What is the most populated suburb in Chicagoland?

Question

I'd like to think It's Bloomingdale in DuPage county...I'm from there...but I'm wrong. It's a small town...so...does anyone really know?

Answer 1

I have to say Naperville.
Bloomingdale is much smaller than Naperville

Answer 2

The problem here is that what we consider the suburbs here in Chicagoland has streached so far out that it's tough to distinguish what is a suburb. A case could be made for Rockford being a suburb, which would then win your question with 158,000 current residents. it is only a little more than an hour out of Chicago on the 90 West. However, to me there is too much farmland in the middle to be considered a true 'burb.

It's crazy because when I was a kid, true 'burbs were like Cicero, Brookfield, Maywood and Bridgeview, and even Evanston and Alsip. Thats not the case anymore, so this will take some exploration. The true defention of suburb is usually connecting the city or touching a connection city, but most who live in, say Bloomingdale, would consider themselves to live in the suburbs, which is evidenced by your question.

On a sidenot, I think DeKalb is going to be as far West as the suburbs will go in about 5 years, Antioch to the North and Kankakee / Bourbonnais to the South.

For now, though I would draw the suburban Chicago line as far south as Crete / Frankfort and as far North as Gurnee / Waukegan and as far West as Elgin / St. Charles / Aurora. I'm not counting Indiana.... if you count Indiana's cities do then Gary is a prime time contender as well. So the borders are established, if not loosely, by myself.

This makes it a virtual tie between Naperville and Aurora, which are neighboring cities, divided by Route 59 and both running along the Regan Interstate 88 Tollway. Together Naperora, as I call them, have over 320,000 people, with both cities making about half of that. The funny thing is Aurora resembles the South and West side of Chicago and Naperville more resembles the North Side and parts of Downtown 312 area.... Joliet also has over 100,000 people and is not very far, only 5 mins from Aurora / Naperville and seperated only by Bolingbrook.

My evidence is driving down Route 59 daily, and passing the signs that state the populatoin. Currently Naperville has 147,000 and Aurora has 156,000. The 2003 census said Aurora was up by 20,000. However, Naperville is growing faster than Aurora and that is why I say virtual tie, as youre asking about today, not 2003. Hope this explains it better, though likely too long.... I tried to make it interesting, though.

The answer as clearly not Bloomingdale. Sorry about that. Your neighbors, Carol Stream and Glendale Hts are both double the size of B'dale. Stratford is a nice mall, though, and alot less clusterfu**ed than Schaumburg's Woodfield or Naperora's Fox Valley.

Some other noteable Suburbs;

Schaumburg more resembles Downtown than Naperville but is 30 mins more north and also quite big, over 100,000 residents.

Cicero (right outside chicago)

Downers Grove (right by Naperville)

Oakbrook (only 5000 people but lots of Industry and big buildings)

Orland Park (south)

Waukegan (north)

Oswego, Plainfield and Shorewood are the fastest growing. Also growing quickly are the North 'burbs of Grayslake and Lindenhurst. Bolingbrook, Cicero, and Lake Bluff and Highland Park are shrinking the fastest. The first 2 for being crappy, the latter 2 for being too Hob-Nobbishly pricey.

The smallest towns in the 'burbs are Flowerfield, Idlewood, Bedford Park and Ontarioville, all under 500.

Pretty soon, Milwaukee will be a suburb of Chicago, too!!!! Wont that piss off those Cheezeheads.

Answer 3

I'd say either Evanston or Oak Park...Joliet, Elgin, and Rockford existed as seperated cities long before paranoid, white-collar Caucasians started moving out to the boonies...aka Naperville. On a side note, one of the other posters was right...pretty soon Milwaukee will be a suburb of Chicago because we carelessly eat up land without thinking of the consequences.

Answer 4

The correct answer is Aurora.

Aurora is a city in Kane, DuPage, Will and Kendall counties in Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 142,990, making it the third-largest city in Illinois; in 2003, a special census found the city's population to be 157,267, making it the second-largest city in Illinois, behind Chicago and just ahead of Rockford.

Naperville: The United States Census Bureau estimated the population in 2004 at 140,106. It is the fourth largest city in the state, behind Chicago, neighboring Aurora, and Rockford.

Answer 5

Most of the places people named are not suburbs. A suburb is usually directly attached (close by) to the main city. It's boundry line usually is shared by the bigger city. Aurora is its own city, as is Rockford and Peoria. The biggest suburb to Chicago, one which shares a boundry line, would probably be Cicero.
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Main Entry: sub·urb
Pronunciation: 's&-"b&rb
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English suburbe, from Anglo-French, from Latin suburbium, from sub- near + urbs city -- more at SUB-
1 a : an outlying part of a city or town b : a smaller community adjacent to or within commuting distance of a city c plural : the residential area on the outskirts of a city or large town

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=suburb

Answer 6

In the southern suburbs it could be Naperville but im not quite sure. Id like to say Orland Park because thats where im from but its not.

Answer 7

Somewhere I read, so it must be true, that Naperville recently passed Rockford as the second most populous city in Illinois.

Answer 8

Without getting into the true definition of a suburb, I would guess it is either Schaumburg, Naperville or Evanston. Check out the link below and you can search Chicago suburbs.

Happy New Year!!

Answer 9

I would think it to be Schaumburg (74,000+).

Just checked a link...Naperville has 150,000+
Bloomingdale has onlly 22,000 +

Waldeck above hit it on the head - it's Aurora at more than 183.000 residents.

Answer 10

Actually it is Joliet. If you feel that is too far out to be a real suburb then it is Naperville.