CHICAGO | General Discussions

[Via Chicago]

fair enough, i thought you were older. regardless, it dosent change the fact that throwing our money at "nice to haves" in the ritziest areas of the city dosent help us tackle our larger structural fiscal challenges. i wouldnt have as much of an issue if these funds were going to other local neighborhoods that lack parks in the first place...do they not qualify as taxpayers too, or are they not also entitled to these sorts of amenities? how many times over can we polish this exact same corner of the city?

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Via Chicago

i wouldnt have as much of an issue if these funds were going to other local neighborhoods that lack parks in the first place...do they not qualify as taxpayers too, or are they not also entitled to these sorts of amenities?

This is a canard people keep throwing out. Where are these parkless neighborhoods? Chicago has an excellent park system, I'm struggling to find a spot in the city that is more than 6 blocks from a large park (10 acre/one square block).

[LouisVanDerWright]

^^^ It's a myth perpetrated by the fact that Chicago has a much lower percentage of it's land devoted to park space than many other large metros. Of course that number itself is distorted by the fact that a much larger percentage of Chicago's land area is devoted to infrastructure, industrial, and commercial interests than most cities as well which are uses that don't need park space. Also part of the large portion of Chicago devoted to infrastructure consists of parkways which are technically part of the roadways of the city when you count "infrastructure". Our parkways turn virtually every residential side street into a pseudo park atmosphere and are highly utilized by residents as sort of a giant front yard / commons.

Originally Posted by left of center

Sprucing up downtown is investing in the economic engine of this city. Those improvements are not just for downtown rich residents (really all of Chicago is able to enjoy the riverwalk, much like a person like myself who isn't from a lakefront neighborhood finds himself by the lake often this time of year), but rather the tourism dollars the city so eagerly seeks.

Wait you've never been stopped and asked for a copy of your last two years tax returns and two pieces of mail proving you live downtown when going down to the Riverwalk?

This of course is an attitude that's starting to crop up all over the city as the anti-gents keep spouting their nonsense. For example we just had Somos Logan Square and Logan Square Neighborhood Association demand an analysis of whether the proposed reconstruction of the square will "displace more residents and hurt minorities". Like WTF? In what world should we not repair and improve a major public space that has serious pedestrian safety issues because "it might displace poor people"?? I've got an idea that will really help make Logan Square more affordable, let's clearcut all the bolevards and pave them. That will stop people from wanting to move here! Maybe we can chisel all the historic facades off the buildings too and replace them with 70's lavarock while we are at it, then the rents will really drop!

Nitwits...