Tinley Park, Illinois

Tinley Park is a village located primarily in Cook County, Illinois, United States with a small portion in Will County. The population was 48,401 at the 2000 census, and 58,322 in the 2007 census. It is one of the fastest growing suburbs south of Chicago. In 2009, Tinley Park was selected by BusinessWeek as the best place to raise a family in America.

Early History
Records show that prior to European settlement, the area was primarily occupied by the Potawatomi tribe.

19th Century
Settlement of the area which now comprises Tinley Park began in the 1820s by emigrants from the Eastern United States. German settlers became predominant in area by the 1840s, and the village was originally established in 1853 as "Bremen". Irish, English, Scottish, Canadian, and other American settlers were also common in the area.

In the late 19th century, railroads expanded rapidly, and the village happened to be located on the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad line. The influence of the railroad on Bremen was so great that, in 1890, its name was changed to Tinley Park in honor of the village's first railroad station agent, Samuel Tinley, Sr. Even the village's official incorporation took place at the train depot on June 27, 1892.

20th century
With the railroad came industry and commerce. 1905 saw the Diamond Spiral Washing Machine Company found its first factory in Tinley Park. Local businessmen established an electric utility in 1909. A bottling facility for soda was operated in Tinley Park until the 1950s. Inventor John Rauhoff developed and manufactured a waterproofing additive for cement called Ironite, later used in the construction of the Hoover Dam. In the latter part of the 20th century, Tinley Park was, and remains to be, an area of rapid suburban expansion (Urban sprawl) to the west and south of the original site with over 11,000 housing units constructed between 1970-1994

Today
After its centennial (1992), Tinley Park from the late 20th century to the present has been focused on renovation of its downtown historic district. The historic district is made up of the village's original 1892 boundaries. In this district, landowners are encouraged to maintain the historic edifices or to create new, historically friendly facades for otherwise non-historic buildings built in the last 30 years.

Downtown renovation projects include the creation of a park in the very center of this historic area, near the Tinley Park Rock Island train station, and the recent "North Street Project", a multimillion-dollar project which will raise businesses and dwellings to create an area for more than 100 condominiums, over 40000 sqft of commercial retail space, 10000 sqft of office space, an underground parking facility, and an 11-screen theater which will seat 1,920.

Many arguably historic houses and buildings built before the 1930s have been or are being lost with the intention to re-invent the 'historic' downtown center of Tinley Park. Buildings razed include: the original Tinley Park one-room schoolhouse which has been 're-created' on a site adjacent to Old Zion Church and Tinley Park Historical Society building, Central Jr. High School's former building that was demolished to make room for a vacant lot, 1920s and older houses along South Street that have been demolished, and recently the Bremen Cash Store (built in the late 19th century) that exists only as stacks of bricks on pallets of which it was formerly built. Several houses along north street are also threatened by the aforementioned "North Street Project".

The First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, (formerly named "The World Music Theatre", also "Tweeter Center") an outdoor venue which seats 28,000, is located in Tinley Park.

Tinley Park was the site of the Tinley Park Lights, an anomalous multiple mass UFO sighting event in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

According to a recently taken special census, Tinley Park's population is now 58,322, eclipsing the population of its neighbor to the west, Orland Park. From this census about 77.1% of the population are of Polish descent.

Geography
Tinley Park is located at 41.57389°N, -87.80389°W (41.573800, -87.803891).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 15.0 square miles (38.8 km²), of which, 14.9 square miles (38.7 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.27%) is water. The village lies on the Tinley Moraine and/or the Valparaiso Moraine.

Demographics
As of the 2000 census, there were 48,401 people, 17,478 households, and 12,793 families residing in the village. The population density was 3,236.9 people per square mile (1,250.0/km²). There were 18,037 housing units at an average density of 1,206.2 per square mile (465.8/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 93.16% White, 1.92% African American, 0.13% Native American, 2.38% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.11% from other races, and 1.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.13% of the population.

The top five ancestries reported in Tinley Park as of the 2000 census were Irish (25.5%), German (23.1%), Polish (19.9%), Italian (14.3%) and Dutch (5.3%).

There were 17,478 households out of which 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.5% were married couples living together, 8.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.8% were non-families. 23.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.73 and the average family size was 3.27.

In the village the population was spread out with 26.6% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.5 males.

The median income for a household in the affluent village was $61,648, and the median income for a family was $71,858 (these figures had risen to $70,480 and $84,072 respectively as of a 2007 estimate ). Males had a median income of $50,595 versus $34,401 for females. The per capita income for the village was $25,207. About 1.1% of families and 2.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.5% of those under age 18 and 3.6% of those age 65 or over.

Due to a drastic increase in the polish population, Tinley Park elected Michael Concannon as the Polish Representative for Polish Americans(PRPA).

Government
Tinley Park is divided between three congressional districts. Most of the village, including all the area in Bremen and Rich Townships, is in Illinois' 1st congressional district; the area in Will County is in the 11th district; the area in Orland Township south of 167th Street, as well as most of the area southwest of 163rd Street and Ozark Avenue, is in the 13th district.

Education
Tinley Park includes two public elementary school districts, Kirby School District 140 and Community Consolidated School District 146. The town also includes three parochial Pre-K through 8 elementary schools: St. George, which is Catholic; Trinity Lutheran, affiliated with the LCMS; and Southwest Chicago Christian School of Tinley Park.

Victor J. Andrew High School (Consolidated High School District 230) and Tinley Park High School (Bremen Community High School District 228) are both secondary schools located in Tinley Park. A small portion of Tinley Park students go to Lincoln-Way North High School. Most residents of Tinley Park are located within the residency boundaries for Moraine Valley Community College; the rest reside in the community college district for South Suburban College. A very small portion of Tinley Park goes to Joliet Junior College.

Sister cities

 * 🇩🇪 Büdingen, Hesse, Germany.
 * Mallow, Co. Cork, Ireland
 * 🇵🇱 Nowy Sącz, Poland.

People from Tinley Park, Illinois

 * Hazem Ali, Former American Professional Wrestler with WWE known as Armando Estrada
 * Emil Andres, Indy and Sprint Car Driver
 * Gary Bettenhausen, Indy and Sprint Car Driver
 * Merle Bettenhausen, Sprint Car Driver
 * Tony Bettenhausen, Indy Car Driver
 * Tony Bettenhausen Jr, Indy Car Driver
 * Frank J. Christensen, American Labor Leader
 * Gina Glocksen, American Idol finalist
 * Christopher Halper, First Assistant Director
 * Garrett Jones, MLB baseball player
 * Christine Magnuson, Olympic Swimmer and 2x Silver Medalist
 * Kevin Sefcik, Former Major League Baseball Player
 * Tim Talty, Professional Ice Hockey Player