Flossmoor's Future (Chicago, Oak Lawn, Chicago Heights: 2013, townhouses, job transfer)

[urza216]

Wait a second.. My mistake. Governor's doesn't go through Park Forest (although it's close to it). Only Sauk Trail and Western..

[chet everett]

The fact is that devlopers and landowners back in the late 1950s "learned" from the way that highways and through roads skirt Flossmoor that places like Schaumburg "embrace" them and then "wall off" the residential areas. Totally different model of development, one that I personally dislike, one that is sadly the driving force for mega builders active in the newer SW suburbs and too much of the Fox Valley & Lake Co...

The weird things is that for the part of eastern DuPage Co / eastern Cook Co near Oak Brook these two diametrically opposed models of development seem to mostly work pretty well in close proximity. My hunch is that the harder rectilinear grid of places like Elmhurst or Hinsdale is the dominant force and with the strick E-W flow of the BNSF and only moderate diagonal nature of a handful of streets it helps keep people oriented. If you go farther east to Riverside it too tends to get the "I had no idea... " reaction from folks as its roads are positively maze-like close to the DesPlaines... That kills the commercial center and causes greif for folks demanding higher sales tax revenues (which towns like Oak Brook have in spades...). It is probably too much to dream that some sort of more regional way to helping towns deal with aging needs will ever come out of the idiots in Springfield but perhaps something like that would serve to encourage lower property taxes in Flossmoor which would be helpful....

Originally Posted by JamieLannister

The point that I was tyring to make is that when the village was laid out, it was purposely designed so that the number of through-streets were limited. Governor's was essentially the western border of development and Dixie the eastern (yes, I forgot to include Western in that list of "old-timey Flossmoor through-streets").

You are right, though. Modern-day Flossmoor, now that it is fully built-out has a number of roads that go through it. However, as far as the "core" of downtown Flossmoor, you just have Flossmoor Road.

I'm not trying to claim there are no "major roads" in or near Flossmoor. The point was that the major roads were purposely limited to the one-time permiters of the village in order to limit traffic and keep it primarly residential. That may or may not have an impact on commercial development in the intervening years and people "stumbling upon" the village while driving through (such as one might do in a La Grange or Arlington Heights, for instance).

[urza216]

Except that it isn't actually true. This isnt something to agree or disagree with. This is objectively wrong.

4 major roads roll north-south though the center of Flossmoor. 2 of them roads that take you all the way to the city if you keep heading north..

The residential areas are "walled off" from Pulaski (the western edge), Western and Kedzie. These are Flossmoor roads that will take you to Chicago. It is actually the same style of development. I live here not in some irrelevant suburb to this thread that's over an hour away..

Just becuse YOU have a bad attitude about nearby suburbs doesn't mean there is any relevance to comparing Flossmoor to Des plains or Arlington heights or some other far away place over the rainbow..

Please shut up. Stick to threads about Dupage / the NW suburbs or stop spreading misinformation about the south suburbs..

[urza216]

Do you want me to take umpteen pictures and draw out maps just to prove this statement to be objectively wrong and factually inaccurate? Or can you guys just say, "Actually, a number of major roads pass through Flossmoor and many many south suburbanites - albeit irrelevant people in my world - pass through and the center of town all the time every day?"

Would you also mind explaining why you feel the need to compare Flossmoor only to suburbs over an hour away that Flossmoor residents give no thought to AT ALL unless they're posting on the City Data forum? How about comparing Flossmoor to suburbs that might have actually had some of the same developers? You know, suburbs that are at least less than 45 minutes away?

Could it be that you guys are as familiar with Flossmoor as I am with Des Plaines? I hope at the least the silent people reading this thread aren't ignoring me here.

You can trash the south suburbs. But please don't spread misinformation that is factually false - especially on a website called City Data.

[chet everett]

Wow, touched a nerve.
I really do think that if folks do want to understand the hows and whys of what towns are thriving it is helpful to do some compare & contrast. If you disagree that is well within your rights as well.

The similarlity in the challenges facing towns that do have a "core" that is off the "beaten path" is a big deal. I've been to regional planning meeting for RTA where the various town officials that have this kind of situation share ideas with how to leverage each of their strengths in coordinated efforts with Metra and other transportation agencies but rarely have I seen any progress made. I suspect that when that cooperation does not happen it due to the same kinds of attitude exhibited here. Interestingly I have personally seen the very genial elected representatives of a handful of towns "sweet talk" their way into HUGE grants for things like rebuilding their rail depots. Perhaps that geneiallty could be why those towns thrive and others do not...

[urza216]

Yes, touched a nerve. If you have any idea what you are talking about, prove it by name-dropping towns that are within an hours drive of Flossmoor..

This is kinda like East Coasters who are baffled that Chicago came out of the Midwest. And they refuse to really accept it..

[urza216]

Downtown Flossmoor is like 2 blocks away from Kedzie Avenue and one block away from Westen Avenue . Both of these roads will take you all the way to Chicago. It isn't off a beaten path for south suburbanites. Factually incorrect and objectively wrong. This isn't a matter of opinion.

[JamieLannister]

urza--

No one is trying to attack Flossmoor here. We're merely having a discussion speculating about how development and public consciousness of certain towns can be affected by the way a town is laid out.

Like I tried to explain before, no one is saying that Flossmoor doesn't have major roads going through it. It's easy enough to pull up Google maps and see that it does.

The point of discussion was about why some people aren't as familiar with Flossmoor. That led to a discussion about how commercial development and "through traffic" can lead to people "discovering" certain areas.

For purposes of that discussion, we are focusing on "town centers," which are typically the areas centered around the core of a town where you would find the train station and walkable amenities.

Flossmoor's core downtown area is Sterling Ave and Flossmoor Road. Thus, Flossmoor Road is the only "major" road that goes through the "core" of Flossmoor.

Other suburbs that have had much more commercial development have bigger thoroughfares going through them that may have led to more "discoveries" by people passing through (e.g., La Grange Road in La Grange, Northwest Highway through the NW suburbs). Flossmoor Road is not a major arterial road, so it doesn't lend itself to the same type of traffic and development.

[urza216]

Ok, I get what you are saying now. But the corner of Flossmoor and Sterling is still only a stone throw away from Western Avenue - the largest Chicagoland road. Downtown Flossmoor isn't exactly some kind of secret to south suburbanites.

Would you mind explaining why you only are comparing Floasmoor to suburbs that are over an hour away? Even Oak Park is closer to Flossmoor than these town you guys keep mentioning..

I will let Shaumburg slide because of 294. And because it's the biggest suburban retail hub in Chicagoland. But I think I speak for many other Flossmoor residents when I say we give little to no thought about these other towns..

[chet everett]

Calm down.
I have taken classes at Govenors State iin University Park, was in traffic court in Markham about three months ago, was with a friend who buried their mom in Worth about 6 weeks ago, have friends that still teach at Bremmen Twnship Highschool in Midlotian, have relatives that live in Oak Lawn, bought my plasma back at The Little Guys old store in Glenwood.

I loves the south suburbs...

The OP asked about stability and "the future" and I am doing my best to help them (and any one with the desire to learn...) that beyond the recent whipsaw in real estate values there are all kinds of forces / trends that can be weighed.