what suburb could easily be its own city (Chicago, Aurora: homes, theater)

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by Anthera

Small town doctors will make more than MDs at NU or UC. Major medical centers have a huge population of medicad and uninsured patients. There are certainly some very talented doctors working at NU/UC, but its because tehy love the life, not for the money.

Many doctors were making $200k in the late 1980's. With managed care, real salaries for doctors have gone down in the past 20 years. MD's were like investment bankers before managed care.

Sukwoo or any other docs care to comment?

Two factors affect physician income. 1) Cost of living/business and 2) insurance of the patient population.

Regarding the first factor, generally cost of business/living will be lower away from major metropolitan areas. Although insurance reimbursement rates are higher in large cities relative to rural areas, the differential is not nearly great enough to compensate for the much higher cost of housing, office rent, salaries of staff, etc. That's why physicians in Mississippi live so well (except for having to live in Mississippi.)

The second factor is largely dependent on the degree of affluence in the community. Richer patients have better insurance, resulting in better physician reimbursement (in general). As the most affluent parts of the country tend to be upscale suburbs, physicians in these areas also tend to do well. I'd hazard a guess that most physicians in the moderately to highly affluent Chicago suburbs (Naperville, Wheaton, North Shore, etc) still easily make 2-400K depending on their subspecialty.

Physicians working in high cost areas such as major urban centers, but with a poor patient population (uninsured or medicaid) tend to get the worst of both worlds.

Additionally, in major urban centers, much of the medical care is delivered through academic centers where physicians are often salaried employees of the hospital/university. Academic salaries (on average) will be lower than private practice. Obviously, if you're a world-famous superstar, you can probably command a much higher salary than the average joe schmoe academic physician.

Another factor is geographic distribution of managed care (which tends to depress physician income.) Managed care is much bigger on the coasts than in the Midwest.

Finally, the most lucrative physician practices involve cosmetic medicine which is cash only (no insurance) and caters towards the wealthy. Think Botox on the North Shore.

[Drover]

Aurora
Elgin
Joliet
Gary

At least 3 of these 4 places were cities in their own right once upon a time, and only became suburbs because suburbia came to them rather than because they had any dependence on Chicago. Rockford is the next Aurora/Joliet.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

... Or Rosemont with all of those offices near O'Hare.

Yeah, but there would be no O'Hare without Chicago. There would be no Rosemont either-it would still be a bunch of farms like it was until the 1950's without Chicago.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Yeah, but there would be no O'Hare without Chicago. There would be no Rosemont either-it would still be a bunch of farms like it was until the 1950's without Chicago.

I suppose it's hard to imagine any of those businesses clustered at Rosemont without access to O'Hare, but if you just airlifted Rosemont and dropped it in central Kansas as it is today, it would have a pretty good base of office workers. I suppose they would probably dry up pretty quickly, though.

[NYrules]

You can't pick up one and not the other when dealing with the south burb's two rival towns (twin cities if you will) Orland and Tinley Park both. The two next to eachother (Orland and Tinley) are totally Bloomington/Normal to a T only without all the hillbillies and white trash living in them. Tinley Park would be Bloomington basically identically, and Orland Park with its smaller downtown and higher end homes would be Normal. La Grange Road is equivelent to Veterans Parkway, and I-80 and Harlem Ave in Tinley Park is totally the west side of Bloomington. Heck the two even both have Cracker Barrels right off their interchanges. (Market St and I55 & I80 and Harlem)Only thing both Cook County towns are missing are two huge Universities in each of them.

[cubssoxfan]

Most of the towns on the Metra rail lines were their own cities back in the late 1800's early 1900's. They were the business center for the surrounding farms. Look at Woodstock or Crystal Lake. They were and are their own towns without Chicago. Granted, much smaller without as much development. Some of these towns include Skokie, Arlington Heights and Wheaton.

[Lookout Kid]

Half of the small cities in the midwest probalby wouldn't exist without Chicago's economic engine pumping capital into the region. But many could now get by without Chicago, I suppose.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

Most of the towns on the Metra rail lines were their own cities back in the late 1800's early 1900's. They were the business center for the surrounding farms. Look at Woodstock or Crystal Lake. They were and are their own towns without Chicago. Granted, much smaller without as much development. Some of these towns include Skokie, Arlington Heights and Wheaton.

Skokie was not much of anything before 1950. It is a post-war burb.

You are right about most of the towns you mentioned though.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

I suppose it's hard to imagine any of those businesses clustered at Rosemont without access to O'Hare, but if you just airlifted Rosemont and dropped it in central Kansas as it is today, it would have a pretty good base of office workers. I suppose they would probably dry up pretty quickly, though.

...and access to the Expressway and the Blue line which really only exist because of Chicago...

Rosemont has a very small population. Most of its workers live in other places.

[bungalowdweller]

Cicero is definately its own "city". (Although it is techically a town). Even though it is a working-class/low-income community our tax-base is H-u-g-e.
The tax-base is SO big that the town president, Larry Dominick, is going to give every homeowner a $1,000 credit on their Cook County tax bills (second installment.) Now that's big. And he couldn't get away with it if he didn't have the bucks. That's why Chicago wants its fingers in Cicero town government.