My Chicagoland roots are in these 3 counties. In Cook and DuPage, we learn a lot about the two main development patterns of the 19th and 20thcenturies. In Kendall County, we will reapply those patterns for the 21st Century.

Except for a few years in the Army and to attend college, I’ve lived in Cook County my entire life – in the city for the first 25 years and the south suburbs since. Whether by luck or by choice, it seems I’ve always lived in a “neighborhood.”  The dictionary defines “neighborhood” as an area or district with distinctive characteristics. That’s a serviceable definition, but seems overly broad. Chicago itself is an area with distinct characteristics, as are New York, Seattle, San Francisco and any other cities one can think of, with the possible exception of Indianapolis, which just seems to have sprouted from the corn fields like so many cookie-cutter suburban communities.

I lived without a car in Washington, D.C. for two years, commuting to work by bicycle and doing everything else using their highly efficient transit system.  When I moved back to the Chicago region, it was essential for me to live in a neighborhood that was close enough to my job for bike commuting and with transit options for days when I don’t bike.  Other important factors included affordability, entertainment offerings, and safety.  Unfortunately, neighborhoods with the vitality and transportation access that I wanted are not very affordable, so I am forced to rent for now. 

I grew up in the western suburbs and thought my family was poor because we were surrounded by great affluence.  That dawned on me gradually as I approached adulthood, then I lived in Tennessee for a decade and came to see how one-dimensional my life had been.  Turns out we weren't poor, I just felt that way watching classmates drive BMWs to our big, new high school.  In Tennessee, high-income and low-income people literally lived side-by-side -- there might be a half-million dollar mansion inhabited by a doctor just 100 yards from a trailer that's home to a modestly educated farmer.  This didn't cause any great turmoil;  it was just something that people accepted. 

I grew up on the East Coast.  I never imagined myself living in the cold arctic tundra of Chicago.  But after visiting the City one weekend, I loved it.  And after a few years of trying to get here, my husband and I moved to Chicago a few months ago.  As a newcomer, there is a lot I still want to explore in the region, so I want to write about the things I know, in my small corner of Chicagoland. 

When I was born, my parents lived in a tiny non-descript house that was once a filling station in central Lake County. According to his memoirs, my great-grandfather – driven from his farm by Depression-era creditors – hoisted the structure onto rollers, attached it to a team of horses, and pulled it a mile west to the neighborhood where it still stands. Old photos, which deny any indication of the building’s first use, illustrate a world of fallow fields and dirt roads that I never knew. By the time I was born, a full neighborhood had been platted across much of the surrounding property where my relatives either built or inhabited nearly 10 homes in 60 years. I was on my third, all within a block, by the age of 12.

I was born in Chicago and lived there until my mother decided to move to Texas for a better quality of life.  But I guess beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.  But anyways, I was able to travel

Smog, cramped roadways, limited open space, and children at play in concrete school yards all play a tune in the childhood memories of many of my former childhood peers. Though I grew up in the great City of Chicago, the western portion of the city was less than appealing for many young children. I was fortunate enough to have parents who often packed the car with bikes and enough food for an army and headed to suburbia for a family adventure.

I’m more middle than you can shake a stick at.  The son of middle-income, middle educated Caucasian parents, I grew up in mid-sized cities near the mid-Atlantic coast and on Midwestern prairies.  However, the location of our three-bedroom, moderately priced homes changed frequently.  Being of middle-means, my parents consistently sacrificed location in favor of size.  While my sister and I always had our own bedrooms, we found ourselves perpetually distant from grocery stores, public libraries, schools, and -- by default -- our peers: in the middle of nowhere. 

I was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, where I lived for 9 years of my life before moving to Chicago.  We moved to Chicago because my mother was seeking a new and better life for her children because my parents were planning to divorce.  My memory prior to moving from Louisiana is that my mother did not drive so of course she did not have a car.  When my father was no longer part of the family, we had to rely on others to take us to doctor appointments, grocery stores and other essential activities that were usually a great distance away. 

It sounds a bit naïve, but I have always wanted to live in a place where nature and people live harmoniously together.  I value my natural environment and have always wanted to live in a community that recognizes nature as an asset and uses it to enhance your community and quality of life.  Chicago appears to be a city that fits that characteristic.  I see the leaders in this community taking pride in its natural assets both big and small.  Unlike other communities, Chicago recognizes that nature is not just something we should take from, but something we should give back to so that it will continue to provide us with the things we need to survive. 

I grew up in Queens, NY and as a child I didn’t recognize NY to be the unique city that it is today and has been for a very long time. At a very early age I was exposed to a rich cultural fabric of neighborhoods and people. I love the mass transit, the “go get em” attitude and the pace of the city. The energy is frenetic and creates sensory overload. Three years ago I came to Chicago to continue my education and I have come to appreciate and enjoy this region.

I grew up in the far west suburbs of Chicago in a town that isn't even a town now.  It is called Plato Center.  Plato Center had a population of maybe 100...maybe.  It was an old railroad town and when I was young and going to school at Plato Center Elementary School we would walk to the "train depot".  Only freight trains go by there now but I use to imagine as a young child, the town bustling with trains and young women being reunited with their families after their travels to New York and Chicago.