CHICAGO | General Developments

[sloop.chi]

I am kind of hopeful that the developers who have proposed these super tall towers around Grant Park are asking the city to move forward with covering the tracks in the Park and making the park itself much more pedestrian friendly. This can be done easily by slimming down Columbus from the 6 lane highway to a reasonable 4 lane with possibly some of it covered. I respect the use of the park for city events such as Lollapalooza, Taste of Chicago, among others. A much friendlier park will increase property values which will increase tax receipts.

[UrbanLibertine]

Originally Posted by ithakas

Replacing the Wicker Park Milwaukee Ave. Walgreens?


http://www.hparchitecture.com/projec...ee-collection/

Interesting that they're using the space to create four separate buildings, but the corner building strikes me as heinously suburban, and the whole development should be twice as high.

Please, please, please.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by ithakas

Replacing the Wicker Park Milwaukee Ave. Walgreens?


http://www.hparchitecture.com/projec...ee-collection/

Interesting that they're using the space to create four separate buildings, but the corner building strikes me as heinously suburban, and the whole development should be twice as high.

If it is replacing that weird corner Walgreens with the parking lot, then those renderings still show something a lot better than what's there now. Can't stand that thing.

[King of Chicago]

Originally Posted by marothisu

If it is replacing that weird corner Walgreens with the parking lot, then those renderings still show something a lot better than what's there now. Can't stand that thing.

Agreed; I cant count how many times I have walked past that parking lot, and wished that they would tear down the walgreens and build something better, that fits the corner better, with street level retail, and some apartments on top...3 stories minimum...and gets rid of the crappy parking lot.

Having said that, the rendering looks makes the project look much much larger than what is actually available with the current walgreens property. Are they going to tear down other buildings next to it too?

[BVictor1]

The Lindsay Light Building at 161 E. grand has a demo permit

[Baronvonellis]

It looks like that Milwaukee collection is just taking up the walgeens space. That walgreens takes up most of that block on Milwaukee. But yea it should be at least 6 stories there. 2 stories is crazy for that area!

Lindsay Light company No, that's a shame!!! Used to work across the street from it, and that was what I loved about Chicago. Such a classic Chicago building! They keep getting rid of all the character in River North/Streeterville!

[marothisu]

I've kind of "inherited" some visitors this weekend from Italy and France from a friend who's also visiting. Showing them around last night and today at least downtown and some surrounding areas. Man, they are in love with the city LOL. It's kind of funny to see, but they're amazed by how nice, clean, etc the city is. One of the guys from Paris came here in 2008 and by the end of the night said something like "this city is fucking amazing!" and said he doesn't remember it being this nice back in 2008. A lot of them say they actually like it more than NYC and definitely think the waterfronts are better and also cleaner, with better buildings. I didn't even ask this stuff - they naturally started comparing to NYC on their own. A lot started sharing pictures with their friends/family about the city who don't know about Chicago like "you have to come here." A few started inquiring about how much it costs to live downtown like they're interested in moving here.

Pretty funny - just thought I'd share. I think we as Chicagoans have this "aren't good enough" syndrome sometimes or whatever. It's refreshing to go around with a group of people not from the US without any city rivalries, most of them who've never been here but have been to other cities in the US, speak so highly of what they see and started telling their family/friends to take their next US visit to Chicago.

And as I read a lot of news about the city and some other message boards, there's always this negative news (and much positive too, don't get me wrong). It's always great to get away from this and walk around for hours. It's days like this where I fully realize how beautiful this city really can be and how much potential it truly has.

[Skyguy_7]

^I love hearing stories like this.Thanks for sharing! My wife and I are playing tour guide to a German friend tomorrow. Chgo Athletic, Trump and Green Street Meats should impress her enough to come back. Are there any ambassador jobs open through city hall? Ha ha. I always find myself keeping an ear out for tourists or out of towners who are lost or confused. A little warm welcome from a local goes a long way for our city.

[the urban politician]

Marothisu, thanks for sharing this experience

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Skyguy_7

^I love hearing stories like this.Thanks for sharing! My wife and I are playing tour guide to a German friend tomorrow. Chgo Athletic, Trump and Green Street Meats should impress her enough to come back. Are there any ambassador jobs open through city hall? Ha ha. I always find myself keeping an ear out for tourists or out of towners who are lost or confused. A little warm welcome from a local goes a long way for our city.

