Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila
Not just that, there are significant differences between the two projects that have been discussed in this thread previously.
The 78 was always going to have a big mixed-use development on it, back in the Rezko days, back with Goldberg's master plan for River City in the 1970s, and even in the 1920s when the river was being straightened this site was supposed to be an extension of downtown. The 78 is just the culmination of something decades in the making. Even Dearborn Park residents have always known that something big would eventually go here once the planets aligned.
Also, the 78's site is "out of sight, out of mind" - to Dearborn Parkers, Chinatown residents, and South Loop residents, this site exists on the other side of big infrastructural walls. It's not part of their neighborhoods.
Finally, and this is something that only matters to urban planners and us forumers: The 78 is just a better-planned development. It will have a proper connective street grid, a CTA subway station and probably water taxis and new bus routes to link it into downtown, which is directly adjacent (only a mile to Union Station). Given the design and location, it could actually function as a true transit-oriented neighborhood, so it will not cause the traffic armageddon that Lincoln Yards will.
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The isolated nature of the site certainly plays a role but most of its neighbors just aren't prone to kicking up the noise that say Lincoln Park does. DP residents don't seem to really care as long as their little suburban slice of heaven isn't touched (see the need to shift the proposed Red Line head house). Certainly not the case at all for LP/Bucktown/WP residents.
The arguments for less density at LY due to street congestion aren't particularly persuasive to me when that's largely a result of a near total failure on our part to manage capacity. Lots of the city is developing even in places without optimal rail connections. We need to deal with reallocating the surface street resources we have rather than simply building to a standard that people in SOVs can tolerate. Americans will only actually do something when a situation is pushed well beyond tolerability (congestion pricing in NYC for example). Also as I already visit this pocket of the city at least a few times a week my opinion is of someone directly impacted.