).

Ahhh, Fuck.