Hah - Actually there are the Chicago greeters which you can pretty much do this type of thing. The Athletic Association has awesome views. Take the friend to the lake and river!

I took these guys along the lake for awhile between a few beaches which they thought was really beautiful. Also saw Millennium Park, Michigan Ave, the Riverwalk, etc. They said the Riverwalk is pretty European feeling and found everything really really beautiful. One of them had the impression that Chicago would be a lot more industrial even downtown and was surprised by all the nice sidewalks, glass buildings, etc. They loved the Wrigley Building too by the way. The friend I inherited these from works with me in NYC (lives in DC) and goes running along the Hudson everyday. First time in Chicago as well. He said he felt the lakefront in Chicago is much better and feels a lot happier than the Hudson for running (or just in general). I'd agree with him on that. They wanted deep dish pizza today too - did that. They are a little more open when it comes to this but they really liked it (Malnati's) actually.

And yeah, I totally agree. It can go a long ways which is why the Greeter program can do wonders with the right guides. This is just one of many times I've heard from international visitors that Chicago is actually really great, way better than expected, and needs better PR internationally.

[munchymunch]

I had a friend from Milan staying here I showed him around the city, a little bit. He was absolutely amazed by skyscrapers, and loved Millennium park.I also took him out to eat a Chicago Hot dog.

The one thing he wished is that the downtown area was more walk able, but he does come from Milan. A city that was designed before the use of the car.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by munchymunch

I had a friend from Milan staying here I showed him around the city, a little bit. He was absolutely amazed by skyscrapers, and loved Millennium park.I also took him out to eat a Chicago Hot dog.

The one thing he wished is that the downtown area was more walk able, but he does come from Milan. A city that was designed before the use of the car.

Most of the people I was showing around were from Milan, and a few from Rome. They were all amazed by the skyscrapers, but most had been to NYC before. Not new to them, but they all pretty much found the ones in Chicago more aesthetically pleasing.

As far as the walking goes - we walked everywhere. They mentioned many times that it was great that Chicago is so walkable. I don't even know how anybody could say downtown is not walkable unless you were more in the western side off River North with those weird parking lots. Other than that - the rest of downtown is very walkable and every one of my friends from Europe who's come to Chicago has been very pleased with the walkability.

[Tom Servo]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I've kind of "inherited" some visitors this weekend from Italy and France from a friend who's also visiting. Showing them around last night and today at least downtown and some surrounding areas. Man, they are in love with the city LOL. It's kind of funny to see, but they're amazed by how nice, clean, etc the city is. One of the guys from Paris came here in 2008 and by the end of the night said something like "this city is fucking amazing!" and said he doesn't remember it being this nice back in 2008. A lot of them say they actually like it more than NYC and definitely think the waterfronts are better and also cleaner, with better buildings. I didn't even ask this stuff - they naturally started comparing to NYC on their own. A lot started sharing pictures with their friends/family about the city who don't know about Chicago like "you have to come here." A few started inquiring about how much it costs to live downtown like they're interested in moving here.

Pretty funny - just thought I'd share. I think we as Chicagoans have this "aren't good enough" syndrome sometimes or whatever. It's refreshing to go around with a group of people not from the US without any city rivalries, most of them who've never been here but have been to other cities in the US, speak so highly of what they see and started telling their family/friends to take their next US visit to Chicago.

And as I read a lot of news about the city and some other message boards, there's always this negative news (and much positive too, don't get me wrong). It's always great to get away from this and walk around for hours. It's days like this where I fully realize how beautiful this city really can be and how much potential it truly has.

cool story bro

[hawainpanda]

Originally Posted by marothisu

I've kind of "inherited" some visitors this weekend from Italy and France from a friend who's also visiting. Showing them around last night and today at least downtown and some surrounding areas. Man, they are in love with the city LOL. It's kind of funny to see, but they're amazed by how nice, clean, etc the city is. One of the guys from Paris came here in 2008 and by the end of the night said something like "this city is fucking amazing!" and said he doesn't remember it being this nice back in 2008. A lot of them say they actually like it more than NYC and definitely think the waterfronts are better and also cleaner, with better buildings. I didn't even ask this stuff - they naturally started comparing to NYC on their own. A lot started sharing pictures with their friends/family about the city who don't know about Chicago like "you have to come here." A few started inquiring about how much it costs to live downtown like they're interested in moving here.

