Chicagoland
Encyclopedia : C : CH : CHI : Chicagoland
 Common name: Chicago Metropolitan Area or Chicagoland | |
| Largest city Other cities | Chicago - Gary - Naperville |
| Population | Ranked 3rd in the U.S. |
- Total
| 9,661,840 (2005 est.) | |
- Density
| 884 /sq. mi. 341 /km² | |
| Area | 10,874 sq. mi. 28,163 km² |
| State(s) | - Illinois - Indiana - Wisconsin |
| Elevation | |
- Highest point
| N/A feet (N/A m) | |
- Lowest point
| 577 feet (176 m) | |
Chicagoland is a common name for the Chicago metropolitan area in the USA. Chicagoland comprises the city of Chicago, Cook County and the nine surrounding counties in the state of Illinois, five in Indiana, and one in Wisconsin. "Chicagoland" is often used in place of "Chicago metropolitan area" by local residents, businesses, governments, and planning agencies. The term originated in the pages of the Chicago Tribune in the 1900s.
- 1 Overview
- 2 Origin
- 3 Usage
- 4 List of counties
- 5 Anchor cities
- 6 Major airports
- 7 Urban Areas & Urban Clusters within the Chicagoland CSA
- 8 Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants
- 9 Cities with 10,000 to 100,000 inhabitants
- 10 Cities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants
- 11 Transportation
- 12
- 13 See also
- 14 External links
Overview
The Chicago Consolidated Statistical Area (or, in full, the Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City CSA) had a population of 9,312,554, according to the most recent census in 2000. Based upon county estimates released in March 2006 from the Census Bureau, the population by 2005 had increased to 9,661,840. The metro area is comprised of ten Illinois counties (Cook, DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, McHenry, Kankakee, DeKalb, Kendall, and Grundy), five Indiana counties (Lake, Porter, Jasper, Newton, and LaPorte), and one Wisconsin county (Kenosha). The Greater Chicagoland area is the third largest urban center in the United States, and 1 in every 30 Americans call it home. Chicagoland runs together with Milwaukee and Racine in Wisconsin, creating a megalopolis region, and in the coming years will probably find its urban area combining with nearby urban centers like Rockford, South Bend, and Benton Harbor.
The suburbs, surrounded by easily annexed flat ground, have been expanding at a tremendous rate since the early 1960s. Naperville is noteworthy for being one of only two boomburbs outside the Sunbelt, West Coast, and Mountain States regions (though Bolingbrook may join it in the next decade), and exurban Kendall County ranked as the third fastest-growing county in the United States with a population greater than 10,000 between 2004 and 2005.[link] Settlement patterns in Chicagoland tend to follow those in the city proper: the northern suburbs along the shore of Lake Michigan are comparatively affluent, while the southern suburbs are less so, with lower median incomes and a lower cost of living. There are affluent areas in the northwest and western suburbs as well, that rival the northern suburbs. The southern portion of Chicagoland is occasionally called Illiana, a contraction of Illinois and Indiana.
Origin
The publisher of the Chicago Tribune, Colonel Robert R. McCormick, was an inveterate civic booster. In his view, Chicagoland was the vast region in the center of the country, with Chicago as its economic and cultural capital. In many ways, what McCormick envisioned as Chicagoland is now described by the term flyover country.Usage
While the term Chicagoland may stand alone, it is sometime used in phrases like "the Chicagoland area," "metro Chicagoland" or even "the greater Chicagoland area." The term is often used by advertisers ("See your Chicagoland Chevy dealer") or by weathercasters ("A major snowstorm is expected in Chicagoland"). It is rarely used outside the area, as people from Chicago or the surrounding suburbs would likely name "Chicago" or their specific suburb to define their town of origin to an outsider.List of counties
Illinois
- Cook County
- DeKalb County
- DuPage County
- Grundy County
- Kane County
- Kankakee County
- Kendall County
- Lake County
- McHenry County
- Will County
Indiana
Wisconsin
Anchor cities
Major airports
- O'Hare International Airport (ORD) - Chicago, Illinois
- Midway Airport (MDW) - Chicago, Illinois
- Gary/Chicago International Airport (GYY) - Gary, Indiana
Urban Areas & Urban Clusters within the Chicagoland CSA
Within the boundary of the 16-county Chicago Consolidated Statistical Area lies the Chicago urban area, as well as 27 smaller urban areas and clusters.
