The Niles Economic Development and Neighborhood Renewal Commission is working to clearly define village neighborhoods – and name each.
The initiative was described as a way to better define various parts of the village and a way to encourage community pride. The commission plans to draw largely on historical names of Niles subdivisions. The borders will also be based on historical subdivisions, while taking into account expansions and developments that have taken place since then.
During the Jan. 7 meeting of the commission’s Executive Committee, Niles’ Economic Development Director and commission member Ross Klicker showed the first draft of the Niles neighborhood map. This draft will be presented at the commission’s next meeting, which is tentatively scheduled for Feb. 18. It is ultimately up to the Village Board to sign off on the final version of the map.
As Klicker explained in his presentation to the Executive Committee, most of the village didn’t have any clearly defined neighborhoods. Even when there are neighborhood names, the boundaries are not always clear.
Committee member Joe Bialko illustrated the point by noting that he lives in the west part of Niles, but struggled to describe what the area is actually called.
During the meeting, Mayor Andrew Przybylo said that he’d like to change that.
“I’d really like to see neighborhoods named,” he said. “If you don’t have a name, you don’t have an identity. What we need to do is create names and attach them to history, attach them to geography.”
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Klicker explained that village staff looked back to the beginnings of Niles as a farming village. Sidwell Company records – books of maps created by the St. Charles-based map-making company – contain names of the village’s original sub-divisions.
Many of those names survived in the names of Niles’ parks. Klicker said that since the subdivisions changed as the village grew, the neighborhoods don’t follow those boundaries exactly, but the subdivisions can be used as a starting point.
“We can make the map based on our best assumptions and say, ‘This is where this neighborhood is, this is where that neighborhood is,'” said Klicker.
Przybylo said that he would eventually like to include neighborhood names in street signs, right below the street names.
The committee also considered doing neighborhood competitions during the village Independence Day celebrations.
Przybylo prepared a draft map, which will be presented to the full commission at its next meeting. The commission members are expected to look at the map and consider whether the proposal makes sense and suggest changes, he said.
The meeting has been tentatively scheduled for Feb. 18, at 5 p.m. Klicker indicated that it may be rescheduled if another date is more convenient for committee members. If the date is changed, it will be posted on the calendar on the village’s website.
Przybylo also said he wants to do more to encourage residents to organize block parties.
“I had one in my neighborhood,” he said. “It was a lot of fun. Thing is, we need to make it easier.”
For block parties, village staff drops off tables and chairs, leaving residents to set them up, which is inconvenient, Przybylo said. He also said that the current arrangement encourages residents to set up tables in their own driveways, which defeats the point of a block party as a community event. He suggested adding tents into the package.
“If we can make it easier, it will be more well-received,” said Przybylo.