Chicagoland: An Overview
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| The greater Chicago
area, "Chicagoland", shares much in common
with other major metropolitan areas but also has a
great number of features unique to its location, built
environment, and history. The city evolved with a
focal point of trade at its center and progressive
rings of commerce, industry, residential and agricultural
areas moving outward. This pattern, along with the
eastern boundary at Lake Michigan, funneled the metropolitan
area into a shape somewhat like a baseball field or
a half-moon that angles inward. The city itself showcases
phenomenal architecture and world-class museums, mainly
in its downtown Loop area. Hyde Park and the University
of Chicago, as well as Lincoln Park with its well-known
zoo, also represent major attractions for the city.
The suburban areas have a great deal to offer, some
of which gets frequently overlooked. Evanston and
the North Shore highlights are well-heralded, as is
Oak Park's world-known architecture and the fauna
and flaura of Brookfield Zoo and the Morton Arboretum,
respectively. Less celebrated but well-worth a visit
are the historical and commercial landmarks of the
Northwest Suburbs, and the picturesque Americana of
the South Suburbs. Great natural areas and charming
smaller cities line Chicagoland's frontier, and beyond
these other cultural centers in Wisconsin, Illinois,
and Indiana abound. |
More about Chicagoland
- Chicagoland Attractions
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Chicagoland Reference
Map - Chicagoland Interactive
Map
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The city boundaries of Chicago
contain many tens of communities, some with a polished
urban character, others with industrial grit or suburban
charm. Only in recent decades has the conglomeration
gained a cohesion somewhat akin to other concentrated
metropolises, although a description of the city as
a "sprawling plexus of industrial towns, local
shopping districts, crowded tenement neighborhoods,
[and] green and spacious settlements" from a
1939 guidebook seems well-recognizable some sixty-five
years later.
The focused center of Chicago and many of its tourist
attractions lie naturally in the downtown area, concentrated
in the Loop but spilling quite a ways over into the
Near North and Near South sides of the city and with
scattered sites in Hyde Park, Lincoln Park, and the
Far North as well. Chicago west of the lake becomes
largely a local's world of ethnic neighborhoods, industrial
corridors, gleaming churches, lovely parklands and
suburban-like residential enclaves. |
Learn About: Chicago
Downtown - Chicago
Neighborhoods - Chicago
Sights and Attractions
Interactive Map of Chicago - Interactive Neighborhoods
Map
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Northern Suburbs
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The area north of the city along the lakeshore
hosts Chicago's most affluent suburbs, foremost
among them the elite set of less than ten to which
the term "North Shore" collectively
applies. Immediately to Chicago's north lie the
suburbs of Evanston, home to Northwestern University,
Skokie, known for a sculpture garden and for its
celebration of heritage, as well as Lincolnwood,
Morton Grove, and Niles, primarily residential
suburbs..
Further north, the heart of the North Shore area
includes Wilmette, where the stunning Baha'i Temple
stands, Kenilworth, famous for its stately homes,
Winnetka, a village of lovely homes and churches,
Glencoe, with its celebrated Chicago Botanic Garden,
and Highland Park, home to the Ravinia Music Festival.
West of the lakeshore, other suburbs, some of
which also are sometimes included under the "North
Shore" umbrella, have transformed themselves
rapidly from sleepy agrarian communities to affluent
residential areas comparable to their lake-front
couterparts.
Far to the north, Lake Forest hosts a college
of the same name and is home to sprawling estates
built from the late 1800s to the roaring 1920s.
Nearby Highwood once hosted military Fort Sheridan,
but has gone residential.
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Go to: North
Suburbs Sights and Attractions - Interactive
Map of the North Suburbs
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Northwest Suburbs
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| The Northwest Suburbs of the
Chicago Area cover an enormous area of land, spanning
from just west of Waukegan, to just south and southeast
of the Chain o'Lakes Region, to east of McHenry
and Crystal Lake, to just north and east of Elgin,
finally to the area right around O'Hare and the
"island" of Norridge / Harwood Heights
surrounded by the city of Chicago. Along the way
they include many significantly different areas;
the near northwest suburbs like Park Ridge appear
similar in respects to neighboring Chicago neighborhoods,
but moving north a ways to places like Libertyville
and Des Plaines they gain a small-town Americana
feel, where as further west in cities like Schaumburg
and Arlington Heights one finds the archetypal 20th-Century
suburban landscape of tract housing and indoor and
outdoor malls. Farther out, the Northwest suburbs
start to mingle with the agricultural and recreational
countryside. In Central Lake County, especially
the Round Lake area, the villages have much in common
geographically with the nearby Chain o'Lakes, but
are more culturally diverse and have in recent decades
seen an influx of Hispanic culture. Barrington Hills,
in the Far Northwest suburbs farther south, is reputed
to have the largest land area of any village in
the U.S., but its low population density reflects
the sense of open prairie of rural Illionois, and
it boasts several small, very affluent communities
within its borders. |
Go to: Northwest
Suburbs Sights and Attractions |
Western Suburbs
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| The Western Suburbs offer great
variety, but also share a common character: gracious,
attractive, affluent, and with the down-to-earth
charm of many of these communities' agrarian and
industrial roots. The Near West Suburbs have a history
closely tied to Chicago's, but proudly independent
of it. Oak Park and River Forest have venerable
architectural and literary heritages. Cicero and
Berwyn are known for politics and ethnic character.
Riverside was one of Chicago's first planned suburbs
and the first to adopt a then-revolutionary meandering
street plan. Brookfield hosts Chicagoland's world-famous
zoo. Farther West, the Aurora commuter corridor
offers pleasant residential suburbs such as Hinsdale,
while the Geneva corridor is more industrial with
shipping hubs like Berkeley. In the Far West and
in the Fox River Valley, lovely villages full of
history charm visitors. |
Go to: Western
Suburbs Sights and Attractions |
South Suburbs
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The South Suburbs are generally
newer than their Northern and Western counterparts,
and some are only now coming into their prime.
A handful, however, such as Chicago Heights, Crete,
Matteson, and Orland Park, like neighboring villages
in the Joliet area, have vintages which stretch
back to the mid-1800s and architecture preserved
from that time. Some of the near south suburbs
bordering Chicago's far-southside neighborhoods,
on the other hand, such as Riverdale and Calumet
Park, seem in some peril of being subsumed by
the sprawl of urban decline that that region has
found hard to reverse, although they simultaneously
offer a somewhat safer haven for those trying
to escape it.
The more affluent, newly developed South Suburbs
southwest of the city, like Oak Lawn, now offer
shining new downtown facilities within very efficient
commuting distance to downtown Chicago. The older
communities farther out, though, such as Tinley
Park, are nestled among forest preserves and recreational
opportunities, as well as steeped in the Americana
charm -- and peculiar uniqueness -- for which
the South Suburbs are famous. These primarily
residential centers offer cultural, recreational,
and historical points of interest for locals and
visitors alike, and good values for residents. |
Go to: South
Suburbs Sights and Attractions |
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