^ I'll add those two to the list. The first post of this thread will be a compilation of nominated towns
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I haven't seen Central Ave in Evanston brought up yet... really nice business district there. Quote:
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While we are discussing suburban downtown development:
$30 million office/retail project slated for downtown Naperville http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.co...maxw=368&q=100 |
Cool thread. I'm only familar with the SW side downtowns, plus downtown Joliet which is pretty rustbelt-y. I've been to downtown Downers Grove several times and boarded metra there, how does that rank? Small? I love how these downtowns (at least the ones I've been to) feel connected *to* Chicago and not *apart from* Chicago like the old rail commuter suburban downtowns west and sw of St. Louis often feel.
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i don't think anyone has mentioned Park Ridge yet, but if we're including small potatoes places like thrillmette and winnetka in the discussion, then a more substantial downtown like park ridge absolutely has to be included. mount prospect too. and hell, palatine too. if we're gonna include that level of suburban downtown, there are so many to list. lombard, downers grove, wheaton, libertyville, homewood, brookfield, glen ellyn etc. etc. - just take a ride on all of the metra lines.
and urb, if you're adding aurora and elgin for their architectural legacy, then joliet absolutely has to be included in that group too, but i don't have pics unfortunately. Quote:
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Kenosha? [/hometown boosterism]
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Steely, Park Ridge has already been mentioned.
Regarding the rest, I guess I'm wondering if the list should be less inclusive since you are right, any suburb with a walkable main st (and I'm guessing there are a lot) would qualify. Perhaps I should just narrow it down to a "Top ten suburban downtowns" list? Criteria to consider: 1. Retail and entertainment activity 2. Access to transit 3. Architecture So what should the top 10 be? |
^ evanston is number 1. oak park is number 2.
after that the rankings get far more muddled and less clear to me, though naperville, highland park, and arlington heights get mentioned a lot. |
TUP as someone that lives out in McHenry county I would take Woodstock off the list and replace it with Crystal Lake [2 lakes, Crystal Lake and the larger Vulcan lake with beach access ]. An excellent park system. Metra access and much better dining and diversity of dining [ Thai, Indian, like 7 different japanese resturants, ect , shoping, stores, schools 3 High Schools and a private High school,.. It boarders LITH and Algonquin with access to both from the Randal road corridor. Those 3 attached towns have well over 100,000 citizens. There are also two colleges in Crystal Lake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Lake,_Illinois Woodstock is a dump IMO. Tuns of section 8. |
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Woodstock earns an honorary designation because of its role in Groundhog Day, one of my favorite movies of all time |
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Absolutely needed to have: Metra station Full-service grocery store Movie theater Bookstore Coffeeshops Restaurants Good, but not essential CTA el station Post Office Green space/park Library I think the most limiting requirements in the won't compromise category are the movie theater and grocery. Every downtown has coffee shops and restaurants, but few have a functioning movie theater and grocery store. OP even has two if you count the Whole Foods across the street in River Forest. Obviously the CTA requirement rules out all but OP and Evanston. Living within drunken stumbling distance of downtown OP, I'm probably a bit biased, but I can't think of any major category that it is missing. |
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^ skokie's downtown will soon have a yellow line el stop when the new oakton station finally opens, which I believe is any day now. Skokie is not served by metra though.
Downtown wilmette has a metra station, but the end of the line linden stop on the purple line is about 1 mile east of downtown wilmette. There is a modest commercial district around the linden stop, but it's certainly distinct from downtown wilmette. |
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Touhy is a bombed out hell hole in places except for maybe a few blocks where it is lined by a few retail stores and 60's ranch homes. |
^ yep, downtown skokie is unquestionably centered around oakton/lincoln/niles center, though the vast bulk of retail activity in skokie actually takes place up at old orchard.
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