Chicago metropolitan area
Year: 1992
Developer: Gaylord Donnelley (initial development), Victoria and George Ranney since 1992 working under Prairie Holdings Corporation, Chicago
Planner/Designer: Philip Enquist, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, Chicago; Peter Calthorpe and Matt Taecker, Calthorpe Associates, Berkeley, CA; Peter L. Schaudt, ASLA, Peter Lindsay Schaudt Landscape Architecture, Inc., Chicago; Jim Brown, LANDECON, Libreville, IL; William Johnson, FASLA, principal, Peter Walker, William Johnson and Partners, Berkeley, CA; J. Christopher Lannert, ASLA, the Lannert Group, St. Charles, IL.
Development Size: 677 acres
Number of Units: 395 homes (359 single family homes; 36 condominiums)
Open Space: Approximately 60%
Prairie Crossing is a conservation/neo-traditional development located 40 northwest of Chicago Illinois. Original plans in the early 70’s for the 677 acres called for 2,400 homes. However, a lawsuit was settled with the creation of Prairie Holdings Corporation, and led to the development of this neotraditional conservation community. The train station and mixed use development adjacent to the station, along with the higher density neighborhoods in that area make this a mixture of New Urbanist and conservation subdivision design.
Over 60% of the land at Prairie Crossing is preserved open space consisting of farm fields, pastures, greenways, a constructed lake and ponds, and 165 acres of restored prairie. Prairie Crossing also has a 9 acre village green, neighborhood playgrounds, tennis courts, ice skating, cross-country skiing, and fishing and boating docks. Easements on the open space are held by the liberty Prairie Conservancy, and the Washington DC based Conservation Fund, which holds the easement to 150 acres of farmland. Recreation opportunities are provided by over 11 miles of trails, swimming and boating on Lake Leopold and various play fields and playgrounds on-site.