Is Chicago FLAT out incredible? (Barrington, Barrington Hills: construction, living in, floor)

[pvande55]

Yes, Chicago is very flat. And the flatness extends to the rest of Cook County. Even the collar counties are flatter than average. Yet there are numerous places with "Hills" or "Heights" in their names.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by pvande55

Yes, Chicago is very flat. And the flatness extends to the rest of Cook County. Even the collar counties are flatter than average. Yet there are numerous places with "Hills" or "Heights" in their names.

I've read that in the old days the high ground Blue Island is built on could be seen from a great distance and indeed appeared as an island upon the sea of the prairie.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by knitgirl

Yes, but my house was built in 1880!

Yes -- in response to population growth of the time.

The fact that you occupy that land means that someone else can't, so they have to build a house somewhere else. If you don't live in a multi-unit building on a minimal-sized lot, you're contributing to the situation you find "disgusting."

[knitgirl]

I actually do live in a multiple unit building, built in 1880. I am not contributing to sprawl. How much time do you spend out in Kane and McHenry Counties? There has been a TON of expansion west from the late '90's until a few years ago. It's acre after acre of subdivisions on some of the best farmland in the world.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by pvande55

Yes, Chicago is very flat. And the flatness extends to the rest of Cook County. Even the collar counties are flatter than average. Yet there are numerous places with "Hills" or "Heights" in their names.

Northeast Illinois is about the same in terms of topography as much of the lower great lakes region that extends through northern Indiana, southeast Wisconsin, southern Michigan to Northern Ohio through the Golden Horseshoe/Toronto area of Canada.

[DC's Finest]

Chicago's flatness is a gift and a curse. On one hand, it provides a great grid as well as perfect views of the city from far off places. The downside is there isn't to much you can do from an outdoors perspective.

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by Drover

Yes -- in response to population growth of the time.

The fact that you occupy that land means that someone else can't, so they have to build a house somewhere else. If you don't live in a multi-unit building on a minimal-sized lot, you're contributing to the situation you find "disgusting."

Woah. Giving her the 3rd degree, huh?

Come on. Its clear that she lives the old part of Elgin, when it grew up as its own industrial river city. And at that there was nothing but open land as far as the eye can see. And people walked to work. A little different from today. You KNOW the late 1800s is not the 21st century. And you know the choice of choosing to live in the old part of town as a decision that reflects a different set of values than those that live out around Randall Rd which was nothing 20 years ago.

Give her a break, huh?

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by DC's Finest

Chicago's flatness is a gift and a curse. On one hand, it provides a great grid as well as perfect views of the city from far off places. The downside is there isn't to much you can do from an outdoors perspective.

Like I said Chicagoland is no flatter than any else in the midwest (lower great lakes) And the Gulf Coast region from east Texas through Florida up to Virginia Beach is flatter than Chicagoland. But as Chicago is so centralized with no reason to leave the core area, people don't know about the existence of the Illinois river valley, the Indiana Dunes, the Palos Area, or western Lake/McHenry counties.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

Give her a break, huh?

When she climbs down off her high horse.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by knitgirl

I actually do live in a multiple unit building, built in 1880. I am not contributing to sprawl. How much time do you spend out in Kane and McHenry Counties? There has been a TON of expansion west from the late '90's until a few years ago. It's acre after acre of subdivisions on some of the best farmland in the world.

First you lived in a house. Now you live in a multi-unit building. Which is it?

I spend all kinds of time in Kane County by the way. I grew up there. My parents still live there.

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

Woah. Giving her the 3rd degree, huh?

Come on. Its clear that she lives the old part of Elgin, when it grew up as its own industrial river city. And at that there was nothing but open land as far as the eye can see. And people walked to work. A little different from today. You KNOW the late 1800s is not the 21st century. And you know the choice of choosing to live in the old part of town as a decision that reflects a different set of values than those that live out around Randall Rd which was nothing 20 years ago.

Give her a break, huh?

No I won't. People get to make their own choices about the type of environment they live in. There are benefits and drawbacks of any of the of available living arrangements, and there are competing uses for land and resources. If someone wants to live in a newer development out by Randall Road, that's nobody's business but theirs. If the land was more useful as farmland than as housing, it would still be farmed. But it's not, and there's nothing "disgusting" about that. The population isn't stagnant, it's growing -- and people need places to live. They can't all live in the "old" section of wherever, so it's not particularly useful or compelling to be sneeringly judgmental about it.