Just a bit of meaningless comparisons to have some fun with.
What if....
Chicago's size were different than what it is, but the size and the population of our metropolitan area were the same as it is today.
What would Chicago look like in each of these two scenerios:
(1) Chicago being San Francisco or Boston like in its own metropolitan area. A small city as part of a powerful metro region with that city taking on power that cities of its size rarely do. So imagine Chicago as stretching on the lakefront from Lakeview on the north (we'll include Clark and Addison for obvious reasons) on down to Hyde Park on the south with the UC being the western limits. What would such a Chicago be like?
(2) Chicago gobbling up its hinterlands to match NY's outer boroughs and LA's far flung and often disconnected zones. To keep it easy, let's make Chicago and Cook County as identical juristictions. Thus Chicago would spread from downtown core to solid city neighborhoods to virtually suburbia-within-city-limits. What would such a Chicago be like?
(3) And would either of those scenerios be better than the structure of Chicago/Chicagoland today?
What if....
Chicago's size were different than what it is, but the size and the population of our metropolitan area were the same as it is today.
What would Chicago look like in each of these two scenerios:
(1) Chicago being San Francisco or Boston like in its own metropolitan area. A small city as part of a powerful metro region with that city taking on power that cities of its size rarely do. So imagine Chicago as stretching on the lakefront from Lakeview on the north (we'll include Clark and Addison for obvious reasons) on down to Hyde Park on the south with the UC being the western limits. What would such a Chicago be like?
(2) Chicago gobbling up its hinterlands to match NY's outer boroughs and LA's far flung and often disconnected zones. To keep it easy, let's make Chicago and Cook County as identical juristictions. Thus Chicago would spread from downtown core to solid city neighborhoods to virtually suburbia-within-city-limits. What would such a Chicago be like?
(3) And would either of those scenerios be better than the structure of Chicago/Chicagoland today?