Featured Apartment:
Chicago - Downtown - Residents enjoy the services of a full-time concierge, an amenity-level floor with a state of the art fitness room, pilates studio, activities room, business center, library, a landscaped garden, stainless steel lap pool, hot tub, outdoor fireplace, guest suite, and much more View More Listings! -->
Renting an Apartment in Oak Park
Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of Chicago in Cook
County, Illinois, United States. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago
(the Chicago Loop) thanks to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L', CTA
buses, and Metra commuter rail. As of the 2000 census, the area had a total
population of 52,524. A census estimate for 2003 showed that the population had
dipped to 50,824.
History
In 1837, Joseph Kettlestrings purchased 172 acres of land just west of Chicago.
By 1850, the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad was constructed as far as Elgin,
Illinois, and passed through Oak Park[2]. The population of Oak Park boomed
during the 1870s, with Chicago residents resettling in the suburb following the
Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The Village of Oak Park was formally established in
1902, following a referendum.
Oak Park has a history of alcohol prohibition. From the time of its
incorporation, no alcohol was allowed to be sold within its village limits. This
law was relaxed in 1973, when restaurants and hotels were allowed to serve
alcohol. The law was further loosened in 2002, when select grocery stores were
given permission to sell packaged liquor.
Philander Barclay was an Oak Park historian, bicycle repairman, and one of the
area's earliest amateur photographers. He lived in Oak Park during the late 19th
and early 20th centuries, certainly one of the village's most exciting eras. The
quiet young man was an unlikely contemporary of Frank Lloyd Wright, Ernest
Hemingway, Doris Humphrey, Edgar Rice Burroughs, businessman Richard Sears and
many others. His parents ran a local drug store and beginning early in life,
Philander rode his bicycle throughout the area taking photographs of places and
people. By the time of his death in 1940, he had amassed an amazing and
priceless collection of more than 1,000 photos, which are now curated by the Oak
Park and River Forest Historical Society. A selection is available for viewing
online.
Throughout recent years, rising taxes have forced hundreds of Oak Parkers to
move out, but such losses have also been countered by arrivals of higher income
families from around the country and the rehabilitation of many Village
properties. Currently, expensive homes, peaceful parks, and an excellent school
system characterize Oak Park. However, such benefits will come to contrast with
both rising taxes and business vacancy rates. On the other hand, Oak Park is
noted as one of the most beautiful suburbs of Chicago and an exceptional place
to raise children.
Currently, the populace of the village of Oak Park has found itself divided, as
the question of development and rehabilitation for downtown Oak Park comes into
play. Many Oak Parkers fear losing what they feel are historic structures as
many older buildings are replaced by high priced condos and modern stores. The
Marion Street Mall off of Lake Street, for instance, has seen rising vacancy
rates and therefore, to increase business, the mall will be opened up to traffic
to increase visibility and traffic flow throughout the downtown district. Such
development takes away a once peaceful tree-filled area within downtown Oak Park
that unfortunately never managed to attract the amount of business and people
the village had once hoped when it was built in the late 70s. The village will
be placing sculptures, trees, a fountain and arches along with the new brick
road and blue stone sidewalks to increase the appeal of the street. This
decision has created much debate within the village as many residents do not
want to see the mall disappear, while many others look forward to the new
business vitality they hope this change will create.
Oak Park has become a popular tourist destination in the Chicago area in the
last few decades, as many come to view the beautiful Frank Lloyd Wright
buildings which are found throughout the village. In fact, the largest
collection of Wright-designed properties in the world is in Oak Park. Tourists
also come to enjoy Ernest Hemingway's Birthplace Home and Boyhood home, as well
as the Ernest Hemingway Museum, while still others come to view the three Oak
Park homes of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs. In fact, historic homes are
situated throughout the Village.
Oak Park has become famous in the Chicago area and throughout Illinois for its
rather impressive Oak Park River Forest High School[3], which is also the public
education school for the bordering village of River Forest. The school is known
for its large number of successful alumni, honored teachers, and advanced
educational programs.
