Elk Grove Village officials lament apparent Chicago victory in ...

To the dismay of Elk Grove Village officials, Chicago appears set to acquire its first chunk of property in the northwest suburb for the planned expansion of O'Hare International Airport.

[Tired of the fight]

<<<"This issue is such a paramount issue that the residents are 100 percent behind us," in spending the money, Johnson said.>>>

Sure they are, that is why all of these people sold their properties to the city. What an infinite waste of money for these villages. Trucking and shipping is such a huge part of these villages and their tax base that without O'Hare there would not be much to these villages. Time to give up the fight and realize the inevitable cannot be stopped.

[Dan]

$500 million of TAXPAYER cash WASTED over an expansion fight these suburbs CANNOT win.

Wow.

[anarky99]

these small time tyrants in Bensonville and Elk Grove Village need to move on and find another cause to promote instead of wasting their tax payers money on these ilfated stalling tactics. Geez, settle with Chicago and put your mind to other productive activities like charitable fund raisers and nursing home grand openings.

[Brava]

The O'Hare expansion is needed and the suburbs should get on board. They are wasting precious resources by fighting the expansion.

This important project will have a lasting and positive impact on Northern Illinois. Chicago O'Hare International Airport is the premier transportation hub of the Midwest.

People will not forget those who stood the path of progress.

[meb]

i think the city of chicago is hard up to get as much property that they can i think its a damn shame that they have to displace residents and businesses from their locations the city should take a hard look at them selves and ask what it would feel like if it were to happen to the city if someone wanted to take over city property meb

[Woo Hoo]

Congrats to Elk Grove and Bensonville for wasting millions of our tax payer dollars.. As a commuter through these towns, I'll be sure to not stop and purchase anything there..

[John]

Elk Grove Village and Bensenville would be nothing without O'Hare. The expansion is $400M over budget because these suburbs and there whiny lawyer are forcing the city to spend millions on lawsuits. I'll bet these two mayors are the first to get on a plane and make noise over their precious bucolic (they are really ugly) suburbs when they go on vacation. And they would be the first to complain that their flight is delayed because the region has outgrown it's airport.

[G Dominguez]

anarky99 wrote:

these small time tyrants in Bensonville and Elk Grove Village need to move on and find another cause to promote instead of wasting their tax payers money on these ilfated stalling tactics. Geez, settle with Chicago and put your mind to other productive activities like charitable fund raisers and nursing home grand openings.

I agree. We just heard the voice of another Daley hack. There is another reasonable option,without diplacing families,and communities. By expanding the Gary Indiana airport,the FAA objectives would be met with minimum disruption,to the surrounding community. This would not work,because Daley and his mobbed up interest wounldn't be able to steal billions of tax dollars.

[Rory M]

Having been a resident of Bensenville for more than ten years I don’t see where the commentary of a bunch of no nothings will enlighten the reading public here. As it seems to me from reading these comments people do not realize that Bensenville was community long before O’Hare was an international airport, and our community is not dependant on revenue generated by the airport. The relatively small industrial area that is within the borders of Bensenville are not the concern I have with this expansion, it’s the 500+ residential properties that are being displaced without regard for the loss in property tax revenue that I feel the remaining residents will have to make up for. That’s not even taking into account the ring road that will support a western access, this seems to be some kind of secret because I haven’t seen any plan as of yet to determine how many more residential properties this will displace.

[Lou]

If I owned a house in that area of expansion I would be happy to be able to sell and get out of there.Ive never had any sympathy at all for these two suburbs.Theyre misleading people and spending so much money on frivilous lawsuits.What a waste.

[Xavier]

You can't stop progress.

[John]

Agreed. This "fight" continues to cost everyone more time and money.
O'Hare is the engine for sustained and continued growth in that geography...saving a few hundred jobs and buildings in Bensenville & Elk Grove Village just aren't all that important in the whole scheme of things, sorry to say. You have to do what's best for the greater good here.

[Olympics]

Elk Grove & other surrounding communities realized a long time ago that they were gonna get bulldozed one way or the other. This land grab for O'Hare's expansion isn't just for what it is obviously for. Make way! The Olympics are coming to town.

