University Park is a village in Will County with a small portion in

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

in the U.S. state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. It is a south suburb of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. The village is one of the region's few planned communities; it was developed in the 1960s as Wood Hill, then Park Forest South, and finally University Park.

Governors State University Governors State University (Governors State, GSU, GovState, or GOVST) is a public university in University Park, Illinois, United States. The campus is located south of Chicago, Illinois. GovState was founded in 1969. It is a public universi ...

was established in the village in 1969. The village population was 7,145 at the 2020 census.

History

In the late 1950s, Woodhill Enterprises purchased land south of Park Forest for a large subdivision. Building began in 1961, but by 1967 Wood Hill had only 240 homes. Residents created a homeowners association, which fostered a community identity. In 1966, Nathan Manilow, one of the developers of Park Forest, started to purchase land around Wood Hill. Park Forest had been a model for planning in the 1940s, and Lewis Manilow, son of Nathan, formed New Community Enterprises (NCE) to build "a whole new town". Major partners included Illinois Central Industries and United States Gypsum Company. NCE supported the incorporation of Park Forest South in 1967 with projections for 100,000 residents. Under the federal New Communities Act of 1968, Park Forest South was designated as one of 15 such "new communities". Planning included space for residential, commercial, and industrial development and addressed the needs of education, recreation, and faith communities. Racial integration was a goal from the beginning, and Park Forest South became a leader in support of open housing.

opened its doors in 1969. The

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, is a railroad in the Central United States. Its primary routes connected Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama, and thus, ...

made its first commuter extension in 40 years there. As a result, it is the last stop on the

Metra Electric District The Metra Electric District is an electrified commuter rail line owned and operated by Metra which connects Millennium Station (formerly Randolph Street Station), in downtown Chicago, with the city's southern suburbs. As of 2018, it is the fif ...

line. The city's initial plan included wooded preserves and recreation areas, building on recreation area set-asides and major land donations by the Manilow organization. The creativity and energy of the developers and village leadership led to great hopes for their "whole new town". In 1970, the state of Illinois allocated $24 million for the GSU campus. In 1971, HUD guaranteed $30 million in loans to bring the vision to reality. The developers modernized the water and sewage treatment facilities and in 1970 initiated the first elementary school, the first apartment complex, and Governors Gateway Industrial Park. However, difficulties arose in the economy, in the requirements and lack of resources from HUD, in the projections for growth, and in other areas, leading to suspended development in late 1974. For over two years, intense activity at public and private levels untangled many of the problems. The new town, intended for 100,000, adapted to a slow-growth plan anticipating an eventual 20,000 to 25,000 residents. The 2000 population, however, was 6,662, up slightly from the previous decade. New town planning remains evident. The industrial park next to

Interstate 57 Interstate 57 (I-57) is a north–south Interstate Highway that exists in two segments. It runs through Arkansas, Missouri, and Illinois. I-57 parallels the old Illinois Central Railroad for much of its route north of Interstate 55, I-55. T ...

is integral to the village, and residential areas continue to offer open space, bikeways, and additional development. The new town heritage includes the Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park, a monumental internationally recognized outdoor sculpture park at GSU developed by Lewis Manilow to honor his father.

Notable people

* Amara Enyia (born 1982), political strategist. She was raised in University Park. *

Shonda Rhimes Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television producer and screenwriter, and founder of the production company Shondaland. Inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Rhimes became known ...

, television producer, screenwriter, and creator, head writer and executive producer of hit television series

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

, Private Practice,

Scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way a ...

and

How to Get Away With Murder ''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal drama thriller television series that premiered on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk and pro ...

, resided in University Park (formerly Park Forest South) as a child. * Chris Slayton (born 1996), football player. He was a childhood resident of University Park.

Education

The village of University Park falls within the Crete-Monee Community Unit School District 201-U. Coretta Scott King Magnet Elementary and Crete-Monee Middle school is located in the village.

Geography

University Park is located at (41.439460, -87.697299). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, University Park has a total area of , of which (or 99.98%) is land and (or 0.02%) is water. The village lies on the Valparaiso Moraine, which is also the

Eastern Continental Divide The Eastern Continental Divide, Eastern Divide or Appalachian Divide is a drainage divide, hydrological divide in eastern North America that separates the easterly Atlantic Seaboard drainage basin, watershed from the westerly Gulf of Mexico wat ...

Surrounding areas

: Richton Park : Richton Park Park Forest : Frankfort / Unincorporated Will County Steger /

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

: Unincorporated Will County Unincorporated Will County : Monee / Unincorporated Will County

Demographics

As of the 2020 census there were 7,145 people, 2,508 households, and 1,831 families residing in the village. The population density was . There were 2,756 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 87.64%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 5.16%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.29% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 2.23% from other races, and 4.39% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 4.04% of the population. There were 2,508 households, out of which 49.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.69% were married couples living together, 32.18% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.99% were non-families. 22.77% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.49% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.37 and the average family size was 2.87. The village's age distribution consisted of 32.0% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 30.8% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 10.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 66.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 56.5 males. The median income for a household in the village was $62,258, and the median income for a family was $63,551. Males had a median income of $43,093 versus $31,448 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the village was $23,354. About 9.4% of families and 10.3% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 13.2% of those under age 18 and 3.2% of those age 65 or over.

Transportation

University Park is served by a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the

line, operated by

Metra Metra is the primary commuter rail system in the Chicago metropolitan area serving the city of Chicago and its surrounding suburbs via the Union Pacific Railroad, BNSF Railway, and other railroads. The system operates 243 train station, stati ...

. The Metra Electric line ends at this station; Amtrak services ( City of New Orleans,

Illini and Saluki The ''Illini'' and ''Saluki'' are a pair of passenger trains operated by Amtrak along a route between Chicago and Carbondale, Illinois. They are part of Amtrak's Illinois Service and are primarily funded by the state of Illinois. The service p ...

) continue south without stoppage. The station also facilitates bus services: Pace route 367 and the River Valley Metro's University Park route. Pace provides bus service on Route 367 connecting University Park to Park Forest and other destinations. Stuenkel Road serves as a connector from

to University Park.

Illinois Route 50 Illinois Route 50 (IL 50) is a north–south state highway in northeastern Illinois. It runs from the junction with U.S. Route 45 (US 45) and U.S. Route 52 (US 52) in West Kankakee north to US 41 in Skokie. In Chicago and t ...

is another numbered highway running through University Park. Between 1942 and 1971,

U.S. Route 54 U.S. Route 54 (US 54) is an east–west United States Highway that runs northeast–southwest for from El Paso, Texas, to Griggsville, Illinois. The Union Pacific Railroad's Tucumcari Line (former Southern Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific an ...

ran through the area prior to and during the existence of Park Forest South (now University Park).

Government

University Park is in the Second Congressional District.

References

External links

Village websiteGovernors State University
{{Illinois Villages in Cook County, Illinois Chicago metropolitan area Villages in Will County, Illinois Populated places established in 1967 1967 establishments in Illinois Majority-minority cities and towns in Will County, Illinois Villages in Illinois