Editing Peotone, Illinois (section)

==Proposed south suburban airport==
{{Main|Proposed Chicago south suburban airport}}
Peotone has long been the proposed site of a [[Proposed Chicago south suburban airport|new airport]] to serve the [[Chicago]] area. As is often the case with the construction of airports, the proposal is controversial. In 1967, the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' ran several editorials regarding the need for a third airport in Peotone.

Proponents point out that the existing facilities at [[Chicago O'Hare International Airport|O'Hare]] and [[Chicago Midway International airport|Midway]] airports cannot meet the transportation needs of the Chicago area, and that the development will bring economic prosperity to [[Chicago Southland]], an area deprived of economic development, as well as the rest of the state. Politicians backing plans include former Governor [[Rod Blagojevich]]; former Representative [[Jesse Jackson, Jr.|Jesse Jackson Jr.]], Congressman [[Jerry Weller]], the former representative of the district in which the airport would be located, and [[Will County]] Executive Larry Walsh.  The efforts were also supported by then-state senator [[Barack Obama]].<ref>AOPA (2008).  GA Legislation:  As an elected official, can you cite actions you have taken to support general aviation?  AOPA Online.  Retrieved on November 21, 2010 from http://www.aopa.org/feature/election08/q2.html.</ref>

Opponents to the plan are concerned about the environmental disruption that would be caused by new airport construction and the roads that would be needed to support it. They also point out that [[Gary/Chicago International Airport]] in [[Gary, Indiana]] already exists, is closer to Chicago than Peotone, and is already undergoing expansion to support heavier use with minimal environmental impact. Politicians opposing the Peotone airport plan include former [[Chicago]] Mayor [[Richard M. Daley]], former [[Gary, Indiana|Gary]] Mayor [[Scott L. King|Scott King]], Indiana Governor [[Mitch Daniels]], and Representative [[Pete Visclosky]] from Indiana.

Former Representative [[Jesse Jackson, jr.]] was the head of a private group in [[Cook County, Illinois|Cook County]] looking to take ownership of the proposed airport. A state-backed IDOT plan is more friendly to the citizens of the actual footprint of the proposed airport by giving local control of the airport to [[Will County, Illinois|Will County]] officials instead.

In the science-fiction novel ''The Boy Who Would Live Forever'' (2004), which was the fifth in the [[Gateway (novel)|Gateway]] series, [[Frederik Pohl]] has a character fly out of "Peotone International Airport".<ref>TOR paperback edition, p 256</ref> The late Pohl lived in [[Palatine, Illinois]].