The Chicago-Rockford-Madison-Milwaukee Megapolitan Watch Thread

[globill]

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showth...=505910&page=2

seems appropriate to this thread...

[globill]

Illinois has 62 fortune 500 companies, 56 of which are in the Chicago metro area. The following is a list of companies headquartered within the triangular wedge framed by the lake on the east and i-90 on the west. Of course, this doesn't include companies with headquarters in the downtown area.

3. Sears I-90
4. Walgreens Tri-State
5. Motorola I-90
(these are 3 of the top 4 Chicago-area companies)
8. Allstate Tri-State
9. Abbott Tri-State
13. UAL I-90
15. ITW Glenview/Tri-State
18. Baxter Tri-State
22. Fortune Brands Tri-State
23 . CDW- Lake County/Tri-State
24. Brunswick - Tri-State
27. WW. Grainger- Tri-State
29. Tenneco- Tri-State
30. United Stationers- Des Plaines (Tri-State)
33. Anixter- Glenview
38. Pactiv- Tri-State
45. Hewitt- Tri-State
46. Hospira- Tri-State
49. Solo Cup Highland Park
53. Career Education- I-90
54. PCA- Tri-State
56. CF industries- Long grove
59. Dade Behring- Deerfield/Tri-State

That is 23 of 56 Chicago-Area Fortune 500 companies headquartered in areas to the north and northwest of the city. This compares to 14 located to the west, southwest (manly Naperville and Itasca) and 19 in the city proper.

Many of these companies, especially many of the larger ones like Abbott, Walgreens, Sears, Motorola, Baxter.....are accessible to workers in places like Rockford, Kenosha and Racine.

[jpIllInoIs]

^ Your list makes a stonger case for the Chicago-Milwaukee megalopolis than it does for any Rockford assimilation. Only 4 of those companies are on I-90. The remainder are all on the I-294/I-94. Also UAL is moving to the loop, so that leaves 3 on I-90.

[globill]

2 of the biggest, Sears and Motorola are halfway to Rockford. They both maintain massive sprawling campuses in the corridor. The only company within proximity to Milwaukee is Abbott, near North Chicago. Many of the companies listed on the Tri-State are actually in Cook County/Lake-Cook road area.

These 2 companies, Sears and Motorola, have combined sales of some 76 billion.

The companies located on the Tri-State in Lake County north of Deerfield/Lake Cook corridor (that may really impact southeastern Wisconsin) amount to about 50 billion.

Distance from Rockford to Motorola and Sears.....about 55 miles.
Distance from Milwaukee to Abbott Labs about 55 miles, with a lot heavier traffic.

[globill]

The main point I was hoping to make by listing the companies has more to do with the northern/northwestern tilt that Chicagoland exhibits. There is much more wealth and power lying between Milwaukee/Rockford and Chicago than in any other direction.

With the booming southwestern parts of the metro like Joliet, there is mainly a push effect (people moving away from Chicago), whereas in the Quadrangle, there is both a push and a pull effect, with booming areas like Rockord, Kenosha, and Walworth counties actually pulling people towards them every bit as much as Chicagoans being pushed north and west.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by Bennbucktown

Globill 2. The immediate Chicago metropolitan area now extends well beyond Elgin to past the Hampshire exit on the Northwest tollway. For years an outlet mall has been there plus many new homes/subdivisions have been built just in the last 8 years. Now you see new suburban developments, restaurants, and shops under construction several miles beyond this exit.

I'd like to add a point that is less about Chicago and more about geometry. Sure Chicagoland continues to sprawl in all directions but east. But for every inch it moves outward, that concentric circle gets a larger circumference...and the hinterland behind it becomes larger. Extend a concentric circle from the Loop to Rockford and draw the ring around WI, IL, IN, and MI (while of course eliminating Lk Michigan) and you will see an area we will will not be able to settle for many, many years to come.

The question is out there in the hinterland, can extensions along highways like the Northwest Tollway to Rockford and perhaps even past DeKalb on the East-West become part of the Chicagoland mix attached only by those linear connections?

[globill]

Edsg, I think they could....although I'm quite confident that commuter rail will be part of the equation sooner rather than later.

When 23 of the largest corporations lie in a wedge to the north and west...and 0 lie to the south and southeast (NW Indiana)...something should be apparent.

The "hinterland" that surrounds Chicago is not at all uniform. To the south, there is a small urban enclave (Kankakee) with virtually nothing beyond that.

The current southwestern sprawl is equal parts Joliet/Aurora and Naperville merging with Chicago....but beyond that...there is what? Bloomington?

For the sake of comparison, Bloomington and Madison, both educational centers, are equidistant to Chicago, but lying between Madison and Chicago are 2 metros, Janesville-Beloit (which is bigger than Bloomington/Normal) AND fast-growing Rockford.(not to mention the fact that Madison is about 5 TIMES the size of Bloomington)


Between Bloomington and Chicago Metro is...???

Sprawl/growth is not necessarily a one-way street. The fact that 3 plus million people live within a 2 hours drive, in the wedge-shaped area to the north and northwest of Chicagoland, as compared to less than a million to the west/southwest/south/southeast/east/northeast combined... exerts its own pull on Chicago....even if Chicago is oblivious to the goings-on.

[globill]

And Edsg...you are well-positioned in the wedge/quadrangle...

btw, what's your feeling about the I-53 extension? That is a crucial element to this issue/thread.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by globill

And Edsg...you are well-positioned in the wedge/quadrangle...

btw, what's your feeling about the I-53 extension? That is a crucial element to this issue/thread.

never will happen. the folks in Long Grove would lay in its path before it was constructed.

at best, the old plan for an LSD type of parkway would be the most you could get out of that one.

