Why are Chicago's suburbs so anti-pedestrian? (Evanston: university, friendly, transit)

[chicagomama]

What do you think is the MOST pedestrian-friendly suburb?

[MannheimMadman]

Originally Posted by chicagomama

What do you think is the MOST pedestrian-friendly suburb?

Probably the ones that link up to Chicago from the north. I've had ZERO trouble getting around by bicycle or foot in places like the North Shore or even most of Morton Grove, Lincolnwood, Skokie.

[MSchemist80]

The eastern half of Cook County is decent. There are plenty of decent routes in Niles, Morton Grove, Glenview, Northbrook, Evanston, and Chicago.

Head west to places like Arlington Heights, Des Plaines, Schaumburg, Rosemont, Elmhurst, Bensenville, Naperville etc and you have isolated pockets of areas you can get around but the only way to get from one pocket to another is either to ride on busy highways or go tens of miles out of your way to find a bike path like the prairie path. I'd say the Desplaines River and I-294 act like a barrier between the bikable walkable areas and the not.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

The eastern half of Cook County is decent. There are plenty of decent routes in Niles, Morton Grove, Glenview, Northbrook, Evanston, and Chicago.

Head west to places like Arlington Heights, Des Plaines, Schaumburg, Rosemont, Elmhurst, Bensenville, Naperville etc and you have isolated pockets of areas you can get around but the only way to get from one pocket to another is either to ride on busy highways or go tens of miles out of your way to find a bike path like the prairie path. I'd say the Desplaines River and I-294 act like a barrier between the bikable walkable areas and the not.

I am not picturing it regarding Arlington Heights. Please provide an example of where it is not bicycle friendly or pedestrian friendly and going "10's of miles" out of the way is neccesary.
I understand roads like Golf, Rand, Arlington Heights are not bike friendly, but there are sidewalks along these roads and I can find suitable bike alternatives. Just like riding on Golf or Dempster in Morton Grove or Skokie is not safe, yet there are easy alternatives.
Schaumburg? They have an extensive bike route that gets you around easily while avoiding busy roads like Higgins and Golf. I also recall seeing sidewalks along these roads.
Bear in mind there is a HUGE difference between having safe, walkable and bike-able areas and those areas being enjoyable or pleasant to walk or bike in. The 2 do not always go together.

[j_cat]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

I am not picturing it regarding Arlington Heights. Please provide an example of where it is not bicycle friendly or pedestrian friendly and going "10's of miles" out of the way is neccesary.
I understand roads like Golf, Rand, Arlington Heights are not bike friendly, but there are sidewalks along these roads and I can find suitable bike alternatives. Just like riding on Golf or Dempster in Morton Grove or Skokie is not safe, yet there are easy alternatives.
Schaumburg? They have an extensive bike route that gets you around easily while avoiding busy roads like Higgins and Golf. I also recall seeing sidewalks along these roads.
Bear in mind there is a HUGE difference between having safe, walkable and bike-able areas and those areas being enjoyable or pleasant to walk or bike in. The 2 do not always go together.

Do you see some sidewalks in these areas, or do you see consistent sidewalks? I'm genuinely curious.

[j_cat]

One thing I found in Northbrook was that there might be a sidewalk on a bridge, at least on one side of it, but it would be subpar in a couple of ways:

#1, only a couple feet wide, not much buffer against high-speed traffic

#2, railing barely three feet high--better not trip or slip!

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by j_cat

Do you see some sidewalks in these areas, or do you see consistent sidewalks? I'm genuinely curious.

With the exception of a few isolated neighborhoods, majority of Arlington Heights has sidewalks. Same for Schaumburg, same for what I've seen of Elmhurst. There may be a few sub-divisions without; but majority of the town has sidewalks.
So the answer is consistently.

[MSchemist80]

Yes if you want to walk arround Arlington Heights there are sidewalks. If you want to bike From Arlington Heights to Palatine or Shaumburg or Desplaines You will have to ride on Rt14, Rt12, Euclid etc.

I routinely ride from Niles to Chicago, Kenosha WI, Barrington (via Lake Country), But I never ride from Niles to Western Cook or Dupage Country. There are simply no routes.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by MSchemist80

Yes if you want to walk arround Arlington Heights there are sidewalks. If you want to bike From Arlington Heights to Palatine or Shaumburg or Desplaines You will have to ride on Rt14, Rt12, Euclid etc.

I routinely ride from Niles to Chicago, Kenosha WI, Barrington (via Lake Country), But I never ride from Niles to Western Cook or Dupage Country. There are simply no routes.

I can ride from Arlington Heights (Schoenbeck & Palatine) to Palatine very easily while avoiding busy roads. I can ride to Schaumburg and only use the sidewalk on Golf Rd from New Wilke to the Busse Woods bike path and along Wilke, if that is too busy for you, from White Oak to Golf-1 mile at most. From Busse Woods I can use bike path, sidewalk on Woodfield Dr. until I am west of Meacham and then I can use quieter streets to get around.
IF you are EAST of the Des Plaines River, going west can be difficult. But from here, there are many ways to get around without the masochistic practice of using Rt 14, Rt 12, Euclid Etc.
I am an easy distance from Lake Co. and can ride all the way into Wisconsin-BUT you have to pull out a good map and have some familiarity of the roads to choose a safer route that avoids the dangerously busy or high speed limit roads.
It would be like me saying I have to use Waukegan Rd to go north from Morton Grove into Lake County-NO. You just need to know the routes.
And really, the biking in Lake and McHenry counties is better and more enjoyable than biking in NW Cook anyway!

[cubssoxfan]

Since the topic veered towards the suburbs being bicycle friendly*, I will add a post related to pedestrian friendly. Drove from home to Hawthorn Woods last night. Went Schoenbeck to Hintz to Rte 83 to Gilmer Rd.
No sidewalks along Schoenbeck Rd., Propsect Heights doesn't believe in them. ANd this really FROSTS me because it forces kids walking to school to walk on the shoulder of Schoenbeck Rd., instead of safely seperated from traffic. I guess nothing will be done until a kid(s) gets hurt or killed- of course I hope there never is an accident like this.
Sidewalk along Hintz Rd in Wheeling, Sidewalk on Rte 83 all the way to Buffalo Grove. Sidewalk along Rte 83 in Buffalo Grove. Once you enter Long Grove, no more sidewalks.
So much depends on the town/city/village attitude & zoning regarding sidewalks or no sidewalks. In the NW suburbs, most if not all of Arlington Heights, Mt. Prospect, Buffalo Grove, Palatine, Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Elk Grove, Park Ridge and Des Plaines has sidewalks.

*Nothing wrong with discussing bicycle infrastructure, but one needs to keep in mind that for some a sidewalk is all they need, others want a path and others want a safe street or roadway because they are too fast for paths or sidewalks. In the midwest, Madison, WI. area has the best cycling infrastructure and also seems to be pedestrian friendly as well.