Everything about Northern Illinois totally explained
Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the
U.S. state of
Illinois.
Economics
Northern Illinois is dominated by the metropolitan areas of
Chicago,
Rockford, and the
Quad Cities, which contain a majority (75%) of Illinois' population and economic activity, including numerous Fortune 500 companies and a heavy manufacturing, commercial, retail, service, and office based economy. Much of the economic activity of the region is centered in the
Chicago Loop, the
Illinois Technology and Research Corridor, and the
Golden Corridor. However, rural sections of this region are highly productive agriculturally, and are part of the
Corn Belt. The headquarters for
John Deere farming equipment are located in
Moline. Additional smaller cities in this area include
Kankakee,
LaSalle-
Peru,
Ottawa,
Freeport,
Dixon, and
Sterling-
Rock Falls, which still have predominantly manufacturing and agricultural economies. Northern Illinois is also one of the world's busiest freight railroad and truck traffic corridors.
Interstate 80 southern boundary
Interstate 80 is sometimes referenced as the informal southern boundary of Northern Illinois, and is often used in weather reports as a reference point, as in "south of Interstate 80 will see sleet and rain, but north of Interstate 80 can expect mostly snow."
Interstate 88 cross section
Additionally,
Interstate 88 (the
Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway) seems to connect the region, east-west, stretching from the Quad Cities, eastward through Sterling-Rock Falls, Dixon, DeKalb,
Aurora,
Naperville, and into Chicago. Northern Illinois is also the only region of the state in which there are tollways, which are run by the
Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, another trait separating this region from Central and Southern Illinois.
Education
Northern Illinois University, located in
DeKalb is located in the heart of Northern Illinois and is the state's second largest institute of higher education in terms of enrollment, after
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Additionally, several major colleges can be found in the Chicago area, including the
Big Ten Conference's
Northwestern University, Illinois' third largest state school
University of Illinois at Chicago, and other notable schools including
Loyola University,
DePaul University,
Columbia College,
University of Chicago, and
Roosevelt University.
Several liberal arts schools such as
Aurora University,
Lewis University,
North Central College,
Elmhurst College,
Wheaton College,
Concordia University, and
North Park University dot the Metropolitan Chicago landscape. Such schools can also be found in Rockford (
Rockford College) and the Quad Cities (
Augustana College).
These schools, along with several others, help to make Northern Illinois a vibrant research area. Such significant developments in science including the creation of the
Atomic Bomb and the
Fujita Scale were rooted in Northern Illinois institutions.
Politics
Politically, the region is quite diverse, with
Cook County and
Rock Island County being long-time strongholds for
Democrats and suburban counties such as
DuPage,
Kane,
Kendall and
McHenry Counties being reliable strongholds for
Republicans. However, several counties such as
Winnebago and
Lake are quite evenly divided. Famous politicians native to the area include
Ulysses S. Grant,
Ronald Reagan,
J. Dennis Hastert,
Hillary Clinton,
Barack Obama, and Mayors
Richard J. Daley and
Richard M. Daley.
Culture
Culturally, the area is tied heavily to Chicago, and most residents of Northern Illinois tend to root for Chicago teams, lean towards the Chicago media market, and visit the
Chicago Loop often. Conversely, residents of Central Illinois are often split between the Chicago and
St. Louis media markets, and the fanbases for the cities' respective sports teams often overlap. In Southern Illinois, residents are tied primarily to St. Louis and
Memphis culture. Additionally, regional dialects in Northern Illinois vary from those in other parts of Illinois.
Subregions
Further Information
Get more info on 'Northern Illinois'.
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