[SamInTheLoop]

Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop

Nope. A couple misconceptions. It's not just about Union Station and Ogilvie. You have to also obviously factor in the core CTA routes. And then, you split the difference. This makes your focal point around the Wells Street corridor (perhaps LaSalle?, but I'll just say Wells). So, as the crow flies, this makes the very eastern edge of Fulton Market (Halsted), equidistant to this transit nexus as roughly the park at Lakeshore East. There's a reason office never gained traction at Lakeshore East (although admittedly there was the BCBS building expansion that it's only fair to note) - and that is because it's a bit too far from removed from (roughly) Wells St. Same goes for Fulton Market, despite one CTA line that spurs off the Loop with two stations just to the South of Fulton. Conversely, there's a reason, the Wacker-Franklin stretch became the most signifiacantly dense concentration of modern office in Chicago over the last 15-20 years - because it is super proximate to this transit nexus.

But, that's just as the crow flies. In terms of perceived (psychological factors - which happen to be important to humans) distance, it's even further to Fulton Market, and not a pleasant walking experience. This is because you have to go over the barren expanse of a massive expressway, and some area on either side that is just not really pedestrian inviting. So, it's even further factoring this important perception in....what would be the adjusted equivalent? LSD maybe? For some people, the expressway overpass walk may be so unpleasant, the adjusted equivalent might even be Lake Michigan.

But again, even without the psychological factor, the easternmost edge of Fulton is as far from Wells as Columbus (the very easternmost large-scale office downtown)

I did forget about the Metra Electric and Rock Island District lines (LaSalle St and Millennium stations), which may pull the 'transit center of gravity', if you will, just very slightly further east, actually.