Dumpster Rental in La Grange Park, IL

La Grange Park’s Speakeasy Roots

In the lat 19th Century residents of a small farming community on the west side of Cook County the home of a local stonemason was also a speakeasy, or what was often referred to as a “blind pig.” Attempts to truncate the illegal alcohol sale fo the stonemason, and the inebriated habits of his clientele, fail and led to frustration that would eventually lead the residents to incorporate La Grange Park so that alcohol sales could be regulated and enrolled by authorities. Other communities also self-incorporated over issues of controlling sales of alcohol, including Arlington Heights, Barrington, and Palatine. While alcohol could be regulated, the shift to incorporation did not benefit the economy of La Grange Park and by the turn to the 20th Century, the village had just seven hundred and thirty residents and even by 1940 the community still lacked the economically essential item of a railroad station and the administrative necessity of a post office. But as the village entered the 1950s its luck began to change as its municipal officials and private groups embarked upon housing and development projects that doubled its population.

La Grange Park Today

Today La Grange Park has almost fourteen thousand residents and is one of the more desirable areas olive with top-ranked schools, housing, family-friendly lifestyles, nightlife, and safety and is reasonably close to Chicago and its benefits. Today, the once small community that sought the exile of a speakeasy is now full of restaurants, parks, coffee shops, and people walking the streets. Home values are also a stunning success. Almost seventy percent of residents own their own homes, which says quite a bit as the median home value is over three hundred and thirty thousand dollars, almost double the national average. While the household median income is about fifty-five thousand dollars, La Grange Park has a mean household income that is over ninety thousand dollars per year.

A New Era of Economic Development

The lessons of the business development that drove La Grange Park to success are not forgotten. Today the Village does not rest on its laurels but works to continue economic development and its business community. There are three legs to the economic development agenda in La Grange Park:

1. The Commercial Revitalization Committee (CRC): The first leg of economic development is the Commercial Revitalization Committee (located at 447 North Catherine Avenue in La Grange Park), created in 2011 to generate recommendations for commercial revitalization and economic growth to the Village Board of Directors. In 2013, the Village Board approved the first Commercial Revitalization Plan, designed to ensure that La Grange Park would retain its variety of economic activities and overall growth and prosperity. The Plan outlines several initiatives to create am more successful business environment in the village and offers strategies to reinforce the many existing businesses while attracting new businesses and industries to the community.
2. The Business Incentives Programs: Business incentive programs are becoming an increasingly common method to generate economic growth in the Chicago areas. Implementation of these initiatives can involve the state, county, and municipal levels of government and often involve multiple layers. In La Grange Park, there are two primary opportunities for you and your business. The first can be found in business development Districts (BBDs) that use taxpayer funds to promote certain redevelopment, catalyze the development of infrastructure, and promote projects that are believed to improve the community. The other form of incentives is Tax Increment Financing Districts that benefit from Tax Increment Financing (TIF). TIF is a taxpayer-funded system that offers initial savings to commercial projects that promise an economic scenario that will profit the city and the community by enlarging the economy and tax base over the long-term. There are currently two TIF districts in La Grange Park: one at 31st Street & Barnsdale TIF District that runs from 31st Street and Homestead road to Blanchan Avenue; and a second at the Village Market TIF District that includes the Village Market Shopping Center, Memorial Park, and the Homestead Apartment complex.
3. Business Resources: A final economic development service offered by the Village is the Business Resource Guide. The Guide may seem simple compared to major public funds of investment but can be a useful tool to lubricate the weeks of small business. This resource can help anyone attain information on how to get building and sign permits, certificates of occupancy, set up inspections, licenses for businesses and liquor and tobacco sales, a list of Village contact, and other items.