ahh, indeed you are correct. In that case, i dont have a clue. It looks pretty nice in Google Maps Streetview? :)

^ Right - I have no problem driving around Cabrini, but Chatham / West Chatham are one or two neighborhoods over from Auburn Gresham, Grand Crossing, Englewood, etc., and there have been some seemingly really random-bystander killings in the last year or so. The police officer just killed this past week was in Chatham, and that was basically just a mugging or something, right? Thought I'd ask. I also want to go see the old and new Kennedy-King campuses, in nearby neighborhoods.

The south side really isn't that bad. I worked for the FDIC a while back during the peak of the bank failures appraising failed banks. I had to appraise 2 or 3 banks in that area including one in the heart of Englewood. The neighborhood is bad, but you are pretty much safe if you are driving around during the day, avoid side streets, and aren't driving a car that anyone would really want to steal. You can go right through those areas as long as you are smart about it.

Yeah, buit that police officer was at home, in a realtively safe and quiet part in Chatham when he was assaulted by those two punks who tried to steal his motorcycle on some f***** up "dare." Its not like he was randomly gunned down while walking on some arterial street.

That's the thing - the new bungalow historic district is mostly side streets. Oh well I suppose if it's early enough on a bright, sunny day it can't be that bad.
Not to turn this thread into a city discussion ...

Going back to Wrigleyville, is there any chance the city will expand the sidewalks on Clark in conjunction with the construction of Addison Park on Clark? I always felt the sidewalks were too narrow. It would be nice to see some trees planted along Clark as well. Just about any kind of Clark streetscape improvement from Addison to Belmont would be nice to see.

^

From the PDF on the project website (addisonparkonclark.com):

"Sidewalk width will be increased from 8 feet to 12 feet along the Clark Street portion of the project and the full 13 foot width will be restored along Addison Street."

Hallelujah to that. Those sidewalks were way to narrow for the amount of foot traffic in the area. It would be great to see some landscaping done with the additional width because when you think about it, the entire stretch of Clark just South of Addison is all concrete and brick, not a bit of green to it. Plus, maybe some restaurants would have space for a few tables and chairs for customers to eat.

SHARE VIEWS
The Chicago Park District is hosting public meetings on the future of Grant Park's north end. All are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.:

• • Today, at Spertus Institute, 610 S. Michigan

• • Wednesday, at South Shore Cultural Center, 7059 S. South Shore

• • June 9, at Broadway Armory, 5917 N. Broadway

• • June 10, at Garfield Park Conservatory, 300 N. Central Park

..

My wish list? Close Columbus.

Agreed. Close all the other streets that cross into Grant Park as well.

No, the East-West ones are very necessary and not all that disruptive. Columbus on the other hand is essentially a small freeway.

columbus is probably just as necessary as the E-W streets. columbus eases traffic on LSD and michigan in the same way balbo, congress, jackson, and monroe ease traffic off of Roosevelt and Randolph. doesnt change the fact that they chop up Grant Park into little squares and detract from it overall. the best case scenario is putting those streets underground, but we all know how unfeasible that is

nice try...that observation doesn't hold water around these parts...i tried to explain that about a year ago and just about everyone in this place told me i was out of my mind, that NOBODY EVER uses columbus! :koko:

Things they could do immediately:

Pedestrian bridges to the lakefront.
Close Columbus.
Create a Rapid Transit circulator that encompasses the entire perimeter of the park.

Long Term:

Bury LSD from Randolph to Roosevelt.
Eliminate all EW Streets through Grant Park.

...Things they could do immediately if they had any money at all...

You obviously don't drive here much. Columbus is a useful road for maybe a grand total of 1.25 miles. Its a pain in the ass to get on in from just about all directions. Yes its useful if you have to get to Streeterville, but that's such a small number of trips. I mean how many people really drive from the South Loop or Loop to Streeterville? The only time I ever use Columbus is to get to my friend's house in Streeterville to drop her off. I always take a bus if I am actually going to her house myself.

I drive and don't find Columbus very useful unless traffic is backed up on LSD. . . even if I go from the East Loop to the South Loop I rarely use Columbus. . . though they could probably do away with it, I don't see that ever happening in my lifetime. . .

. . .

Im going to go against the grain here and say that burying LSD is unneccessary, possibly difficult to engineer and a huge waste of money. LSD through Grant provides sweeping views of the skyline and lake and monumental bookends like the Field that have that magic that Philly's Franklin Parkway and many foreign boulevards have. If you drive and have friends or family in Chicago, an effort is always made to bring them up past McCormick and past Buckingham on LSD (haha, sounds illegal). As long as ped tunnels, architecturally stunning but visually unintrusive bridges or both get built that sufficiently satisfies east-west ped traffic, then LSD can and should stay. In a way it benefits the park and lakefront by adding a hustle bustle sense of electricity. I wouldn't want LSD removed from any part of the lakefront park system for this very same reason. Pedestrians and LSD can coexist just fine with a handful of access improvements.

I think Columbus just needs to be scaled down a bit to better integrate
it to the surounding park. Less lanes for a smaller road footprint and street scaping to make the sidewalks pedestrian cozy( not lone man walking syndrome)

something akin to the congress parkway project.