Riverside Distinctions
Riverside Distinctions
Riverside Facts: Area: Approximately 1.9 square miles Parks: 134 acres – 41 small parks, 5 large parks Forest Preserve: 900 acres Population: 8,875( 2010 census) Village Designed By: Olmsted, Vaux & Co., in 1869 Incorporation date: July 10, 1875
A Model Community: Riverside has been recognized as the prototype of all garden suburbs, planned communities and commuter communities. It was the first totally planned suburb of Chicago to use curvilinear roadways instead of grid-like pattern and the first to incorporate a Central Business District into its development plan.
Riverside is also known as one of the eight great open spaces in the United States, only two of which are communities. Over 120 years of architectural styles may be observed in the Village. The Village boasts buildings designed by such influential architects as Frank Lloyd Wright, Jens Jenson, William LeBaron Jenney, G. W. Ashby, and Harold P. Zook.
World famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, whose professional credits include designing New York City’ s Central Park, The United States Capital Lawn and Mall Area and numerous university campuses, designed Riverside in 1869 with the help of his partner Calvert Vaux.
A Calvert Vaux Exhibit was on display at the New York Museum in New York City in 1989. In the brochure for the exhibit, Olmsted, Vaux and Company are credited with developing the“ plan for the most environmentally enriched suburb in the United States”, Riverside, Illinois, 1868 / 69.
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