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Des Plaines, Illinois
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Incorporated | City in 1925. | |||||||||||||||
| County; State | Cook; Illinois | |||||||||||||||
| Township | Maine, Elk Grove, Wheeling, Northfield | |||||||||||||||
| Government | Council-manager | |||||||||||||||
| Mayor | Tony Arredia | |||||||||||||||
| Population (2000) | 59,000 (up 10.33% from 1990) | |||||||||||||||
| Pop. density | 1,572.3/km² (4,071.2/mi²) | |||||||||||||||
| Zip code(s) | 60016, 60017, 60018, 60019 | |||||||||||||||
| Area code | 847 & 224 | |||||||||||||||
| Land area | 37.3 km² (14.4 mi²) | |||||||||||||||
| Income | Per capita: $24,146 Household: $53,638 |
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| Home value | Mean: $180,168 (2000) Median: $174,800 |
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| Website | desplaines.org | |||||||||||||||
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Des Plaines (pronounced /dɛsˈpleɪnz/) is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It has adopted the official nickname of "City of Destiny." As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 58,720. It is a suburb of Chicago, and is adjacent to O'Hare International Airport. The Des Plaines River runs through the city, just east of its downtown area. Des Plaines is a very economically diverse city, with home values ranging from $30,000 to more than $1,000,000[citation needed].
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Des Plaines is located at (42.033848, -87.899786).GR1
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.5 square miles (37.6 km²).Of this, 14.4 square miles (37.3 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (0.76%) is water. Des Plaines is traversed by two interstate highways - I-90 Northwest Tollway and I-294 Tri-State Tollway.
Des Plaines is named for the Des Plaines River, which flows through it. The name is French, "of the plains".
Portions of Des Plaines are underlain by the "Des Plaines Disturbance", an area in which the layers of sedimentary rock are highly abnormal. This probably represents an ancient meteor crater, 75 to 200 feet beneath the town. The bedrock was highly fractured by the impact, with large blocks of sediment upended. The crater was eventually filled by glacial activity, so that no trace now remains on the surface.
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 58,720 people, 22,362 households, and 15,071 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,071.2 people per square mile (1,572.3/km²). There were 22,851 housing units at an average density of 1,584.3/sq mi (611.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.44% White, 1.01% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 7.65% Asian / Asian American, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 4.64% from other races, and 1.97% from two or more races. 14.01% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Biggest ancestries: German (21.5%), Polish (18.2%), Irish (13.8%), Italian (10.6%), English (5.2%), Swedish (3.3%).
There are 22,362 households, out of which 29.1% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.8% were married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.6% were non-families. 28.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.21.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.3% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 29.2% from 25 to 44, 23.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 93.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $53,638, and the median income for a family was $65,806. Males had a median income of $42,241 versus $30,885 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,146. About 3.0% of families and 4.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.8% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.
- McDonald's Museum, site of the first McDonald's restaurant to be franchised by Ray Kroc
- Lake Opeka
- Methodist Camp Ground, a National Historic site,[citation needed] predates the Village and is still active
- Des Plaines Public Library
- Des Plaines Theater
Oakton Community College, opened in 1969, is a community college with campuses in Skokie and Des Plaines.
Des Plaines is served by elementary and middle school Districts 59 and 62 as well as high school District 207 Maine West High School and District 214 Elk Grove High School. Both high schools have received national recognition. Private schools include the Science and Arts Academy, St. Zachary School [1], and Our Lady of Destiny, created after the merging of St. Stephen's and St. Mary's Catholic schools.
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Local churches include:
- St Zachary's Roman Catholic church, established 1962
- 1957-1976 - Herbert Behrel
- 1977-1981 - Herbert Volberding
- 1981-1989 - John Seitz
- 1989-1993 - Michael Albrecht
- 1993-1997 - Ted Sherwood
- 1997-1999 - Paul Jung (died October 24, 1999)
- 1999-present - Tony Arredia
- Serial killer John Wayne Gacy lived on Summerdale Avenue in an unincorporated area surrounded by Northwest Chicago. It was the abduction and murder of 15-year-old Rob Piest, a freshman at the time at Maine West High School, of Des Plaines that finally led to Gacy's capture. Additionally, a 1975 Maine West class ring engraved with the initials "JAS" was found in the crawl space of Gacy's home. The ring belonged to missing 19-year-old Maine West alumni John Szyc. Des Plaines City detectives tracked Gacy down, as the 30-40 previous victims were investigated by Chicago and other detectives that mainly wrote off the disappearances as "runaways" and closed the files.
- Des Plaines is featured in the Left Behind series of novels as well as a recently released American Girl book.
- The majority of the hit 1985 film The Breakfast Club was filmed at the now-defunct Maine North High School located in unincorporated Des Plaines.
- Des Plaines, during the 1940s and 50's,was home to many huge greenhouse complexes and was the world's largest producer of hothouse roses. The city's vehicle stickers sported a large "American Beauty" rose, and the city's logo was "City of Roses" (replaced in the 1960s by "City of Destiny").
- Des Plaines is featured in an episode called L.D.S.K from the TV series Criminal Minds. A sniper (or as called on the show a Long Distance Serial Killer) starts shooting people in Franklin Park. The main characters on the show think the killer is a Des Plaines cop, which is eventually found out to be not true.
- "Des Plaines" is the name of a Venetian Snares track from the 2005 album Meathole. The track refers to the town where the American serial killer John Wayne Gacy murdered and raped his victims.
- Des Plaines is the home of the first McDonald's opened by Ray Kroc, which is preserved as a "museum" on Lee Street, north of downtown.
- Des Plaines is a popular clue/answer in crossword puzzles.
- Des Plaines, Illinois is at coordinates Coordinates:
- The Official City Government Website of Des Plaines, Illinois
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| Central City | Chicago |  |
| Largest cities (over 30,000 in 2000) |
Aurora • Berwyn •Calumet City • Chicago Heights • Crystal Lake • DeKalb • Des Plaines • East Chicago • Elgin • Elmhurst • Evanston • Gary • Hammond • Harvey • Highland Park • Joliet • Kenosha • Michigan City • Naperville • North Chicago • Park Ridge • Portage • Waukegan • Wheaton |
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| Largest towns and villages (over 30,000 in 2000) |
Addison • Arlington Heights • Bartlett • Bolingbrook • Buffalo Grove • Carol Stream • Carpentersville • Cicero • Downers Grove • Elk Grove Village • Glendale Heights • Glenview • Hanover Park • Hoffman Estates • Lombard • Merrillville • Mount Prospect • Mundelein • Niles • Northbrook • Oak Lawn • Oak Park • Orland Park • Palatine • Schaumburg • Skokie • Streamwood • Tinley Park • Wheeling • Woodridge | |
| Counties | Cook • DeKalb • DuPage • Grundy • Jasper • Kane • Kendall • Kenosha • Lake (Illinois) • Lake (Indiana) • LaPorte • McHenry • Newton • Porter • Will | |
Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since June 2007 | Articles with unsourced statements since October 2007 | Articles to be expanded since October 2007 | All articles to be expanded | Cities in Illinois | Cook County, Illinois | Des Plaines, Illinois