Need suggestions for suburbs that are not boring bedroom communites, besides Oak Park, Evanston (Chicago: university, living)

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by pvande55

People move to the suburbs for the schools, safety, and more space. Nobody moves there for the excitement. Naperville, maybe Schaumburg, are about the only ones I can think of.

They move there for better schools, more safety, more space, more peace n' quiet, better scenery, more to do for the kids (if applicable). And in most cases, its a lot cheaper, too. Not to mention sunnier and warmer in summer away from the lake.

[deechee]

Homewood and Flossmoor?

[urza216]

Originally Posted by deechee

Homewood and Flossmoor?

There's a reason why the parking lot at the Homewood-Flossmoor train station seems to be so much bigger than the all other train stations on Metra line down to University Park. There are a lot of commuters to the city in those towns, a lot more than the the rest. Homewood and Flossmoor aren't "bedroom communities" but they are closer to bedroom communities than any of the other south 'burbs east of 1-57.

However, since I haven't actually been to every single Metra parking lot on on the line, don't be shy in correcting me.

Originally Posted by deechee

Um, who would even consider those [Robbins and Ford Heights], haha.

I would never suggest anyone consider moving to Robbins or Ford Heights. However, I was suggesting that Mr. Tough Guy from the city should come down and take a good hard look at them. Maybe even get out of his car, stop by one of the liquor stores and tell anyone and everyone how he feels about the soccer moms, SUVs and the lack of visible signs of life.

He doesn't of course. Instead Mr. Tough Guy sits behind his computer screen, talking sh*t about approximately 3/4ths of the Chicago Metropolitan Area. He claims that the vast vast majority of the suburbs are all "bedroom communities" full of "soccer moms".

Well, the first flaw in this claim is that soccer moms are an upper-middle class phenomenon. Working class families can't afford the soccer mom lifestyle. Such a claim makes it seem as if Mr. Tough Guy is under the impression that of the 6 million people living in Chicago's suburbs, almost all of us are upper middle class. However, the south burbs especially are filled with towns that are of a blue-collar to middle class income (not "upper" middle class).

Mr. Tough Guy also seems to be under the impression that all professional economic activity in suburbia revolves around the city and there aren't any upper middle class professionals who don't, say, work at an office in Olympia Fields. This is very sociocentric and outright false.

/End rant

[ajolotl]

I take the OP to be looking for a suburb with an "urban vibe". This means more than quaint shops and a lack of strip malls (though these are definitely part of it). "Soccer moms" is a term that doesn't really mean anything anymore -- sort of like "yuppie". People use it for any woman in a car with kids in a suburb. I'll ignore it.

Let me start by saying there are MANY very nice, very quaint suburbs near Chicago with lively little downtowns that would be the envy of many towns across the country. I am not criticizing these towns. They are extremely nice. (seems to be a hair trigger on this forum against anti-suburb mentality).

That said, when it comes to the youth, vibrancy, and diversity (not black vs. white, but different ages, nationalities, interests, goals, ideas, income levels, etc.), I am not aware of any suburbs that are quite like Evanston (and Oak Park to a degree). There is a good reason that these are often the top choices of compromise for families who would have preferred to stay in the city but couldn't for practical reasons.

Not that they are better (in fact they are worse in some ways), just different.

[suburban_boy]

Originally Posted by urza216

There's a reason why the parking lot at the Homewood-Flossmoor train station seems to be so much bigger than the all other train stations on Metra line down to University Park. There are a lot of commuters to the city in those towns, a lot more than the the rest. Homewood and Flossmoor aren't "bedroom communities" but they are closer to bedroom communities than any of the other south 'burbs east of 1-57.

However, since I haven't actually been to every single Metra parking lot on on the line, don't be shy in correcting me.



I would never suggest anyone consider moving to Robbins or Ford Heights. However, I was suggesting that Mr. Tough Guy from the city should come down and take a good hard look at them. Maybe even get out of his car, stop by one of the liquor stores and tell anyone and everyone how he feels about the soccer moms, SUVs and the lack of visible signs of life.

