Moving to IL - is there any future? (Chicago, Naperville: job market, best schools)

[Vasily]

Originally Posted by Chicagoisthebest

North Ave or army trail the dividing line of the west suburbs? Elmwood park, Franklin park, etc. Are also considered west suburbs.

Whatever.

[Chicagoisthebest]

Ok

[Master Jay]

Good morning team (AND STAY SAFE, PLEASE!):

Forgive my ignorance on this, as this is a Milwaukeean thinking....

But just as Madison Street divides north and south in the city, if it is essentially drawn out further and further west, wouldn't THAT line essentially separate north and south Chicago SUBURBS???

[RJA29]

I'm going to second the notion that the suburbs along the BNSF are the Western Suburbs. As far as the interstates are concerned, do they not label Naperville a Western Suburb?

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

Originally Posted by Master Jay

Good morning team (AND STAY SAFE, PLEASE!):

Forgive my ignorance on this, as this is a Milwaukeean thinking....

But just as Madison Street divides north and south in the city, if it is essentially drawn out further and further west, wouldn't THAT line essentially separate north and south Chicago SUBURBS???

That's an excellent way of looking at it, and probably how "they" do it, whoever "they" are (Cartographers? Urban Anthropologists?)

But the problem is, "Chicago" isn't a single dot on the map, it is a very "long" city, whose shape could be best described as fitting within a long rectangle. So if one looks at a map, and draws two lines westward from the north and south borders of the city (abutting Evanston and Burnham), all suburbs between Romeoville and Hanover Park would be directly "west" of the city of Chicago, which is contrary to how it is currently viewed. There would be very few true "north" or "south" suburbs, and all others would be described as being some degree of northwest and southwest. So, we are stuck with struggling to determine which suburbs are west, north, and south, and which are some blend of northwest or southwest. I myself prefer the northeastern suburb of Saugatuck, MI.

Maybe the oft-quoted metaphor of Chicago being a toilet is most accurate, and all of the suburbs are simply circling the bowl, LOL. One thing is for sure, if we all shared Master Jay's fondness for the city, it would be a far better place.

[Master Jay]

Curly Q. Bobalink, wow, THANK YOU for the shout out! Yes, I love Chicago and all it's beauty. You see on the Chicago forum, today in fact, I started a post on favorite Chicago parks. So many great replies. It's obvious there is beauty in Chicago; parks being ONE of those things!

I can be a concrete thinker at times. I'm an outsider, I understand. So I don't know how much my opinion matters on this..... but YES, take Madison, west outside of the city and there you have the division of the north and south suburbs, just as it does for the city.

North suburbs would jut due north of the city's borders, as would be so for the south.

As far as west suburbs.... why dont we say anything WEST of the city's west borders ( some places it's Cicero some it's Harlem, etc) and go as far west as..... I don't know, Cumberland ok with you?

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

Originally Posted by Master Jay

Curly Q. Bobalink, wow, THANK YOU for the shout out! Yes, I love Chicago and all it's beauty. You see on the Chicago forum, today in fact, I started a post on favorite Chicago parks. So many great replies. It's obvious there is beauty in Chicago; parks being ONE of those things!

I can be a concrete thinker at times. I'm an outsider, I understand. So I don't know how much my opinion matters on this..... but YES, take Madison, west outside of the city and there you have the division of the north and south suburbs, just as it does for the city.

North suburbs would jut due north of the city's borders, as would be so for the south.

As far as west suburbs.... why dont we say anything WEST of the city's west borders ( some places it's Cicero some it's Harlem, etc) and go as far west as..... I don't know, Cumberland ok with you?

I had to look at a map to see where Cumberland Ave. is at - just east of O'Hare. But that doesn't seem far enough out, especially since O'Hare Airport is technically within Chicago city limits - and also since the crux of the argument is whether Naperville is a "west" or a "southwest" suburb (I'd vote "west", but my opinion and fifty cents won't buy you anything at a Starbucks). I'd say once you hit Elgin or Oswego, you're beyond suburbia and into new territory. But who knows, one day Chicago may have a new suburb called "Racine".

[Master Jay]

Curly Q. Bobalink. Ok I am then voting to change "Milwaukee " to "North North Chicago."

Will you back me up on this?

[Hiruko]

Originally Posted by curly q. Bobalink

i myself prefer the northeastern suburb of saugatuck, mi.

lol

[FoxValleyTrotter]

Originally Posted by Curly Q. Bobalink

I myself prefer the northeastern suburb of Saugatuck, MI.

The real Saugatuck, MI is actually a great place to live in lol. I'm from the northern Fox Valley suburbs (basically the Northwest Suburbs) and I recommend almost all the towns on the Fox River. I hate the car-dependent boring towns with no history and only strip malls. The Fox River Valley wasn't part of the Chicago area until the 1950's/60's so our towns avoided much of the suburban blob. Each town features a nice-sized 19th century downtown and docks on the river for water recreation. Sometimes it doesn't even feel like the Chicago area! Were lucky enough to be a part of the Northwest Suburbian Golden Corridor,(a sub-region in the suburbs which many fortune 500 companies reside in) and far enough from Chicago to have its own character. If you like suburbia, this is one of the fastest-growing regions in Illinois; it didn't see the effects of the Illinois exodus. There is plenty of new development and most of them are not car-dependent. Elgin and Aurora are the largest cities and get a lot of hate but they are very different towns now since they have been redeveloped. Other major towns include McHenry, Dundee(s), Cary, Carpentersville, Ottowa, South Elgin, St. Charles, Batavia, Geneva, Algonquin, Fox Lake, Johnsburg, and a few more. Heck, even Carpentersville (which gets a lot of hate), has been gentrified and all the old ugly apartments cost $1,200+ lol. Around 1-2 million people live in the Valley.