Pretty funny - just thought I'd share. I think we as Chicagoans have this "aren't good enough" syndrome sometimes or whatever. It's refreshing to go around with a group of people not from the US without any city rivalries, most of them who've never been here but have been to other cities in the US, speak so highly of what they see and started telling their family/friends to take their next US visit to Chicago.

And as I read a lot of news about the city and some other message boards, there's always this negative news (and much positive too, don't get me wrong). It's always great to get away from this and walk around for hours. It's days like this where I fully realize how beautiful this city really can be and how much potential it truly has.

I had some guests a couple months back, from korea originally and had been in US for a few years and were visiting me in Chicago after New York, they had very similar reactions, they were copmletely astounded by how clean and nice the downtown area was, they kept making comparisons to NYC. I think that its natural to compare the two given that the two have by far the two largest downtowns. I think a large part of why my guests were impressed by Chicago, was the fact that their impression of Chicago from news were poor, and that they absolutely loved all the parks and water that were all in downtown.

[munchymunch]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Most of the people I was showing around were from Milan, and a few from Rome. They were all amazed by the skyscrapers, but most had been to NYC before. Not new to them, but they all pretty much found the ones in Chicago more aesthetically pleasing.

As far as the walking goes - we walked everywhere. They mentioned many times that it was great that Chicago is so walkable. I don't even know how anybody could say downtown is not walkable unless you were more in the western side off River North with those weird parking lots. Other than that - the rest of downtown is very walkable and every one of my friends from Europe who's come to Chicago has been very pleased with the walkability.

Yeah I didn't really understand that either. Maybe it was just him.

[Randomguy34]

Speaking of new renderings for TOD projects, here's one of the project under construction at Milwaukee and Talman (120 units I believe)


http://chicago.everyblock.com/announ...lding-7105882/

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by munchymunch

Yeah I didn't really understand that either. Maybe it was just him.

Yep - it was probably just him. I walked probably 8-10 miles with some of them yesterday. From River North, thru Streeterville, the lakefront, thru the Gold Coast, back down the lakefront down to Grant/Millennium Park, up through the River walk, back thru River North, Streeterville, etc. They were all very pleased. One of them asked me if someone had a car, where they would even park it and said "it doesn't make much sense to have a car in these areas since they're so walkable."

We were in Wicker Park for a little bit yesterday too. They said "This isn't like downtown!" but really liked it. Really, really liked it. One of them loved how friendly everyone was - in the sense that you could talk to someone and they'd talk to you. They said in Milan, nobody would ever do that and people are pretty cold in that way. I asked some of them where in the US they'd live if they had a choice. A few of them said they'd pick Chicago, especially after actually seeing the city for themselves apart from their pre-conceived notions. For the record, not once did they complain about a lack of culture. I met another guy originally from a country in the middle east who moved to Chicago not long ago from a sizable city in the southern US. When I asked him why, he said one reason is because Chicago actually has culture and he feels like he can go a lot of places and have a cultured experience. Anyway, another guy said Boston as he's treated very well there whenever he goes - better than any other US city he's been. Most of them who've been to NYC said they love NYC too, but every one of them agreed it doesn't feel like a place they'd actually want to live, at least for more than a year. Very interesting.

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by Baronvonellis

It looks like that Milwaukee collection is just taking up the walgeens space. That walgreens takes up most of that block on Milwaukee. But yea it should be at least 6 stories there. 2 stories is crazy for that area!

Lindsay Light company No, that's a shame!!! Used to work across the street from it, and that was what I loved about Chicago. Such a classic Chicago building! They keep getting rid of all the character in River North/Streeterville!

Pre-Recession there was a modern 7 story building proposed for the Walgreens. Don't know if it ever even went to the community group before the economy hit the skids.

[SolarWind]

September 22, 2015



The cable mullion system for 111 South Wacker's lobby is having repair work done on it. The lobby was partitioned off while the glass was removed. It's surprising since the building is only about 10 years old. Do these types of systems require periodic maintenance?

Per Permit No. 100592237:

"Interior alterations to repair net wall tensioning cable system in first floor lobby, to include construction of temporary partition for construction purposes only, as per plans."

[the urban politician]

.