A nationally recognized organization today named Oak Park’s Frank Lloyd Wright Historic District as one of the 10 “great neighborhoods” in America.
The American Planning Association, a Washington, D.C., based nonprofit that focuses on community planning, announced its annual list of great places across the country. The organization has created the annual list since 2007, recognizing streets, neighborhoods and public spaces that “represent the gold standard in terms of having a true sense of place, noteworthy social, cultural or historical character, community involvement, resilience, and a vision for the future,” according to a press release.
The APA lauded the Wright district — loosely bordered by Division, Lake, Ridgeland and Marion — as being a “virtual living museum,” with the world’s highest concentration of homes designed in the Prairie School of architecture.
“The extraordinary range of architecture illustrates Oak Park’s evolution from rural village to urban suburb,” the APA’s website states.
This is the first time that Oak Park has been named to the list. Other “great neighborhoods” named in 2010 include areas of Denver; Jacksonville, Fla.; Lafayette, Ind.; Frederick, Md.; Boston; Las Vegas; Cincinnati; Oklahoma City; and Sioux Falls, S.D. The APA has named 110 “great places” in 47 states since 2007, according to the press release.
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