CHICAGO | General Developments

[LaSalle.St.Station]

Dearborn Park I and II - Hind sight is 20,20 indeed. In the early 70's North Loop redevelopment was a stall. State street Mall was apall, stagnation of all sorts in the west, south, north loop areas.


So your tellling me in hind sight that Dearborn PaRK SUCKS, when at the time not much capital or new visions of Downtown living were anywhere evident in the center city. Dearborn Park I and II was the seedling..... Today's south loop is the growing trunk of the tree...... in time all things......

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by honte

Ground has been broken on the Stone Point Condominiums in Bridgeport. This is the 8-story condo on Halsted overlooking the amazing new city park in the former Stearns Quarry. http://www.stonepointcondominiums.com/. One of the up-sides to Bridgeport being so backwards is that there seems to be no opposition to high-density housing in most parts of the neighborhood. Several surprisingly tall and dense projects have been built there over the last few years (all ugly). Another 6- or 7-story building is going up right now on the north side of 31st just west of the Dan Ryan.

That park looks kinda cool, but they really raised the floor of the quarry. I expected the park to be much more 'vertical' but it isn't. On top of that, the "hill" they built looks totally artificial; I've never seen a perfect quadrilateral hill before.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by honte

Ground has been broken on the Stone Point Condominiums in Bridgeport. This is the 8-story condo on Halsted overlooking the amazing new city park in the former Stearns Quarry. http://www.stonepointcondominiums.com/. One of the up-sides to Bridgeport being so backwards is that there seems to be no opposition to high-density housing in most parts of the neighborhood. Several surprisingly tall and dense projects have been built there over the last few years (all ugly). Another 6- or 7-story building is going up right now on the north side of 31st just west of the Dan Ryan.

^ Wow, honte, I swear I didn't even notice this comment because it looks exactly like it was your signature. You even posted a line the exact same length as the one that separates a post and a signature. Good news on Stone Point Condos. South Halsted is really shaping up

[honte]

^ Oops. Sorry - will use dancing bananas next time.

Originally Posted by ardecila

That park looks kinda cool, but they really raised the floor of the quarry. I expected the park to be much more 'vertical' but it isn't. On top of that, the "hill" they built looks totally artificial; I've never seen a perfect quadrilateral hill before.

I'm guessing you've seen it in person? It's rather remarkable, IMO - quite vertical on the NW corner, with sheer cliffs there, and a lot of water down in the pit. At least, that's what it looks like to me from over the fence. I am pleased to see that they didn't just fill the whole thing and pretend that it was always just another neighborhood park.

IMO, there is absolutely nothing natural about a quarry (aside from the stone, obviously), so why shouldn't it look artificial? I didn't notice the grading being very regular, however.

[Abner]

Speaking of Dearborn Park...

Magnet school attracts discord
Neighborhood spat over traffic in South Loop prompts ballot measure asking whether to limit enrollment

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,3540241.story

They want to turn South Loop Elementary School, currently a magnet school, into a neighborhood school because there is too much traffic. Now there are a lot of elementary schools where almost all the kids are dropped off, and the neighbors never seem to feel entitled to empty streets at the beginning and end of the school day. This request goes way beyond normal concern for one's neighborhood and enters the realm of group delusion.

[ardecila]

Keeping South Loop a magnet school allows the mostly-white residents of South Loop to send their kids to a place where they can experience the diversity of the city. If they made it into a neighborhood school, then it would become one of the whitest schools in the city. Hardly the best way to raise future city-dwellers, especially entering an era that will call for far more tolerance and less segregation.

[Dr. Taco]

^ I agree. I can't believe how ignorant and selfish people are sometimes. ohhh, booohooo, traffic!

what do they think this is, a city?

[Eventually...Chicago]

Originally Posted by ardecila

It won't do anything - most suburbs don't use the lake anyway.

