u/Not_a_real_asian777

Just glancing at a map, it seems like the near west suburbs have this odd cluster going on of names that have a couple similar words repeated in multiple townships. It makes the area a little confusing to navigate off of memory sometimes when I'm driving through.

• Oak Park
• Melrose Park
• Stone Park
• Franklin Park
• Elmwood Park
• Schiller Park
• La Grange Park
• Park Ridge
• Forest Park
• Forest View
• River Forest
• River Grove
• Riverside

I think the "River" and "Forest" ones maybe make a little more sense. I'm assuming they were just named for being in proximity to the Des Plaines River or just a general forest. The "Park" ones are a little more confusing, though. Were a lot of these places just built around old Illinois parks or something and the townships adopted the names?