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Chicago has a bunch. Naperville, Evanston, Highland Park, Arlington Heights etc etc. Small towns that grew on their own then connected to the central city via rail and eventually highway.
Minneapolis/St Paul has a couple. Wayzata, Excelsior, Stillwater.
mr robot, i can't disagree, but I'm wondering about Highland Park....what do you think makes it different from the typical North Shore suburb (like Winnetka or Glencoe). As I said, I don't really disagree, just curious. My spin on Highland Park and what makes it different it that I consider it to be arguably the most insular of Chicago suburbs; when you enter Highland Park, it's like you're entering its own private, little world with a provincialness you don't necessarily see in other suburbs.
It has a downtown to rival that of some big cities: compact, quirky (not entirely consisting of chains), vibrant, and rich in history, although the parking garages take away from the old vibe. There even a preserved historic village with buildings dating back to 1831. Outside of downtown, there is a sizable residential area with a street grid, narrow streets, sidewalks, and well-maintained old houses. There is even a swimming pool built inside an empty quarry (Centennial Beach), which once provided material for constructing most of downtown Naperville.
Unfortunately, the above is true for only the older part of Naperville. Once you go past the grid portion of the town, you get the usual suburban [rhymes with "crawl"] that doesn't get much love here on City Data.
It also is the suburb most associated with corporate relocation (this is where they move)
mr robot, i can't disagree, but I'm wondering about Highland Park....what do you think makes it different from the typical North Shore suburb (like Winnetka or Glencoe). As I said, I don't really disagree, just curious. My spin on Highland Park and what makes it different it that I consider it to be arguably the most insular of Chicago suburbs; when you enter Highland Park, it's like you're entering its own private, little world with a provincialness you don't necessarily see in other suburbs.
Not too much different but HP has the most robust downtown (better than Glencoe, Wilmette etc). Excluding Evanston of course.
This is a thread where it is impossible to decide "the best". There are wonderful suburban towns/communities throughout the northeast & Midwest. Many of the best ones started out as small discrete towns.
I will mention Bellevue KY across from cincinatti. It has a nice old-timey main street, middle aged houses on the hills south of "main street", older homes between there and the river. What makes Bellevue unique is they haven't built a levee between the town and the river, so houses have views and there is a nice little park by the riverside.
I think Seattle area has some, you could say Tacoma, though it's kind of it's own thing. There is Also Everett which is similar to Tacoma in that it's an old industrial port city, but at about half the size.
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