| Park Forest is
a village located south of Chicago in Cook County and
Will County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000
census, the village had a total population of 23,462.
Building developers Nathan Manilow,
Carroll F. Sweet and Philip M. Klutznick held a press
conference in the Palmer House in Chicago on October
28, 1946 to announce the planned development of a new
self-governing community in Chicago's south suburbs.
This project, soon to be referred to as Park Forest,
was to be developed by American Community Builders.
The Village of Park Forest was designed by Elbert Peets
in the tradition of planned communities around the nation
to provide housing for veterans returning from World
War II. Park Forest was honored in 1954 as an "All-America
City" for its citizens' help in the creation of
Rich Township High School, on Sauk Trail.
It was awarded this same honor
again in 1976 for open housing and racial integration
and initiatives. A village landmark was the Park Forest
Plaza, an outdoor regional shopping center of over 50
stores and restaurants which included Sears, Marshall
Fields and Goldblatt's. In 1956, William Whyte, an editor
at Fortune magazine, published a book called The Organization
Man that defined the nature of corporate life for a
generation.
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