I don't thinks this was posted, but, well, here's your weekly
NIMBY rant.
It's a few weeks old...
http://chicagojournal.com/main.asp?SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&ArticleID=2989&TM=48837.36
5/9/2007 10:00:00 PM
South Loop buildings growing like weeds
BONNIE McGRATH
I don't know what's more dominant on the landscape this Spring in the South Loop: irises or cranes. So far, the irises are not as tall and prolific as they will get as the weeks wear on-during the lead-up to a hot, dry summer. And the cranes, I suspect, will crowd us even more as the sun shifts to the north and the grass goes dormant.
We are used to irises in the neighborhood. We watch their flat tight birthing sheaths burst open with sheer cottony fluffs of blossoms.
But a virtual madhouse of new buildings is something that has never been here before. And may not fit in. We are people who want people. We want lights burning in windows.
We want life on the streets and businesses to follow. What we don't want are concrete pilings with little respect for our past-a rough and tumble jumble of roots and history, personality and drama.
A ruthless pile-up of concrete, glass, driveways and air vents, I'm afraid, is what we may wind up with.
Like weeds, these new buildings are going up so fast they turn neighborhood heads in every direction. They are rife with rectangular plates and some odd colors. And one can never be sure that the outer wall is properly attached to prevent the penetration of precipitation.
These structures are robbing us of our Midwest working-class sky. They are putting an overlay of dead-end Houston cowboy real estate judgment on top of a city of big shoulders. They stink like a skunk.
One new building-just about complete-contains a plethora of two bedroom apartments and one-bedrooms with dens. But for some reason, none have more than one bathroom. "Is that a new trend?" I ask my friends. "Are people sick of cleaning sinks and toilets they don't need? Is this what the cool people are doing now-sharing baths with each other, with kids and guests, for the sake of cutting down on global warming-or what?"
(Or is it a sign of getting away from excess? Probably not, because there are plenty of other expensive perks in these places.)
Maybe so little attention paid to the number of baths-almost as if fitting one in is merely an after-thought off the hall-signifies people moving in who will not luxuriate, people who would rather run in and out. And up and down. People who will come and go.
The developers are a greasy bunch-with plans for tall towers and a spreadsheet mentality. With a less than human touch, they seem more aligned with plans for their no liability corporate LLC structure than for a structure that will keep future residents secure. They are tall without stature-and rich without nutrition. They know no history here. And care little about the present, even less about the future. They are fast. They misspell. They are gluttons.
Why can't some of the developers who are hated in Lincoln Park and Lakeview and Wicker Park and Bucktown, villains who are building three flats and six-flats on steroids-of semi-decent masonry and a modicum of character-on tree-lined little avenues, come here and build? For us, those dark red, off white, muted brown brick biggies in the small neighborhoods would be delicate sweet habitats in our lot-laden laps.
But everything's relative in the city of a Soldier Field. And so the builders do their bidding and build the biggest billows. Like vapors-they will keep infusing streets that don't deserve them.
Prev
), here are some pics of the progress of the new Spertus Institute as of Thursday. Completion is expected in November.
(with a drive-thru!!!)
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