How crowded is Chicago?

[noid_1985]

Im sure you know what "on par" means you know what Nasonex is don't you???

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

It's congested enough that it can be a frustrating place to drive. The burbs have really grown over time, but the city itself is not nearly as heavily populated as it was, say, 50 years ago.

[soulful]

OP. You may wish to pull up the average commute time stats for Chicago vs. other cities. Also, the population per sq mile, etc. I am not sure if your concern is regarding traffic or simply general overpopulation.

Personally, I don't find it congested. However, I live and stay in the city. If I were commuting from the city to certain suburbs I would encounter traffic at some times of the day.

[Drover]

Anyone else smell a troll?

[SJaye]

This guy could be a troll, but I would just like to state that I do not think Chicago is too congested, or has too many people. I feel the idea of it is absurd considering how much denser cities like Hong Kong and NYC are. Chicago might have too much traffic on certain roads at certain times of the day, but there are ways to fix that. In my view there is nothing inherently bad about more people coming to Chicago.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

Compared to what? Other major cities? No.

Compared to, say, Iowa? Yes.

It's congested enough that it can be a frustrating place to drive. The burbs have really grown over time, but the city itself is not nearly as heavily populated as it was, say, 50 years ago.

In every part of Chicago the zoning folks have allowed retailers to put in more reasons to drive to stores but have done little / nothing to increase the capacity of the grid to handle the increased traffic.

There are too many streets that are too narrow and just about no advanced traffic control signals to speed the flow of traffic in response to left turns and other blockages.

You can't put the "Genie back in the bottle" becuase the retailers that rely on customers putting large bulky purchases into their trunks and cargo areas and NOT go to magically schlep this crap around on the El or a bus.

The City need to get serious about increasing the carrying capacity of the grid...

[Drover]

Roundabouts, I tell ya.

[Chicagoland60426]

Often the suburbs are more congested than the city itself outside of Downtown and the Northside. Chicago proper is hardly growing, but the suburbs are getting more dense.