Whats Chicago Suburbs like? Coming from a Detroiter. (Naperville, Schaumburg: high crime, employment)

[Shrewsbury Road]

In addition to hearing good things about inner city Chicago, I've also heard many good things about it's suburbs. Whats the main employment source there? Which suburbs are upscale, and which ones are low class. Is there good shopping, and how is the crime rate. Any posts appreciated, Shrewsbury Road.

[At1WithNature]

The southern burbs still have a lot of factory/warehouse type of jobs as well as the inner western burbs. Chicago's best burbs (just the # of towns) tend to be on the Northside and far west side. The South Side has many great suburbs like Flossmoor, Olympia Fields, Palos Hills, etc. but it has its' fair share of God Awful ones that equally give inner Detroit city a run for its' money when it comes to gun play, drug sales, gangs, violence, and corrupt government structures as well as corrupt police forces. Chicago knocked down its' projects, and continues to do so, which led to tens of thousands of Chicago's "finest" heading to the south burbs. There are 10 million people in these burbs so you get everything under the sun.

Most people, I would think, tend to commute to the downtown for jobs. I would guess at least 2 million people enter Chicago, from the suburbs, on an average work day.

[Shrewsbury Road]

Originally Posted by At1WithNature

The southern burbs still have a lot of factory/warehouse type of jobs as well as the inner western burbs. Chicago's best burbs (just the # of towns) tend to be on the Northside and far west side. The South Side has many great suburbs like Flossmoor, Olympia Fields, Palos Hills, etc. but it has its' fair share of God Awful ones that equally give inner Detroit city a run for its' money when it comes to gun play, drug sales, gangs, violence, and corrupt government structures as well as corrupt police forces. Chicago knocked down its' projects, and continues to do so, which led to tens of thousands of Chicago's "finest" heading to the south burbs. There are 10 million people in these burbs so you get everything under the sun.

Most people, I would think, tend to commute to the downtown for jobs. I would guess at least 2 million people enter Chicago, from the suburbs, on an average work day.

Some of the those suburbs mentioned do sound upscale and us in Detroitare not strangers to government corruption and crime. It sounds like communting in Chicago is bad. When I used to have to work in downtown Detroit I would just take the freeway and everything would be quick and relaxing, which is how I like my commutes. I think I'll shop in the upscale suburbs there and I'm sure I find a nice restaurant too. I also think that Chicago is doing something right because our old projects should have been knocked down a long time ago.

[Steve-o]

Believe it or not, there are over 300 suburbs in Chicagoland. If you can fathom that, you can kinda figure out what kind of opportunities are out there. Chicagoland and its jobs and people are incredibly diverse and a lot of fun if you exploit it all. Best of luck.

Oh, and leave your Red Wings jersey at home.

[oakparkdude]

Most of the job growth over the past thirty years has been in the north and western suburbs of Chicago. Office complexes line I-90, I-94, and I-88 outside of Chicago. Many corporate headquarters are present in these areas. The south suburbs have been losing ground economically over the same period as heavy industry (steel mills, etc) have closed.

Consequently, the wealthiest suburbs are found in the north, northwest, and west, while the majority of poor suburbs are in the south. Of course there are many exceptions.

The migration of job growth to the suburbs is obviously a nationwide phenomenon. What makes Chicago different from Detroit is that the number of jobs in downtown Chicago continues to grow along with the entire region, maintaining its lead as the number one job site in the metro area. We can thank our well-established public transit system, especially commuter rail (which Detroit lacks) for giving the central city its competitive edge.

[Shrewsbury Road]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Believe it or not, there are over 300 suburbs in Chicagoland. If you can fathom that, you can kinda figure out what kind of opportunities are out there. Chicagoland and its jobs and people are incredibly diverse and a lot of fun if you exploit it all. Best of luck.

Oh, and leave your Red Wings jersey at home.

I'm sure I won't be able to see all 300 but I can't wait to meet people there.

[Shrewsbury Road]

Originally Posted by sukwoo

Most of the job growth over the past thirty years has been in the north and western suburbs of Chicago. Office complexes line I-90, I-94, and I-88 outside of Chicago. Many corporate headquarters are present in these areas. The south suburbs have been losing ground economically over the same period as heavy industry (steel mills, etc) have closed.

Consequently, the wealthiest suburbs are found in the north, northwest, and west, while the majority of poor suburbs are in the south. Of course there are many exceptions.

The migration of job growth to the suburbs is obviously a nationwide phenomenon. What makes Chicago different from Detroit is that the number of jobs in downtown Chicago continues to grow along with the entire region, maintaining its lead as the number one job site in the metro area. We can thank our well-established public transit system, especially commuter rail (which Detroit lacks) for giving the central city its competitive edge.

How does Chicago work to encourage and maintain this job growth?

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by Shrewsbury Road

How does Chicago work to encourage and maintain this job growth?

Boy, is that the $64,000 question! I think to simply maintain the status quo, Chicago doesn't need to do that much as there is enough critical mass of business, transit, and amenities to attract businesses and new residents to live in the city. Perhaps transit needs to be improved (although the best thing about transit in Chicago is accessibility to downtown.) Yes crime needs to go down and the schools sucks, but realistically, the young urban professionals who work in downtown Chicago generally are unaffected by the the high crime and bad schools.

That's to maintain the status quo. To expand the desirability of Chicago to appeal to families with kids, those two issues: crime and schools, definitely need to be improved. External factors, such as increased energy prices could also drive a transition of jobs and housing into the city from the burbs.

[Shrewsbury Road]

Originally Posted by sukwoo

Boy, is that the $64,000 question! I think to simply maintain the status quo, Chicago doesn't need to do that much as there is enough critical mass of business, transit, and amenities to attract businesses and new residents to live in the city. Perhaps transit needs to be improved (although the best thing about transit in Chicago is accessibility to downtown.) Yes crime needs to go down and the schools sucks, but realistically, the young urban professionals who work in downtown Chicago generally are unaffected by the the high crime and bad schools.

That's to maintain the status quo. To expand the desirability of Chicago to appeal to families with kids, those two issues: crime and schools, definitely need to be improved. External factors, such as increased energy prices could also drive a transition of jobs and housing into the city from the burbs.

Thats what needs to be done in Detroit as well.

[M TYPE X]

Originally Posted by Shrewsbury Road

Thats what needs to be done in Detroit as well.

But it won't be, either in Metro Detroit or Greater Cleveland (from the former, lived in the latter as well) or half a bizillion other midwestern places (hello Milwaukee and St Louis). Indianapolis and Minneapolis are the only major midwestern metros outside of Chicago that look like they have a future.

Read Madigan's "Global Chicago" book. It talks in detail about how Chicago changed from Midwest rustbelt malaise to the city it is today.

As for the suburbs, I'm from the Rochester Hills/Troy/Bloomfield/Farmington area in Metro Detroit. I like Naperville, Glen Ellyn, Schaumburg/Hoffman Estates/Palatine, and all of the North Shore, from Evanston up to Lake Bluff and inland to Lincolnshire, Riverwoods, Deerfield, Northbrook, Glenview, Libertyville, Mundelein, and so on. There's a lot of options.