lake county
Lake County, in the northeast corner of the state, was once largely rural but has become increasingly suburban in recent years. Its largest city, Waukegan, is also the county seat.
Its southeast is part of Chicago's affluent North Shore, including:
Highland Park
Lake Forest — one of the wealthiest communities in the state
Other Lake County towns include:
Buffalo Grove
Gurnee
Fox Lake
Lake Zurich
Libertyville
Long Grove
kankakee county
Bourbonnais
Bradley
Kankakee
kane county
Sleepy Hollow
dupage county
West of Cook County, DuPage contains mainly Chicago bedroom communities, such as:
Glen Ellyn
Itasca
Lisle — well worth a visit for the marvelous Morton Arboretum
Naperville — despite being the target of endless derision from Chicagoans, there is plenty reason to visit for Naperville's Riverwalk and upscale dining scene
Downers Grove
Woodridge
Aurora — the second largest city in Illinois
cook county
Cook County, where Chicago is located, is the largest county by population in Illinois and the second-largest in the United States after California's L.A. County. With more than 5 million residents, its population is larger than that of most U.S. states; a little more than half of them live in the central city, with the rest in a chain of suburbs that surrounds Chicago on the north, west and south sides.
Evanston, the first city north of Chicago along the lake, is home to Northwestern University. Other communities along Cook County's affluent North Shore are:
Glencoe, home to the famous and much visited Chicago Botanical Gardens
Glenview
Morton Grove
Northfield
Skokie
Wilmette, home to the awe-inspiring and beautiful Baha'i temple the only one in North America
Winnetka, home to stately homes and tranquil suburban life
To the northwest of Chicago, in the vicinity of O'Hare International Airport, are such towns as:
Arlington Heights
Des Plaines
Niles
Franklin Park
Rosemont
Park Ridge
Schaumburg — home to the enormous Woodfield Mall
Cook County's West Side includes towns like:
Berwyn
Cicero
Oak Park — a very upscale suburb with popular shopping strips and a Frank Lloyd Wright lover's dream
To the south are such communities as:
Blue Island
Chicago Heights
Evergreen Park
Harvey
Tinley Park
will county
Will County lies south of Cook and DuPage; its largest city and county seat is Joliet, undoubtedly best known for its huge prison.
Plainfield
lake county (indiana)
Lake County, Indiana, a highly industrialized and densely populated section of Lake Michigan's shoreline, represents some of the poorest suburban areas and satellite cities in Chicagoland. Gary in particular has fallen on extraordinarily hard times, and has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country. Once upon a time the city was an industrial giant, and was an urban center in its own right, but today an ever increasing number of Gary residents commute towards Chicago for employment. And in terms of culture, Lake Co. is solid Chicagoland territory, from hot dogs to the blues. Other major population centers in Lake County include:
Crown Point
East Chicago — right on Chicago's eastern border, East Chicago is home to Marktown, one of the nation's most bizarre planned communities
Hammond the largest close-in suburb of Chicago in Indiana, and offers some great deals on hotels just across the border from the city itself
Lake Station
counties outside illinois
Just how much territory is covered in the term "Chicagoland" is a point of controversy. Certain surrounding counties in Wisconsin and especially Indiana have enormous commuter populations, which share Chicago's regional culture, and it is hard to exclude them.