Sustainability in the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago

The Northwest suburbs of Chicago are some of the most populated areas in the state of Illinois outside of the city of Chicago itself. To further understand how the sustainability of the Northwest suburbs of Chicago stands, this story map will look at the air quality and income ratings of the region to discuss the current sustainability and propose possible solutions for any problems that could be threatening the regional sustainability.

Figure 2 is a map of the Northwest suburbs that includes my hometown of Bartlett, IL, marked by the blue dot. This map shows the status of the air quality of the areas, with green areas meaning that the air quality is good and poses no health risks to that area's residents, and the yellow meaning that the air in those areas could potentially pose a health risk, although not super likely. So, based on Figure 2, the air quality of the Northwest suburbs of Chicago is healthy, but how does it match up with the rest of the country?

In Figure 3, the air quality throughout the entire country is shown. For the most part, the air quality is shown to be healthy. But there are a few areas that are not green, including parts of the Northwest Suburbs of Chicago. Although some parts of this area are not green, they are still not the worst in the country, as areas with high population densities like parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas are shown to be orange or even red, which means that those areas have a higher chance of the air posing health risks to its residents. A pattern throughout the country seems to show that areas with higher populations are more likely to have worse air quality. This is due to more people in the area which leads to more usage of vehicles and other technology that emits more pollution into the air.

Figure 4 shows a side by side comparison of the income rates of households within the Northwest suburbs of Chicago area, and the rate of unemployment in the same area. Beneath the comparison is the legends of the two separate maps. As shown in Figure 4, the areas with worse household income ratings also have higher rates of unemployment. The area that seems to be hit the hardest in these two maps is the areas right outside the city of Chicago. This area has parts in the lowest income rating category, as well as the highest rates of unemployment.

With the information above, a few problems can be found that could possibly threaten the sustainability of the Northwest suburbs of Chicago.

If the air quality continues to become worse throughout all of the Northwest suburbs, not only would it pose possible health risks to those who live there, but it could also become so bad that eventually, living in the Northwest suburbs could be extremely difficult, or even impossible. Older residents of the area are more likely to feel the health risks that come from poor air quality, so while some residents may not notice any health problems until the air quality is extremely bad, older people will feel the problems much sooner. If the air quality gets to a certain point, it could drive residents out of the area for good, which would severely harm the region's sustainability.

The income of households plays a big factor in the economic sustainability of regions. When households make money, they can then use that money to support their region by helping the cash flow of the area. This then supports other businesses and other households and creates a continuous cycle of the money. Also, the household income provides for those that live in that house, with services like food, water, electricity, heating and cooling and much more. If incomes are so low that households cannot support the family, that not only disrupts their life, but also disrupts the cash flow of the area. The same can be said about the unemployment rates. Without jobs, families cannot afford to support their lives, and again causes a disruption in the economic sustainability of the region.

In order to avoid a crumble of the Northwest suburbs' sustainability, a few things can be done. First is to provide more public transit to the residents. Public transit would allow for large amounts of people to travel, without the use of multiple vehicles. This would lower the amount of pollution that is being put into the air, and would result in this area having better air quality to support the residents. The second possible solution would be to offer more jobs to the residents of the area. Although this solution is not as easy as it sounds, because it is difficult for businesses to pay large amounts of employees, but even offering small jobs would help greatly. As long as the goal is to lower the rates of unemployment within the area, it would benefit the economic sustainability of the area. Even if the income rates of households barely goes up, any increase in income would help the families as well as the regional sustainability.

While I do believe that both of the possible solutions are important and should be handled as soon as possible, it is clear from the figures provided above that the income and unemployment rates are a more severe problem for the area as of now. The air quality is good overall, but the income rates are low in many areas of the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, and they should be solved as soon as possible. I think that both of these problems shown in the figures above can be solved and result in a greater sustainability of the Northwest suburbs of Chicago.