[Disgraceful]

Rory M wrote:

Having been a resident of Bensenville for more than ten years I don’t see where the commentary of a bunch of no nothings will enlighten the reading public here. As it seems to me from reading these comments people do not realize that Bensenville was community long before O’Hare was an international airport, and our community is not dependant on revenue generated by the airport. The relatively small industrial area that is within the borders of Bensenville are not the concern I have with this expansion, it’s the 500+ residential properties that are being displaced without regard for the loss in property tax revenue that I feel the remaining residents will have to make up for. That’s not even taking into account the ring road that will support a western access, this seems to be some kind of secret because I haven’t seen any plan as of yet to determine how many more residential properties this will displace.

Pheh! When you people BOUGHT your property in Bensenville O'Hare was the International Hub of the World. You all made your bed, now Live with it!

[Rory M]

Disgraceful wrote:

<quoted text>
Pheh! When you people BOUGHT your property in Bensenville O'Hare was the International Hub of the World. You all made your bed, now Live with it!

Wow what hostility, I don’t know what kind garbage your being fed, oh yeah, Daley keeps telling you how much you’ll prosper by driving people from their homes so a few more planes will be able to take off and land at O’Hare. Exactly how is this going to benefit the Chicago homeowner, the city will be able to collect more fees for more take off and landings, and you think this is going to reduce your property taxes or something? Yeah right! Will it increase tourism of bring more business into Chicago that will directly effect the people of the area? How? To just say it’s progress without saying how, does not seem to matter to you people. By the way, no matter how many runways you build, or how you configure them, there’s only so much room in the sky for so many planes at a time, and from everything I’ve heard from the air traffic controllers their having enough trouble keeping things safe as it is. It seems that putting peoples lives in danger over making a buck or two more from airline fees isn’t worth it.

[The Bulter Did It]

What a waste of money. I grew up in EGV during the 70's and my parents still live there.

EGV spent 10's of thousands of dollars to install quaint little brick pavers crosswalks at nearly all of the major intersectios throughout the village. Now THAT was waste of money!

Mayor Johnson is a legend in his own mind.

[Craig]

I grew up around O'Hare, still live near and it always amazes me that people complain about the airport. O’Hare has been around since 1942 and became an international airport in 1958 when the international terminal was built. If the residents who were around in 1958 didn’t realize that this airport was going to only get bigger and bigger and are still in the area, bad on you. O’Hare is a major player in air travel. Expansion is needed to continue to meet the ever increasing demands. While I understand that people don’t want to lose their homes and businesses to expansion, they have to realize that it cannot be stopped. One house or 100 houses do not outweigh the benefit to the surrounding area and country.

On another note, to those people who complain that the planes that fly over their homes are too loud: Why did you move near an airport? You didn’t know it was going to be loud? Shut up or move.

[Larry A]

I just drove through Bensenville on Irving Park Road and the east side is a ghost town. It's spooky. I keep trying to figure out why so many homes so far from the airport need to be grabbed -- we're talking two blocks south of Irving Park. Are planes going to be landing on Iriving Park Road? If not, why take homes that far away? There couldn't be a compromise?

I know the city acts like a bully most of the time, and yes, I do think expanding O'Hare is important, but I also think affecting the lives of so many is important, too.

[BUBBA]

MOST OF YOU DO NOT KNOW THE HISTORY OF "O'HARE AIRPORT".OLD MAN DALEY DID A LAND GRAB YEARS AGO WHEN THE AREA WAS ALL FARM LAND.HE SCREWED THE FARMERS OUT OF THEIR LAND.MANY DECENDENTS STILL LIVE IN THE AREA.LOOK AT A MAP.WHY DOES CHICAGO HAVE THIS APPENDAGE TO THE WEST?
NOW RICHIE WANTS A BIGGER AIRPORT,BUT WILL NOT CONDEMN PROPERTY TO THE EAST IN CHICAGO.HE ONLY WANTS TO GO WEST INTO THE SUBURBS,BUT STILL NO WESTERN ACCESS.AND NO PLAN TO REPLACE THE LOST TAX REVENUE ON THE LAND HE GRABS.LOOK WHAT THIS GUY DID TO MEIGS FIELD,HE BULLDOSED IT OVERNITE !!!ARROGANCE AT IT'S BEST.

[Chijac8]

Sounds like most of the writers are for the expansion. It's one of the few economic engines we still have. People in the path need to wake up and move. Most of the houses are relatively cheap anyway.