when you say chicago suburb what one do u think of (Aurora: theater, restaurants)

[TempesT68]

For the "classic" suburb it would be tough to beat cicero.

[Alacran]

Cicero

[dgperson556]

thanks i can see cicero as the classic burb

[noid_1985]

Cicero or Oak Park for me

[Melanzana92]

The first ones I see on a map. Usually Evanston.

And even though they're pretty far out, Joliet and Aurora. I know they're not immediate suburbs, but between them and downtown Chicago it's all urban area, and they show up on nearly every map so they're the first I see.

[prairiestate]

Oak Lawn. First settled by German farmers in the 1870's and 1880's. The Wabash Railroad was built through the area and a town was established off the railroad station. The town remained semi-rural until WWII. If you look at aerial photos from the early 50's it's hard to believe you're seeing farm fields in the square mile bounded by 103rd, 111th, Cicero and Pulaski with just a few half built roads running through the quadrant. The population exploded over the next decade. By the mid 60's Oak Lawn reached it's peak population and it's current boundaries, with almost all the land being developed. Over the next 30 some years the town entered a slow decline with the baby boomers kids moving out and the population declined. Over the past decade, the village has entered a new phase of it's life. It's become more urban, with high rise condos being built in the downtown area, and a two story Target being built on a small tract of land. The population has stabilized, and the population is becoming more diverse as immigrants and minorities from the city are moving in. It's also becoming more popular with singles and the baby boomers are starting to retire with quite a bit of disposable income. With increasing incomes, we've seen an influx of national chain stores and restaurants to anchor the shopping districts and boost village revenues.

Actually, a similar story could apply to much of suburban Cook County.

[linicx]

OakPar, Hyde Park, Berwyn and Cicero. I like 'em.

[Chicagoland60426]

So many of them, over 100 in Cook County. Orland Park resembles the stereotypical image of suburbia. Traffic, lots of chain stores , a mall and a big strip mall on the same road. Middle to upper middle income people, residential blocks are not horizontal/vertical with typical suburban houses.

Cicero is more like a city neighborhood that missed out on being annexed. I'm surprise its been mention so many times. I guess since its the closest to downtown, it is a classic (pre-expressway) in that case. But other than that , not really. Dense residential block(houses/apt. close together), graffitti, and been gang/mob(a few are homegrown) territory for decades.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Chicagoland60426

...Cicero is more like a city neighborhood that missed out on being annexed...

Part of it was annexed. That part became the neighborhood of Austin.

[prairiestate]

Cicero actually feels more like a traditional urban city neighborhood then many actual Chicago neighborhoods do (i.e. Mt. Greenwood, Edison Park, and so on and so forth).