He doesn't of course. Instead Mr. Tough Guy sits behind his computer screen, talking sh*t about approximately 3/4ths of the Chicago Metropolitan Area. He claims that the vast vast majority of the suburbs are all "bedroom communities" full of "soccer moms".

Well, the first flaw in this claim is that soccer moms are an upper-middle class phenomenon. Working class families can't afford the soccer mom lifestyle. Such a claim makes it seem as if Mr. Tough Guy is under the impression that of the 6 million people living in Chicago's suburbs, almost all of us are upper middle class. However, the south burbs especially are filled with towns that are of a blue-collar to middle class income (not "upper" middle class).

Mr. Tough Guy also seems to be under the impression that all professional economic activity in suburbia revolves around the city and there aren't any upper middle class professionals who don't, say, work at an office in Olympia Fields. This is very sociocentric and outright false.

/End rant

What exactly are "bedroom" communities? I thought that just meant a small, quite and plain-looking community which people have modest incomes?

[chet everett]

The term "bedroom communities" generally refers to the lack of large scale employment in the town. People can run a little coffee shop, hair salon, butcher shop but you aren't going to have any major productive industry or dense white collar employment.

Funny thing is that fairly dense employment exists along pretty much all the major freeways to some degree or another, but few suburbs have developed more than a pretty generic nightlife. As much as I agree with folks that like the scale and diversity of Evanston or Oak Park I know from experience that no one that lives in those towns feels that the offerings in town can hold a candle to Chicago. Sure there might be enough to keep one occupied to a limited degree if you want a nice diner and maybe even a little live music, but is certainly not the case that anyone that lives in any part of either Evanston or Oak Park could merely ride public transit to the huge array of options that one can find in Chicago and frankly that would be my definition of an "anti-bedroom community".

By that definition Chicago stands alone in the region. Using the same standard would put a very tiny number of urban areas in the same category. The list is maybe ten cities or so in the US and even with that list in some categories the fall off in "local option" is far more extreme than what would can have their disposal in Chicago or New York. I mean for everyone that would claim Washington DC is an "anti-bedroom community" I would ask them to point me to shopping options that match NYC or Chicago without getting out into VA or MD, can't be done... Same sort of thing happens in lots of other "urban settings" too, and that really shows how rare / difficult / special the handful of really livable broadly diverse cities truly are...

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by suburban_boy

What exactly are "bedroom" communities? I thought that just meant a small, quite and plain-looking community which people have modest incomes?

A "bedroom community" is a suburb with housing, but not much else (i.e. people sleep there, but go elsewhere for work, shopping, and entertainment).

[suburban_boy]

Originally Posted by urza216

There's a reason why the parking lot at the Homewood-Flossmoor train station seems to be so much bigger than the all other train stations on Metra line down to University Park. There are a lot of commuters to the city in those towns, a lot more than the the rest. Homewood and Flossmoor aren't "bedroom communities" but they are closer to bedroom communities than any of the other south 'burbs east of 1-57.

However, since I haven't actually been to every single Metra parking lot on on the line, don't be shy in correcting me.

Question: What is a bedroom community?

Answer:

Originally Posted by chet everett

The term "bedroom communities" generally refers to the lack of large scale employment in the town. People can run a little coffee shop, hair salon, butcher shop but you aren't going to have any major productive industry or dense white collar employment.

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

A "bedroom community" is a suburb with housing, but not much else (i.e. people sleep there, but go elsewhere for work, shopping, and entertainment).

With that said, why aren't most of the South Suburbs east of 57 considered bedroom communities?

An acutually, I believe that most of the stops on the Metra Electric, Riverdale on southward, have big parking lots. Are you refering to the one on 175th? That's actually East Hazel Crest. Maybe some of it is Homewood.

[pvande55]

In addition to the "Bedroom Communities," which usually have good schools and are good places to raise kids until they get bored, there are a lot of industrial suburbs. These make a great effort to be friendly to industry and office development. Lower taxes, but truck traffic day and night. Some are decent places to live, some are to avoid. And some have almost no residential.

[ImaloneJill]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

A "bedroom community" is a suburb with housing, but not much else (i.e. people sleep there, but go elsewhere for work, shopping, and entertainment).

Oak Forest.