Geography
Oak Park is located immediately west of Chicago. The boundary between the two
municipalities is Austin Boulevard on the east side of Oak Park and North Avenue
on the village's north side. Oak Park also borders Cicero along its southern
border, Roosevelt Road, from Austin to Lombard; and Berwyn from Lombard to
Harlem. Harlem also serves as its western border, where between Roosevelt and
South Blvd, it borders Forest Park and between North Blvd and North Ave to the
west it borders River Forest.
The entire village of Oak Park lies on the shore of ancient Lake Chicago, which
covered most of the city of Chicago during the last Ice Age and is today called
Lake Michigan. Ridgeland Avenue in eastern Oak Park marks the shoreline of the
lake, and was once an actual ridge. One of North America's four continental
divides runs through Oak Park. This divide, a slight rise running north-south
through the village, separates the St. Lawrence River watershed from the
Mississippi River watershed, and is marked by a plaque on Lake Street at Forest
Avenue.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of
12.2 km˛ (4.7 mi˛). None of it is covered by water.
Transportation
Oak Park is accessible from Chicago by both Chicago Transit Authority Green and
Blue line trains as well as Metra UP-West Line trains at Oak Park station.
Service within Oak Park and to other suburbs is also provided by the suburban
bus system Pace. It is also one of over 20 neighborhoods served by I-GO Cars.
The Eisenhower Expressway--formerly the Congress Expressway--is the primary
highway between Chicago and Oak Park. Oak Park has its own street numbering
system that is similar to, but distinct from, Chicago's system.
Oak Park has a rich tradition of bicycling. Augusta Boulevard through the
village is part of the Grand Illinois Trail; the trailhead of the Illinois
Prairie Path is less than a mile from Oak Park. It is considered one of the most
progressive bicycle-friendly communities in the Chicago area and has a number of
active cycle clubs and groups. Proximity to trails and the historic tree-lined
streets of the community attract cyclists from throughout the region, many of
whom arrive by the Chicago area's extensive public transportation system. Oak
Park also has a small pedicab business, owned and operated by a local who
provides guided tours and a taxi service with his bicycle pedicabs or rickshaws.
There is also a free shuttle service which transports riders to most of the
tourist attractions in the village.
Neighborhoods
Though located within a small geographical area, the village of Oak Park
contains several distinct neighborhoods. Some regions of northern Oak Park,
commonly defined as being north of Lake Street, are traditionally the richest
region of the community, and contain such areas as the historical Frank Lloyd
Wright District. Various mansions are found in northern Oak Park, especially
along tree-lined Chicago Avenue and north Oak Park Avenue. The area between Lake
Street and Madison Street, or the mid section of Oak Park, is home to various
architectural styles and incomes, with 19th-century Victorian mansions located
beside smaller homes of the post-World War 2 era. Southern Oak Park, south of
Madison Street, contains homes and families of higher income compared to
average, with most of the homes less expensive than in the north. This is offset
by the homes in the Seward Gunderson Historic District, which contains some of
the first homes in the area from the 1900s. As a whole Oak Park can be
characterized as both middle-upper and upper class.
In addition, there is a sharp divide between somewhat affordable housing and
very pricey housing in north Oak Park between Ridgeland Avenue. To the west of
Ridgeland Avenue in north Oak Park the demographics are almost exclusively
professionals. In contrast, the housing to the east of Ridgeland Avenue in north
Oak Park mainly consists of affordable bungalows bought by working-class
families.
Though there are several business districts within Oak Park, such as Harrison
Street along the I-290 expressway and Chicago Avenue at Harlem, downtown Oak
Park is the main business district, bordered at the west by Harlem Avenue, at
the east with Oak Park Avenue/Euclid Avenue, south by South Boulevard/Pleasant
Street, and north by Ontario Street. However, due to high taxes, traffic issues
etc., there is a growing vacancy rate within downtown Oak Park. Some of the
independent, "mom-and-pop" stores have moved out, making room for brand-name
chain stores such as Cold Stone Creamery and Starbucks. There has been a great
deal of heated discussion and debate within the village as to the cause of these
vacancies and the solution to ending this problem.