About Skokie
Skokie formerly Niles Center) is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Its name comes from a Potawatomi word for "marsh". A Chicago suburb, for many years Skokie promoted itself as "The World's Largest Village". Its population, according to the 2010 census, was 64,784. Sharing a border with the city of Chicago, Skokie's streets, like that of many suburbs, are largely a continuation of the Chicago street grid, and it is served by the Chicago Transit Authority, further cementing its connection to the city. Skokie was originally a German-Luxembourger farming community, but was later settled by a sizeable Jewish population, especially after World War II. At its peak in the mid-1960s, 40% of the population was Jewish, the largest percent of any Chicago suburb. In recent years, however, Skokie's population has become significantly more diverse, and several synagogues and Jewish schools have closed. However, Skokie still has a very large Jewish population. It is home to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, which opened in northwest Skokie in 2009. Skokie has received national attention twice for court cases decided by the United States Supreme Court. In the mid-1970s, Skokie was at the center of a case concerning the First Amendment right to assemble and the National Socialist Party of America, a neo-Nazi group. Skokie ultimately lost that case. In 2001, although Skokie was not a direct party to the case, a decision by the village regarding land use led the court to reduce the power of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. In October 2013 Skokie was rated #71 on Americas top 100 places to live on the livability.com website.
Demographics
