Jun 29 2007
Joliet and Aurora Boom
I saw an interesting story yesterday on WGN TV. Apparently Joliet is now the fastest-growing city in Illinois. It grew by 35,000 between 2001 and 2006. Other nearby medium-sized cities like Aurora also grew at similar rates.
What I find interesting about this is that Aurora and Joliet are not what I would immediately think of as boom towns. Both cities went through a period of industrial boom and bust. Both cities turned to casinos to help their downtown areas. Both cities benefited from a wave of Mexican immigration. And both areas are the beneficiaries of shifts in population growth away from the traditional high growth northern Chicago suburbs towards the south.
I think that planners too often look to the fast-growing cities of the south and west to find models for successful urban rebirth. But maybe everyone should figure out how Aurora and Joliet, Illinois were able to take a hardscrabble urban environment and make it grow.