Suburbs that are obscure or little-known (Chicago, Aurora: inspection, closing, mall)

[flamadiddle]

Volo, IL

[Clark&Addison]

Originally Posted by MillennialUrbanist

That's true. But it's usually really easy to spot the Chicago/suburb border, if you're out "in the field". How? Look at the streetlights. Chicago has the characteristic high-pressure sodium (amber) ones, while most suburbs have mercury vapor (cool white) ones. The streetlight shapes may vary too.

There may be even more differences: the road pavement, the street name sign color (green is standard, but some suburbs use other colors), or even the building architectural style. Suburb/suburb borders, on the other hand, may be much harder to spot "in the field", because you don't have the characteristic amber streetlights on one side of the street.

I agree that city-suburb borders are distinct when you see them, but in the case of Burnham, there really isn't much interface between city and suburb, at least not on the street grid. I'm pretty sure the only place Burnham's street grid ties in to an adjacent city is part of the border with Calumet City, the rest is isolated by infrastructure or the river/golf course/forest preserve.

[pvande55]

The persistence of these names is a mystery. Many have never been incorporated, but at one time had post offices, so a road sign was posted. Wilton Center's claim to fame is a large electric substation. Utilities used to proudly tout their installations, but today are secretive about them.

[Clark&Addison]

Going to add Posen, drove by the other day and had never heard of it despite living in Chicago my whole life.

[Griffland219]

Being from Northwest Indiana and minutes from the border, I know a lot of the "obscure" suburbs on the south side as well as some on the west side, but I see most of the ones I know have already been mentioned.

I realize there is a Northwest Indiana forum here on City Data, but it is a part of Chicagoland too, and lots of great answers have already been given.

So, my vote is for New Chicago here on the Indiana side.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Chicago,_Indiana

I never even knew it existed until I was looking at a map and saw it there. "New Chicago" is kind of an ironic name considering what the town is like to say the least. Chicago has well over 2 million people. New Chicago is a tiny, more rural area with barely 2 thousand people in an area that is only 2/3 of a square mile.

There's really nothing that would bring someone to New Chicago. I'm sure it has its residents who love it and are proud to call it home, but it's surrounded on 3 sides by Lake Station, a much larger town relatively speaking with about 12,000 people. Lake Station itself is to the east of Gary and north of Hobart off I-80 and I-65. It's also a somewhat rural town and is very working class and really has no claim to fame outside the 80/65 junction, which many would assume is still Gary as they pass through. It's pretty obscure in its own right. All the shopping is in Hobart, Merrillville, and to the east, Portage, and Gary has its reputation for crime and urban blight, so Lake Station really has nothing to set it apart. I don't think I've met a single person from Lake Station, let alone New Chicago, despite living to the west of Gary in the Highland/Griffith area.

[Chicagoland60426]

Bedford Park

Probably most think of it as entirely industrial/commercial land but people actually live there, although only about 600.

[leroy217]

Originally Posted by MillennialUrbanist

That's true. But it's usually really easy to spot the Chicago/suburb border, if you're out "in the field". How? Look at the streetlights. Chicago has the characteristic high-pressure sodium (amber) ones, while most suburbs have mercury vapor (cool white) ones. The streetlight shapes may vary too.

There may be even more differences: the road pavement, the street name sign color (green is standard, but some suburbs use other colors), or even the building architectural style. Suburb/suburb borders, on the other hand, may be much harder to spot "in the field", because you don't have the characteristic amber streetlights on one side of the street.

True for the most-part. Most suburbs do have distinctive street signage to differentiate themselves from one another. Some have blue signs with white writing, green with white, black with white, yellow with black, etc.


To me, that's how I can tell when I go into a different town/village/city.

[MillennialUrbanist]

Originally Posted by Griffland219

There's really nothing that would bring someone to New Chicago. I'm sure it has its residents who love it and are proud to call it home, but it's surrounded on 3 sides by Lake Station, a much larger town relatively speaking with about 12,000 people. Lake Station itself is to the east of Gary and north of Hobart off I-80 and I-65. It's also a somewhat rural town and is very working class and really has no claim to fame outside the 80/65 junction, which many would assume is still Gary as they pass through. It's pretty obscure in its own right. All the shopping is in Hobart, Merrillville, and to the east, Portage, and Gary has its reputation for crime and urban blight, so Lake Station really has nothing to set it apart. I don't think I've met a single person from Lake Station, let alone New Chicago, despite living to the west of Gary in the Highland/Griffith area.

Lake Station does have a distinguishing element, just not a high-brow one. It's a certain adult "dancing" venue; I can't recall the name, but it had the word "dream" in it. It used to advertise on Chicago radio stations at night, and it always mentioned Lake Station in its address. Emphasis on "used to"; it might not be around anymore. I've never been there, but I heard it's almost as good as that industrial place in Hammond.

[leroy217]

Did anyone mention Thornton? Pretty much surrounded by quarries, but right off of I-80/294.

[MillennialUrbanist]

Originally Posted by leroy217

Did anyone mention Thornton? Pretty much surrounded by quarries, but right off of I-80/294.

I don't think so. Thornton is pretty much the same as McCook: an industrial/quarry suburb. Only the quarrying company wasn't stupid enough to destroy a major thoroughfare, like it did with Joliet Road in McCook. I-294 passes right across the quarry.