How far out can Chicago's urban sprawl go?

[walker1962]

Originally Posted by TheTimidBlueBars

There's been speculation that Cincinnati and Dayton will be merging into a single metro area in the next 10-20 years, which gets me to thinking: is Chicago on the same track with Rockford and/or Milwaukee? Wikipedia, for example, lists Boone County, IL, as part of both Chicago's and Rockford's metro areas already (though I'm a native of Chicago and, IMO, even including DeKalb County at present is a stretch), so it seems natural that it will be filling up with suburbs in the near future.

Could the eastern suburbs penetrate all the way into Michigan in a decade or two? They seem to be getting to that point. It stuns me that people are willing to commute from more than a county away; are we going to reach a natural boundary after which there won't be enough demand for developers to keep building out because commutes are so fiendishly long?

Chicago metro area hasn't really sprawled the last 20 years. The only reason it shows any population growth since 2010 is adding the CSA definition over MSA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_metropolitan_area

[Chicago_Person]

Maybe not anymore sprawl, but infill in the spaces within the sprawl could show up.

[Bluefox]

Originally Posted by Chicago_Person

Maybe not anymore sprawl, but infill in the spaces within the sprawl could show up.

That would be preferable.

[CCrest182]

Originally Posted by walker1962

Chicago metro area hasn't really sprawled the last 20 years. The only reason it shows any population growth since 2010 is adding the CSA definition over MSA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_metropolitan_area

This is not true. In fact, the far western and northwestern suburbs are still sprawling to this day, just not at as fast a pace as it once was, and certainly nowhere near as fast as many other growing cities/metros in the U.S. (which is a good thing). That said, it's still there, and it is definitely still happening. Oswego and Yorkville are prime example, and there's good reason to believe sprawl will pick up more in SE Wisconsin when Foxconn opens up there.

A lot of that sprawl is due to mainly people leaving Cook/DuPage county for Kane/Kendall/McHenry county, so the sprawl in Chicago isn't necessarily a population growth thing (a couple decades ago it may have been, but now it really is just people moving from the inner/mid ring suburbs to the far outer suburbs).

[fusillirob1983]

Originally Posted by CCrest182

This is not true. In fact, the far western and northwestern suburbs are still sprawling to this day, just not at as fast a pace as it once was, and certainly nowhere near as fast as many other growing cities/metros in the U.S. (which is a good thing). That said, it's still there, and it is definitely still happening. Oswego and Yorkville are prime example, and there's good reason to believe sprawl will pick up more in SE Wisconsin when Foxconn opens up there.

A lot of that sprawl is due to mainly people leaving Cook/DuPage county for Kane/Kendall/McHenry county, so the sprawl in Chicago isn't necessarily a population growth thing (a couple decades ago it may have been, but now it really is just people moving from the inner/mid ring suburbs to the far outer suburbs).

Yep, even Plainfield and western Joliet were still growing more recently than 20 years ago. Mokena and Frankfort as well. There's new subdivisions going up in Shorewood currently.

[dcisive]

Did a lot of my growing up in Highland Park. I remember when we moved there in 1967 if you went just barely one mile West it was ALL farms from there on out. By the late 70's they'd begun to build up subdivisions selling those farms. By the 90's you had to drive over 30 miles to find a farm. Sad if you ask me but the way it is. Also it seems the Northern suburban areas grew leaps and bounds. Wisconsin was a completely separate state and now the areas from Kenosha to their southern State line are like part of Illinois so many folks bought homes up there and commute down towards Chicago. Not sure it would ever end frankly as eventually the growth will encompass all areas probably within 60 or so miles of the city. Enjoy......I left that years ago and don't miss it one bit.