Buffalo Grove, Illinois - Geography

Geography

Buffalo Grove is located at 42°9′59″N 87°57′48″W / 42.16639°N 87.96333°W / 42.16639; -87.96333 (42.166332, −87.963391). The village has a prime location within the Northern Suburbs of Chicago. Residents could take Illinois Route 83 north towards central Lake County, Illinois and also south towards O'Hare International Airport. Furthermore, numerous east-west streets could take residents to 20 minutes east to Lake Michigan and other North Shore suburbs such as Lake Forest, Highland Park, and Glencoe.

Buffalo Grove is spilt along Lake Cook Road into two parts, the Lake County Vernon Township portion and the Cook County Wheeling Township portion. Around three-quarters of the village is in Vernon Township. Both portions differ in their demographics and similarities with neighboring communities. Buffalo Grove shares a border with Wheeling to its southeast, Arlington Heights to its southwest and south, Riverwoods and unincorporated Deerfield directly east, Lincolnshire to its northeast, Vernon Hills directly north, and Long Grove to its northwest. Unincorporated Prairie View is located in two different parts around the village. First, there is the larger and historic portion which is towards the north and includes Didier Farms. Then, there is the second, much smaller portion which is centered around the Horatio Gardens subdivision just northeast of the intersection of Weiland Road and Pauline Avenue. Today, Buffalo Grove and Lincolnshire continue to annex certain portions of Prairie View.

According to the 2010 census, the village has a total area of 9.53 square miles (24.7 km2), of which 9.50 square miles (24.6 km2) (or 99.69%) is land and 0.03 square miles (0.078 km2) (or 0.31%) is water. According to the village's land use data, single-family homes make up 43.9% of village land, 9.2% for single-family attached homes, 4.2% for multi family homes, 4.8% for commercial purposes, 2.4% for office, 10.8% for industrial, 3.5% is public property, 6.1% is right-of-way/utility, and only 1.4% remains vacant. A modest 13.8% is for parks and open space; there are 50 parks throughout the village and 45 miles (72 km) of bike paths/sidewalks. The Mike Rylko Community Park, located northwest of the intersection of McHenry Road (IL Route 83) and Buffalo Grove Road, is the largest park in the village with an estimated 76.5 acres (310,000 m2). The village also manages a small portion of the Buffalo Creek Forest Preserve which primarily is located in Long Grove. The forest preserve has a total of 408 acres (1.65 km2) and located north of the intersection of Lake-Cook Road and Arlington Heights Road.