Are you sure about that? The only ones i can think of are pretty far out there like barrington, west chicago, long grove... I could be wrong though, but i am pretty sure that most all of the suburbs get lake water.

If some knows for sure, let me know!

[Eventually...Chicago]

For the first time i looked at Dearborn park from a satellite image (embarrassing because i live only 3 blocks away) and now i must RETRACT ALL PREVIOUS BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT THAT I HAVE GIVEN DEARBORN PARK

it sucks balls. What they did to 14th street near clark is inexcusable. Federal and Plymouth should be linked from Polk to under Roosevelt down to 15th. 9th Street should link to Clark.

I wonder if the roadway and utility easements still exist somehow for those streets, the city should go Meiggs field on it and plow it under. I'll lead the parade behind the bulldozer and i don't even play and instrument.

[Eventually...Chicago]

Ok, three posts is too much but...

The housing that is on state (west side) and north of roosevelt, Is that CHA housing? I hope so because if not, that is some pretty crappy market rate housing.

[BorisMolotov]

Eventually Chicago, I know that Bartlett uses a mix of the DuPage River, Fox River, and the Lake water, and Bartletts kind of far out.

[Mr Downtown]

At least 14th was not cut through for a rational early 90s marketing reason. What's inexcusable is 15th Street not going through because there's one guy with enough clout that he got it closed off and refuses to allow it to go into Riverside Park.

Ninth could still be cut throught to Clark, but it would be enormously unpopular with the neighbors, so no politician would ever do it.

[Loopy]

I'd settle for a couple of holes in the fence.

[Mr Downtown]

^Next meetup: 900 South Clark. Bring your Sawzall and a cutting torch.

[Loopy]

Funny that you mention 900 S Clark. When that development, Avalon Bay, D2 and Roosevelt Collection are fully occupied, those residents will certainly want to walk through DP I on their way to the 11th street access to Grant Park and the lake.

And likewise the residents of 830 and 1000 S Michigan will not like walking the long way around to access Roosevelt Collection and the new Polk Street bridge.

Do you think DP I's political power will be able to stand up against those desires?

[the urban politician]

^ It's interesting that you mention that, and I'm glad that you did.

I've discussed something similar before on the forums, namely that the greatest cure for NIMBY's is more NIMBY's. Pit these people against eachother and we may actually get a result that's good for the city (ideally)

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by Loopy

Do you think DP I's political power will be able to stand up against those desires?

Of course they will.

[Mr Downtown]

Originally Posted by Loopy

Do you think DP I's political power will be able to stand up against those desires?

Unfortunately, I do. People tend to take their neighborhoods as they find them, and don't really think about ways they can transform them. So the new residents will just think it's completely natural that they have to use Polk or Roosevelt to go east. They'll think of the fence along Clark as little different from the Metra embankment or the river.

The political calculation is pretty easy. Multiply 2000 new Clark Street residents x small annoyance if they've ever thought about it. Multiply 1400 Dearborn Parkers x fierce opposition to apocalyptic change. No alderman ever went to a public meeting and promised to increase traffic through a neighborhood.

[LaSalle.St.Station]

Originally Posted by Eventually...Chicago

For the first time i looked at Dearborn park from a satellite image (embarrassing because i live only 3 blocks away) and now i must RETRACT ALL PREVIOUS BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT THAT I HAVE GIVEN DEARBORN PARK

it sucks balls. What they did to 14th street near clark is inexcusable. Federal and Plymouth should be linked from Polk to under Roosevelt down to 15th. 9th Street should link to Clark.

I wonder if the roadway and utility easements still exist somehow for those streets, the city should go Meiggs field on it and plow it under. I'll lead the parade behind the bulldozer and i don't even play and instrument.

most likely the cross streets were never formalized due to the heavy capital engineering needs of traversing the major north-south rail road right of ways with no corresponding bridges on the river. The economic path of least resistence led to a self contained community.

[Loopy]

Also, a popular planning rule at the time was:

Less streets = More land