Are Chicago suburbs better or different than other large midwest city suburbs? (Cicero: neighborhoods, high school)

[JJski]

Thanks damba - at least we speak same language.. a little bit of humor makes these threads more fun too...

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by Vosges

Fake news alert: I’ve seen you post this on multiple threads that there are NO public beaches on the Northshore. YOU HAVE BAD FACTS! Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe and Highland Park ALL have great public beaches. They all have resident and non resident rates. Please stop passing along incorrect info.

of course you are right. What the North Shore lacks is a waterfront culture of shops, restaurants, other attractions right along the shore. But the North Shore is perfectly happy about what it lacks...it wouldn't want it.

So basically the entire lakefront from Evanston to Lake Bluff is made up of large homes, parkland, beaches, NU, Bahai, a few synagogues and country clubs, etc, with the only commercial zone would be the northeast corner of Wilmette (the former no man's land) where high rises line the shore and Plaza del Lago's shops are right across Sheridan.

[Paige65]

Originally Posted by damba

I don’t think he intended as such. The vibe is just a little more private on the north shore community beaches than where he came from in Michigan.

Then it needs to be said that the vibe is different and that the towns are different than the tourist towns in Michigan and not that there aren't public beaches for residents. Simply posting that there are no public beaches up and down the North Shore is not a fact and not informative. We can't be certain that people are reading entire strings of posts to gain context.

[JJski]

This is my oppinion - sorry you do not like it... if it makes you feel better i am hyper critical of my own town as well. Folks reading these threads should understand these are all public and opinion based. My opinions help transplants from MI typed beach towns get a vibe/feel - thats all... go grab a beer and relax...

[Paige65]

Originally Posted by JJski

This is my oppinion - sorry you do not like it... if it makes you feel better i am hyper critical of my own town as well. Folks reading these threads should understand these are all public and opinion based. My opinions help transplants from MI typed beach towns get a vibe/feel - thats all... go grab a beer and relax...

Your opinion is fine and worthwhile! Doesn't matter if I like it or not. We all give opinions on here all the time. Stating something as fact (there are no public beaches) was what I was addressing. I, too, have plenty of opinions about my own town that are critical, that's neither here nor there.

[Vosges]

Private=not open to the public
Not like Michigan=completely different

I’d be very curious on how many visits jjski has made to the Northshore beaches to make these assessments.

[JJski]

We went 3x Vos - our realtor while we looked at NS showed us evanston and highland park. She raved about HP (being the kool energized scene) to our disappointment - just not our type of vibe... We also (felt) as if most of the beaches are privately owned. General feeling was much too quiet and disconnected from the towns - and not at all what we are used to in a beach community compared to MI... There feel better about my assessment?

We visited many towns in the NS - between the beaches and mostly energy level of towns is where it fell short for us - our opinion. But to some who want more quiet - this can be a perfect choice.

we did like evanston a lot - which i always give them kudos for being the energized NS town... just re-read my historic posts...

Vos, show me 1 NS beach town similar to traverse city MI.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by JJski

We went 3x Vos - our realtor while we looked at NS showed us evanston and highland park. She raved about HP (being the kool energized scene) to our disappointment - just not our type of vibe... We also (felt) as if most of the beaches are privately owned. General feeling was much too quiet and disconnected from the towns - and not at all what we are used to in a beach community compared to MI... There feel better about my assessment?

We visited many towns in the NS - between the beaches and mostly energy level of towns is where it fell short for us - our opinion. But to some who want more quiet - this can be a perfect choice.

we did like evanston a lot - which i always give them kudos for being the energized NS town... just re-read my historic posts...

Vos, show me 1 NS beach town similar to traverse city MI.

I spend a lot of time in Michigan "beach towns" from New Buffalo to South Haven to Glen Arbor and Traverse City. I'm also lucky to have spent darned near as much time in Door County and other spots in Wisconsin that have large amounts of recreational waterfront.



I've also spent time in Whitefish Bay, north of Milwaukee. It is, like the towns in Illinois north of Chicago on Lake Michigan, blessed with a lovely setting. It is not primarily a place where anyone would choose to "vacation" but is a wonderful place to live. The same can be said for the spots along the eastern seaboard that are withing daily commuting distance of Boston, New Haven, New York City, Philadelphia, or Baltimore / Washington DC. These areas all have, to one degree or another, a cluster of waterfront towns that are home to those with the means to have very impressive residences that the commute from daily.



These sorts of towns are distinct from the other seafront towns on the eastern seaboard that are primarily recreational -- from the spots in Maine that boom with tourists gobbling down lobstah rolls to the hamlets on the Cape and Nantucket Island hanging off Massachusetts, to posh areas in Rhode Island, the Hamptons, New Jersey's natural areas, Maryland, Virginia and down into the Carolinas there are no shortage of interesting coastal areas where "going to the beach" is pretty much the only reason such areas exist...



For what is worth there is not the same "beach town" culture on the West Coast. For as nice as some areas are for the handful of fisherman or surfers there really are not many folks that spend their vacation time in seaside cottages or hotels in the way that has become a tradition in both the midwest and east coast areas...

[damba]

Chet 110% nailed it.

[edsg25]

Suburban Chicago is different from suburbia in other midwestern suburbias because of its size. And when it comes to size, the 9,000,000 or so of us living in Chicagoland overwhelms any other metro area in the Midwest.

Thus, many of the differences between Chicago suburbs and other midwestern suburbs is a reflection of the metropolitan areas they are in.

Rosemont is "suburban' (in name only, of course) and its complex of hotels, malls, convention center, etc., could not exist the way it does anywhere else in the midwest because its attributes come from its proximity to O'Hare which, of course, is in Chicago. If Chicago had annexed the land where Rosemont resides, it would probably look and function the same as now.

A summer outdoor concert venue, actually the first of its kind, can pack folks in and bring in top rate entertainment. Ravinia is what it is as a reflection of the Chicago area and its ability to support such a venue. Does it matter that it is in Highland Park instead of Hyde Park (other than the ridiculous logistics that would create): NO. It's the product of Chicagoland, not suburban Chicago.

Stand outside of Ravinia and throw a quarter as hard as you can. Chances are it will land in the Chicago Botanic Gardens in Glencoe; they're that close. The size and resources of this setting (owned by Chicago's very own Cook Co) are unparalleled in the midwest.

Brookfield Zoo may be in Brookfield which may be in suburbia but where it really is is in Chicagoland. Again, if Chicago could expand to the southwest and incorporate the towns adjacent, including Brookfield, the dynamics wouldn't change. The enormous size of the zoo (one of the biggest anywhere) reflects its metro area.

Metra tracks blanket the metro area in a system so large that it greatly exceeds every other commuter rail system in the nation (except, of course, for NYC). No other midwestern metro has commuter rail...so having it makes the dynamics of endless Chicago suburbs with Metra stations different from any other midwestern suburbia. Only Chicago has a real rapid transit system (no light rail here)...So you can't have an Evanston or an Oak Park, a Cicero or Skokie, elsewhere because no where in the midwest do you have that form of transit.

To me, the real answer to the OP's question: is suburban Chicago different from other midwestern suburbias, the answer is yes: but in some ways irrelevant...suburban Chicago is different from other midwestern suburbias due to the fact that Chicagoland is different than other midwestern midwestern metros.