Oak Brook, Illinois

Template:Chicagoland municipality Oak Brook is an affluent suburb of Chicago in DuPage County, in Illinois. The population was 8,702 at the 2000 census.

History

Oak Brook was incorporated as a Village in 1958, due in large part to the efforts of Paul Butler, a prominent civic leader and landowner whose father had first moved to the vicinity in 1898 and opened a dairy farm shortly thereafter. Prior to incorporation, the name Oak Brook was used by local residents to distinguish their community from neighboring Hinsdale and Elmhurst, going back to the founding of the Oak Brook Civic Association almost two decades earlier.

The original boundaries were smaller than the present extent of the Village, but a considerable amount of land was acquired soon after the founding of the Village, including the land that is now the site of the Oak Brook Center shopping mall, which opened in 1962.

Paul Butler's interest in sport was reflected in the Oak Brook Sports Core, which features polo fields, a golf course (which was at one time the venue for the Western Open), swimming and tennis facilities, and other recreational facilities not commonly found in a village of this size.

Geography

Oak Brook is located at 41°50′24″N 87°57′11″W (41.84018, -87.953079)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 8.3 square miles (21.4 km²), of which, 8.2 square miles (21.1 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (1.21%) is water.

The village's proximity to the junction of Interstates 88, 294, and 290, about 20 miles west of downtown Chicago, makes access by car easy for residents of Chicago and other suburbs. Although Oak Brook is not directly served by any CTA or Metra trains, the commercial corridor along 22nd Street is served by several PACE bus routes, and train stations in neighboring villages offer commuter train access to downtown Chicago.

Most of Oak Brook consists of residential subdivisions, with the exception of the Oak Brook Center shopping mall and other retail and office properties along 22nd Street and the Interstate 88 corridor in the northern part of the village, as well as some commercial properties along Ogden Avenue on the southern boundary of the village.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 8,702 people, 3,124 households, and 2,589 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,066.4 people per square mile (411.7/km²). There were 3,258 housing units at an average density of 399.2/sq mi (154.2/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 76.60% White, 1.37% African American, 20.11% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.22% from other races, and 1.69% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.39% of the population.

There were 3,124 households out of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.6% were married couples living together, 4.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.1% were non-families. 15.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the village the population was spread out with 19.6% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 15.3% from 25 to 44, 36.4% from 45 to 64, and 21.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50 years. For every 100 females there were 91.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.5 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $146,537, and the median income for a family was $169,718. Males had a median income of $100,000+ versus $40,128 for females. The per capita income for the village was $76,668. About 1.4% of families and 2.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.7% of those under age 18 and 0.4% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public schools

All of Oak Brook has its own school district, district 53, which includes Brook Forest Elementary School (grades K-5) and Butler Junior High School (grades 6-8). Some of Oak Brook lies within the district of Hinsdale Central High School, district 86. Some Oak Brook residents attend schools in other surrounding municipalities. A total of eight school districts include areas in Oak Brook.

Elementary schools Butler Elementary School District #53 Elmhurst Community School District #205 Hinsdale Community Consolidated School District #181 Downers Grove Elementary School District #58 Salt Creek School District #48

High schools

• Hinsdale Township High School #86
• Elmhurst Community High District #205
• Community High School District #99
• DuPage High School District #88

Colleges

• Community College District #502 (College of DuPage)

Economy and Business

While many Oak Brook residents commute to jobs scattered throughout the Chicago metropolitan area, Oak Brook is also the home of many corporate offices. Most notably, the world headquarters of McDonald's Corporation is in Oak Brook. The village is also home to the corporate headquarters of Ace Hardware, Blistex, and Federal Signal Corporation. It is also home to the headquarters of service club organization Lions Clubs International.

External links

• Oak Brook Village Profile
• Village of Oak Brook
• Oak Brook Historic Timeline (requires Flash or PDF viewer)

• Butler School District 53