Field of autumn

Just a couple of miles from two major roadways that lie on the fringe of the Chicago metro region runs a dirt road. On McCornack Road, family-run farms operate as they have for generations. But unlike past generations, the farmers in this area know that the suburbs are drawing ever closer and will in all likelihood overrun them one day.

Just beyond the trees at the far end of this cornfield sits a new subdivision filled with $350,000 homes. Developers do not see this field of corn for the value of its crop, as do those who live and work here. They see it for the potential of parceling it into quarter-acre lots at $50,000 each. The City of Elgin sees its value in an increased tax base and added consumers who will do business in town.

McCornack Road will one day be paved and lined with luxury homes. Elgin will have more tax dollars in its coffers and new residents will shop in nearby stores yet to be built. And the housing developers will have moved on to the next dirt road west.

Click on picture to enlarge. Photograph © 2005 James Jordan.