What makes a story quintessentially suburban?
She described it as "a quintessential suburban debate."
That seemed an entirely appropriate way for staff writer Marie Wilson to open her story last week about the Naperville debate on when lawn mowing should be permitted.
The city, amid complaints from neighbors, may tighten restrictions on commercial mowing in residential neighborhoods, which is allowed from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. The story also recapped the state of mowing in other suburbs; some allow it as late as 10 p.m.
A day later, Marie wrote that residents who live near the new Mariano's on Naper Boulevard were unhappy with a byproduct of the grocery chain's success: early-morning noise caused by deliveries and a refrigerated trailer keeping groceries fresh as they await stocking.
These back-to-back quintessentially suburban stories prompted me to ask the editorial staff for examples of what they view as quintessential suburban issues they've known, loved or covered. As expected, the answers were widely varied, and IMHO, dead on the money.
Tolls, payment thereof:
"All I need to do is write about tolls on Route 390 and my inbox is full - tollways = quintessentially suburban," says Marni Pyke, our transportation writer. And, yes, I rigged it this way, but take a gander at a letter to the editor on this page in which the writer does some math about the soon-to-be-implemented tolls on I-390, also known as the Elgin-O'Hare.
Lowering of property values:
Even after a gas station and car wash were eliminated, plans for 39 houses in the $500,000 range near Quentin Road and Route 22 in Hawthorn Woods still were opposed this past week by some neighbors amid concerns the houses would not be built on minimum 12,000-square-foot lots to match existing homes. The residents expressed fears of lowered property values caused by the smaller lots and increased traffic.
What will the neighbors think?
Actually, we don't come across this type of story every day, but it says a little about the worries of the suburbanite. A Bartlett couple wanted to build a fence taller than was allowed for their lot. Staff writer Erin Hegarty wrote a straightforward story on why they wanted one, and why the village board said it was OK. Pretty basic. But the wife left a message with Erin that she "didn't get the whole story." The woman, however, didn't respond to Erin's return calls and emails. Erin surmised, "It seems like she might have just been worried neighbors wouldn't think her reasons for wanting a taller fence were good enough."
Dim those lights!:
A flap in Barrington Hills about the alleged excessive brightness of outdoor lighting is a story "that could only happen in the suburbs," one editor said.
Staying forever, but selling soon:
This astute observation from city staffer Eric Peterson: "In my experience, there are two quintessential suburban stories: The arrival of anything that would threaten someone's ability to stay in their house forever, and the arrival of anything that would threaten their ability to sell that house tomorrow."
And, yes, this column is written somewhat tongue-in-cheekishly. But as a lifelong occupant of the suburbs, I truly do relate to some of the issues outlined above. A few years ago, I got wrapped up in a neighborhood flap about a tree blocking our view of a golf course.
So, I'd like to close with a donation from my esteemed colleague and fellow columnist Jim Slusher, who offers this decidedly glass-half-full view of what suburbanites are all about.
"I think, every time there's a crisis somewhere in the world, and maybe at food pantries almost every day," he says, "it seems like there's always someone from one of our suburbs, and often whole groups of people, who take leadership roles in getting aid together after a disaster."
And I would add: That, too, is a quintessentially suburban story we write about regularly.
jdavis@dailyherald.com