| Rank | Urban Area or Urban Cluster | type | Population (2000 census) | Land Area (km²) | Smallest gap (km) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicago-Aurora-Elgin-Joliet-Waukegan, IL-IN | UA | 8,307,904 | 5,498.1 | n/a |
| 2 | Round Lake Beach-McHenry-Grayslake, IL-WI^ (+) | UA | 226,848 | 344.9 | 2 |
| 3 | Kenosha, WI (+) | UA | 110,942 | 109.2 | 1 |
| 4 | Michigan City-LaPorte, IN-MI^^ (+) | UA | 66,199 | 86.1 | 3 |
| 5 | Kankakee-Bradley-Bourbonnais, IL | UA | 65,073 | 71.5 | >10 |
| 6 | DeKalb-Sycamore, IL | UA | 55,805 | 46.3 | >10 |
| 7 | Woodstock, IL (+) | UC | 20,219 | 21.1 | 4 |
| 8 | Morris, IL | UC | 13,927 | 19.3 | >10 |
| 9 | Sandwich, IL^^^ | UC | 12,248 | 23.9 | >10 |
| 10 | Braidwood-Coal City, IL | UC | 11,607 | 19.5 | >10 |
| 11 | Harvard, IL | UC | 8,575 | 13.3 | >10 |
| 12 | Lakes of the Four Seasons, IN (+) | UC | 8,450 | 12.5 | 4 |
| 13 | Lowell, IN | UC | 7,914 | 15.8 | >10 |
| 14 | Wilmington, IL | UC | 7,107 | 20.8 | >10 |
| 15 | Manteno, IL | UC | 7,106 | 9.4 | >10 |
| 16 | Marengo, IL | UC | 6,854 | 8.6 | >10 |
| 17 | Rensselaer, IN | UC | 6,096 | 10.9 | >10 |
| 18 | Plano, IL (+) | UC | 5,911 | 6.5 | 3 |
| 19 | Genoa, IL | UC | 5,137 | 5.5 | >10 |
| 20 | Genoa City, WI-IL^^^^ (+) | UC | 5,126 | 12.5 | >10 |
| 21 | Westville, IN | UC | 5,077 | 4.4 | >10 |
| 22 | Hebron, IN | UC | 4,150 | 11.7 | >10 |
| 23 | Momence, IL | UC | 3,711 | 9.7 | >10 |
| 24 | Peotone, IL (+) | UC | 3,358 | 3.5 | 9 |
| 25 | Wonder Lake, IL (+) | UC | 2,798 | 2.0 | 5 |
| 26 | Monee, IL (+) | UC | 2,787 | 3.7 | 3 |
| 27 | Union township, IN (+) | UC | 2,593 | 4.9 | 1 |
| 28 | Hampshire, IL (+) | UC | 2,591 | 2.0 | 6 |
The formerly distinct urban areas of Aurora, Elgin, Joliet, and Waukegan were absorbed into the Chicago UA as of the 2000 census.
(+) These urban areas and urban clusters are expected to be joined to the Chicago Urban Area by the next census in 2010.
^ The Round Lake Beach-McHenry-Grayslake, IL-WI UA extends into Walworth County, WI, which lies (for the moment) outside the Chicago CSA.
^^ The Michigan City-LaPorte, IN-MI UA extends into Berrien County, MI, which lies (for the moment) outside the Chicago CSA.
^^^ The Sandwich, IL UC extends into LaSalle County, IL, which lies (for the moment) outside the Chicago CSA.
^^^^ The Genoa City, WI-IL UC extends into Walworth County, WI, which lies (for the moment) outside the Chicago CSA.
Cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants
Illinois
- Aurora (acts as an anchor city)
- Elgin (acts as an anchor city)
- Joliet (acts as an anchor city)
- Naperville (second city of metro area)
- Waukegan (acts as an anchor city)
Indiana
Wisconsin
Cities with 10,000 to 100,000 inhabitants
Illinois
Indiana
- Chesterton
- Crown Point
- Dyer
- East Chicago
- Griffith
- Hammond
- Highland
- Hobart
- Lake Station
- Merrillville
- Munster
- Portage
- Schererville
- Valparaiso
Wisconsin
Cities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants
Illinois
Indiana
- Beverly Shores
- Burns Harbor
- Cedar Lake
- Dune Acres
- Hebron
- Kouts
- Lake Dalecarlia
- Lakes of the Four Seasons
- Lowell
- New Chicago
- Ogden Dunes
- Porter
- Schneider
- South Haven
- St. John
- Town of Pines
- Whiting
- Winfield
Wisconsin
- Brighton
- Bristol
- Camp Lake
- Genoa City
- Lake Shangrila
- Paddock Lake
- Paris
- Powers Lake
- Randall
- Salem
- Silver Lake
- Somers
- Twin Lakes
- Wheatland
Transportation
Major airports
Commuter rail
- Chicago 'L' serving the near suburbs
- Metra
- *4 lines serving southern Cook County and Will County
- *3 lines serving western Cook County, DuPage County, and Kane County
- *1 line serving northwestern Cook County and McHenry County
- *3 lines serving northern Cook County and Lake County, with 1 line extending up to Kenosha, Wisconsin
- South Shore Line connecting Chicago to South Bend, Indiana, passing through Gary and Michigan City
Major highways
- Interstate 90
- Interstate 290
- Interstate 94
- Interstate 294
- Interstate 88
- Interstate 55
- Interstate 57
- Interstate 80
- 312 (The Loop and central neighborhoods, e.g. the Near North Side)
- 773 (Everywhere else in the city proper, the neighborhoods)
- 847 (North and Northwest Suburbs)
- 708 (Near West and South Suburbs)
- 630 (Western Suburbs)
- 224 (Overlay area code for 847)
- 815 (far northwest and some south suburbs, Joliet)
- 219 (Northwest Indiana)
- 262 (Southeast Wisconsin)
See also
External links
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