[edsg25]

Let me add that there is one thing that the North Shore/North Suburbs/Northwest Suburbs) needs far more than another north/south highway...

that would be an east/west one. that's because none exists and our major east/west streets (Dempster, Golf, Lake, Willow/Palatine, Dundee, Lake Cook, Half Day, etc.) cannot handle the existing traffic nor keep up with construction projects. It is a disaster if you want to drive east or west and no highway is available to help you out.

[Bonjourtoledo]

I thought Rockford, Madison, and Milwaukee are suburbs of Chicago? Just like Akron, Canton, and Youngstown are suburbs of Cleveland.

[Azn_chi_boi]

Originally Posted by edsg25

Let me add that there is one thing that the North Shore/North Suburbs/Northwest Suburbs) needs far more than another north/south highway...

that would be an east/west one. that's because none exists and our major east/west streets (Dempster, Golf, Lake, Willow/Palatine, Dundee, Lake Cook, Half Day, etc.) cannot handle the existing traffic nor keep up with construction projects. It is a disaster if you want to drive east or west and no highway is available to help you out.

Well, Lake Cook road is like a 7 lane monstrous highway, 3 on each side and a turning median lane in the middle for left turners.

An idea for an E/W highway is to extend the Edens Extention west where it currently ends at Tri-State just a few blocks south of LakeCook Road.

[globill]

Originally Posted by edsg25

never will happen. the folks in Long Grove would lay in its path before it was constructed.

at best, the old plan for an LSD type of parkway would be the most you could get out of that one.

that's sad...a few thousand people who are so rich as to not even feel the need to think about how they'll get to work....making life miserable for millions of working Americans....

If you really care about humanity as much as many of your posts seem to indicate...

why not fight for the i-53 extension???

your voice would be a strong one...

[brewcityfan]

Originally Posted by edsg25

Let me add that there is one thing that the North Shore/North Suburbs/Northwest Suburbs) needs far more than another north/south highway...

that would be an east/west one. that's because none exists and our major east/west streets (Dempster, Golf, Lake, Willow/Palatine, Dundee, Lake Cook, Half Day, etc.) cannot handle the existing traffic nor keep up with construction projects. It is a disaster if you want to drive east or west and no highway is available to help you out.

I second that. Lake Cook Road is HELL to drive on....especially during rush hour. God save you!

[globill]

Lake County is one of the most underserved (highway-wise) places in America.

There are what, 800,000 people with one highway????

F u c k Long Grove. They can pick up and move to somewhere less crowded.

[Crankbaiter]

I work at Abbott. It is a massive copany with nearly 20,000 employees in Il/WI. People commute from Indiana, Milwaukee and Aurora to Lake County. There impact is much larger than Sears/Motorola since they are steady growing company with 6 digit average salaries without a history of ups/downs and layoffs. No doubt that Chicago is growing in all directions, but the convergence of MKE/CHI is unbelievable. Name another pair of cities in the country that have 6 lanes of crowded pavement connecting them? Additionally, there is US41 adding another 4 lanes. Basically a NYC/Philly on a smaller scale.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by Crankbaiter

I work at Abbott. It is a massive copany with nearly 20,000 employees in Il/WI. People commute from Indiana, Milwaukee and Aurora to Lake County. There impact is much larger than Sears/Motorola since they are steady growing company with 6 digit average salaries without a history of ups/downs and layoffs. No doubt that Chicago is growing in all directions, but the convergence of MKE/CHI is unbelievable. Name another pair of cities in the country that have 6 lanes of crowded pavement connecting them? Additionally, there is US41 adding another 4 lanes. Basically a NYC/Philly on a smaller scale.

Let's not forget LA-SD!

[FutureChicaukeean]

Originally Posted by brewcityfan

I second that. Lake Cook Road is HELL to drive on....especially during rush hour. God save you!

I can third that... A while back I thought I could save time by taking the grid system back to US 41 but after trying many of the E/W Roads listed earlier, well I have already said that I tried MANY of them didn't I???

Welcome to Chicago!


I am in no way trying to rip on Chi town here but they know that their traffic is terrible...one of the things that I love about SE Wisconsin is that the traffic is AWSOME! Never more than a few seconds of frustration and that says more about our highways then it does about our population (NO! I didn't mean it like that ). With the impending expansion of 94, SE Wisconsin is obviously committed to enhancing a previously slightly, somewhat...oh ok...obviously large investment by our fathers. If you can't figure out what is in the next paragraph that I left out out...then please don't respond, instead, RESEARCH what the American Highway and Interstate means to this country.

0903456 *Delete* 0903456


I am not talking about oil. I am not talking about pollution. I am talking about A and B.

We can make squeaky clean cars...we will make squeaky clean cars. You know...when the $$$ scales tip in favor of it.

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SKIP IT ALL
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Today, my buddy came up on the I from libertyville (Gurnee) and I came up on the I from Racine (30 Miles North) about an hour apart. Tonight we both talked about the traffic and how packed it was. Sure would make for a very interesting picture...six lanes of traffic flowing north and south through the scenic midwestern plains.


We need to join our two urban areas...if we don't, millions will end up between two others.

###LEFT BeHInd###

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by FutureChicaukeean

I am in no way trying to rip on Chi town here but they know that their traffic is terrible

using a tepid term like "terrible" for Chicago traffic is damning us with faint praise. I wish our traffic would actually improve to the level of "terrible"

[Azn_chi_boi]

Chicago does have the pride of having the least amount of highways in a major city... especiaslly compare to NYC, LA, and Houston.