Collar counties

The expression the collar counties is a colloquialism for the five counties of Illinois that border Chicago's Cook County. After Cook County, they are also the next five most populous counties in the state. According to the Encyclopedia of Chicago, there is no specifically known origin of the phrase, but it has been commonly used among policy makers, urban planners, and in the media. However, it also notes that as growth has spread beyond these counties, it may have lost some of its usefulness.[1]

Collar Counties
Region of Illinois
Clockwise from top left: Rialto Square Theater (Joliet), Downtown Crystal Lake, Moser Tower (Naperville), Old DuPage County Courthouse (Wheaton), Great Lakes Naval Training Station (North Chicago) and Downtown Aurora.
Country United States
State Illinois
CountiesDuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will.
Settled1770s
Named forTheir mutual proximity to and surrounding of Cook County.
Population
 (2012 Estimate)
 • Total3,143,257
Time zoneUTC−06:00 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−05:00 (CDT)
Area code(s)224, 331, 630, 779, 815, 847

The collar counties (DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will) are tied to Chicago economically. However, like many other suburban areas in the United States, the collar counties have somewhat different political leanings from the core city. Chicago has long been a Democratic stronghold, while the collar counties historically tilted Republican. In recent elections, however, the collar counties have voted for Democrats, but with lower margins than Cook County.

While the demographics of these suburban Chicago counties are fairly typical for American metropolitan areas, the term is apparently unique to this area. Also, because Cook County is so firmly entrenched in the Democratic column, and rural Downstate is overwhelmingly Republican, the collar counties are routinely cited as being the key to any statewide election.[2][3][4] However, that conventional wisdom was challenged in 2010 as Democrat Pat Quinn won election as governor while only winning Cook, St. Clair, Jackson and Alexander counties.[5] All five collar counties went Republican, so the key to winning that gubernatorial election was simply winning Cook County, but by a wide enough margin to overwhelm the rest of the state.[6]

While the term is often employed in political discussions, that is not its exclusive use.[7][8] Barack Obama used the term in his speech before the Democratic National Convention in 2004.[9]

As of 2010 there are 3,143,257 people residing in the collar counties, nearly 25% of the population of Illinois. Combined with Cook County the area has approximately 65% of Illinois's population.

See also

References
  1. Mariner, Richard D. (July 10, 2018). "Collar Counties". The Electrictronic Encyclopedia of Chicago. Chicago, IL: Chicago Historical Society (2005), Newberry Library (2004).
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved February 13, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "'Quinn-Brady race may be decided in collar counties". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on October 19, 2010. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  4. "Why the Collar Counties are Trending GOP". NBC Chicago. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  5. "Error Display". www.elections.il.gov.
  6. Illinois gubernatorial election, 2010
  7. Mount, Charles (May 30, 1989). "Collar Counties Cutting Court Backlogs". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
  8. "Collar County Homepage". www.socqrl.niu.edu.
  9. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/barack-obamas-keynote-address-at-the-2004-democratic-national-convention
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