Some suburb pics (56K BEWARE!) (St. Charles, Batavia: mcmansions, job, house)

[Steve-o]

Great shots Ahava! I need to make it to LaGrange again soon, I liked that city.

Here are a few more I dug up...

The retro McDonalds on Randall Rd in South Elgin (its unlike any McDonalds youve ever seen):


One of my fave homes near downtown Naperville:




2 of the many St. Charles pubs (downtown):




Downtown STC at night, viewed looking west over the Fox River Dam (with fishermen) towards the Hotel Baker and Waterfront Restaurant:


A suburban classic: Augustino's. mmmmmm Actually, they built one downtown on Wacker somewhere. This is the West Chicago location:

[hazel3]

GREAT pix, thanks for sharing them!

[Steve-o]

Here are some more I found...

Typical Wasco neighborhood:


New Wasco subdivision:


Part of downtown St. Charles:


Rolling hills in the western burbs:


Monster horse barn near Lily Lake:


Gettin hungry?


Old classic homes off of Washington St. in West Chicago:


Halloween setting at the Sonny Acres farm in West Chicago:


Highway travel times monitor (this one on I-355):

[BUalumni]

GOOD PICS!! There are so many great places in Chicagoland. But what in the world happened to Wasco?!!! That little town was a simple cornfield when I lived there, and seemed more affliated with Dekalb, than anything with Chicago. Sure, maybe St. Charles. But NO WAY would I take a commute from Wasco to downtown. Most people hadn't even heard of it when I lived there! Has the metro area finally taken in Dekalb!? That is just crazy!

I love the picture of it though. The reason why I paid any attention was because it is almost a mirror image of the Weaver Ridge part of Peoria and many of the subdivisions in Dunlap.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by BUalumni

GOOD PICS!! There are so many great places in Chicagoland. But what in the world happened to Wasco?!!! That little town was a simple cornfield when I lived there

Wasco has exploded into an upscale, SUV infested, soccer-mom haven. The town extends from 64 all the way down to 38 now, nothing but 500K to 1 million dollar homes, all crammed on top of each other. There is also a town square, which is decent, with some restaurants, medical offices, stuff like that. Its definitely not the town you saw 10 years ago.

[BUalumni]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Wasco has exploded into an upscale, SUV infested, soccer-mom haven. The town extends from 64 all the way down to 38 now, nothing but 500K to 1 million dollar homes, all crammed on top of each other. There is also a town square, which is decent, with some restaurants, medical offices, stuff like that. Its definitely not the town you saw 10 years ago.

WOW! That is really something. I'm curious though. Where do these people work? There is nothing around Wasco that I remember, and there is no way that Aurora's economy could handle that kind of population. Has Dekalb grown that much as well? I can understand the area that I live in now looking like that, considering our proximity to a city. But the only thing in close proximity to Wasco is a cornfield!

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by BUalumni

WOW! That is really something. I'm curious though. Where do these people work? There is nothing around Wasco that I remember, and their is no way that Aurora's economy could handle that kind of population. Has Dekalb grown that much as well? I can understand the area that I live in now looking like that, considering our proximity to a city. But the only thing in close proximity to Wasco is a cornfield!

Well, Id imagine most work in the western burbs, maybe some in the city. Aurora has lots of nice jobs believe it or not, its just not the best place to live. In Aurora's industrial park off of Eola and Merideth Roads, there are lots of heavy hitters in there, including Sanyo, Sony, Daimler Chrysler, Nissan, Hyundai, etc. As far as proximity to Aurora, Wasco is not that close at all. Id venture many work in St. Charles, Geneva, Naperville maybe, etc. And Wasco is still a good 20-25 miles from DeKalb, so DeKalbs growth wont affect Wasco. DeKalb has grown in leaps and bounds too, attracting Nestle, Target distribution center, etc. South of Wasco is Elburn, which has also grown rapidly (they even have a Metra stop there). North of Wasco are parts of St. Charles that are very well-to-do.

[BUalumni]

Sorry to get off topic, but ELBURN?!!! WITH A METRO STOP!! Heck, at that rate you might be hearing people say that Rockford, and Bloomington are the "edge" of the metro area, in another fifty years! When I lived in Chicagoland, just under fifteen years ago, Elburn, Wasco, heck even St. Charles were considered to be WAY out there by people from the city! Aurora was the only thing that even came close to being Chciago, and towns like Bolingbrook were a little dumpy. LOL! Some people even said that the growth in Naperville at that time, would never amount to anything. I just met a person a few months ago, that indeed, commutes(carpools with four other guys) from Bloomington to the other side of Joliet four times a week. I have also met a few that do the same from Rockford. Looks like it might be sooner than fifty years! OK, sorry for the ranting, continue with the pic posting.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by BUalumni

Sorry to get off topic, but ELBURN?!!! WITH A METRO STOP!! Heck, at that rate you might be hearing people say that Rockford, and Bloomington are the "edge" of the metro area, in another fifty years! When I lived in Chicagoland, just under fifteen years ago, Elburn, Wasco, heck even St. Charles were considered to be WAY out there by people from the city! Aurora was the only thing that even came close to being Chciago, and towns like Bolingbrook were a little dumpy. LOL! Some people even said that the growth in Naperville at that time, would never amount to anything. I just met a person a few months ago, that indeed, commutes(carpools with four other guys) from Bloomington to the other side of Joliet four times a week. I have also met a few that do the same from Rockford. Looks like it might be sooner than fifty years! OK, sorry for the ranting, continue with the pic posting.

Id agree! Elburn has grown substantially in the last 5 years. Bolingbrook and Joliet are also booming like you wouldnt believe. In fact, Joliet was listed in the top 10 fastest growing cities in the nation. Naperville was also in the top 5 fastest growing cities up until a few years ago, when it pushed its boundaries. I remember Naperville in the 80s and 90s only had 40K people, now it almost has 160K. Rockford is also experiencing growth, especially on the east and southeast sides. I was up there a month or so ago and couldnt believe all the growth.

[deegers]

I love you Steve-O and Ahava....(warm and fuzzy hearts floating over computer monitor)