CHICAGO | City Casino

[Mr Downtown]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Bennett designed Wacker Drive to look like the quays along the Seine in Paris, and he also intended the river level to become a pedestrian space just like Paris.

Well, if those pedestrians were stevedores.


Plate 107 from The Plan of Chicago

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Well, if those pedestrians were stevedores.

I think it's clear these are meant to be public space that just accommodates some light stevedoring. Notice the arches through the bridge abutments and what we would now call "underbridge connectors". And, y'know, the people just casually strolling through that area... If you're only doing industrial loading, there's no reason to make the quay into a continuous path at river level especially when there is already a lower roadway for vehicle access.

Of course, this kind of stevedoring is a bit of a romantic fantasy itself. In Burnham's time the shipping on the river was a lot of huge lake-going vessels as well as cute little barges, and this kind of break-bulk cargo was all switching to railroads anyway. What was left in shipping was bulk cargo like grain, iron ore, etc that required specialized facilities.

I think it's fair to say that this was an under-developed aspect of the plan. In theory it both created a refined European urbanism fit for office buildings and allowed industry to remain on the lower level, but these kinds of wharves didn't really fit the needs of Chicago's downtown industries so they just ended up leaving, and the river level was left without a purpose for decades.

[CaptainJilliams]

Does anyone remember when they said a winner will be announced? I thought I had read somewhere it would be 1Q 2022, but I'm not certain.

[Klippenstein]

I think we’ve been told “spring” 2022.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

Well, if those pedestrians were stevedores.


Plate 107 from The Plan of Chicago

It's actually shocking how true of a realization of this vision the riverwalk has become....

[rivernorthlurker]

Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright

It's actually shocking how true of a realization of this vision the riverwalk has become....

Bring that North Branch bridge back baby.

[ardecila]

Hmm, I don't see any rostral columns in the Wolf Point project...

[r18tdi]

Looks like there's a cOmMuNiTy meeting tonight at 6 to discuss the 78 proposal.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2022/02/28/...-discussed-at-community-meeting-tuesday/

[CrazyCres]

Watching the presentation now. They are saying the city will select 2 finalists for more engagement with neighbors then select one of the final two.

[CaptainJilliams]

Originally Posted by CrazyCres

Watching the presentation now. They are saying the city will select 2 finalists for more engagement with neighbors then select one of the final two.

Interesting...my gut tells me that the 78 is one of the two finalists.

[CrazyCres]

They released the results of a study asking 383 residents (Most in the south loop) if they support the 78 pre-casino and post-casino announcements. They said the survey was released on their Facebook page.

62.3% of respondents were against the 78 before the casino plan. 69.1% percent said their opinion had become more unfavorable after the casino proposal was announced with only 7.7% saying their opinion had changed more favorably. 77.8% said they do not support the casino proposal. 75% of respondents said a casino was not an appropriate use of the riverfront.

Most of the complaints were crime, traffic, and taxes.

I didn't stick around for the discussion with the participants after they showed the results.

[west-town-brad]

Originally Posted by CrazyCres

They released the results of a study asking 383 residents (Most in the south loop) if they support the 78 pre-casino and post-casino announcements. They said the survey was released on their Facebook page.

62.3% of respondents were against the 78 before the casino plan. 69.1% percent said their opinion had become more unfavorable after the casino proposal was announced with only 7.7% saying their opinion had changed more favorably. 77.8% said they do not support the casino proposal. 75% of respondents said a casino was not an appropriate use of the riverfront.

Most of the complaints were crime, traffic, and taxes.

I didn't stick around for the discussion with the participants after they showed the results.

who is "they"?

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by west-town-brad

who is "they"?

The 78 Community Advisory Council

A 78 Community Advisory Council announced by Mayor Lightfoot in December 2019 serves as a conduit for community input as construction moves forward over the next three years. The 17-member CAC consists of neighborhood representatives, community leaders, design professionals, and subject-matter experts appointed by Mayor Lightfoot and Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) in consultation with local stakeholders. The group meets quarterly, making advisory recommendations ranging from public infrastructure design to traffic control to open space, among other issues.

https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dcd/supp_info/the-78.html

Most of the survey participants, 69%, live in the South Loop. About 14% live in Chinatown. Other respondents live in Pilsen, McKinley Park, University Village and Bronzeville. About 52% of participants identified as white, and 31% as Asian. Nearly 6% of respondents were Black, and about 8.5% were Latino.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wbez.or...-78/371ef7e1-4026-4821-86a4-d0b17423d91f

[Klippenstein]

I don’t have the numbers, but most said they didn’t know or weren’t sure if they knew about the 78 before the casino proposal and still said they had an unfavorable view… so classical nimbyism. Most likely a lot of Dearborn Park residents.

[thegoatman]

Originally Posted by Klippenstein

I don’t have the numbers, but most said they didn’t know or weren’t sure if they knew about the 78 before the casino proposal and still said they had an unfavorable view… so classical nimbyism. Most likely a lot of Dearborn Park residents.

Of course a massive gated community right downtown hates it. Dearborn Park is the reason the South Loop is way less vibrant and dead compared to the West Loop.

[Chi-Sky21]

To be fair, I would not want to live near a casino either. I have no trouble with high density near me. But this is something else all together.

[psxvz]

Originally Posted by Chi-Sky21

To be fair, I would not want to live near a casino either. I have no trouble with high density near me. But this is something else all together.

Yeah a casino in your backyard is a way different scenario than maybe more traffic you may or may not notice.

[Klippenstein]

I’m not arguing with you because I don’t really know, but why do you say a casino will be something else or different than the entertainment district that the 78 had planned along the riverfront?

[west-town-brad]

did anyone really think the survey results would be anything different?

[galleyfox]

Originally Posted by west-town-brad

did anyone really think the survey results would be anything different?

Of course not.

Nevertheless, the 78 being surrounded on 3 sides by mostly sedate (and politically active) residential areas cannot just be hand waved. The other four locations are already more commercial and tourist oriented.

And the residents are probably correct that any casino would be closer to a Rush St. scene than a Fulton Market scene. Lots of people can tolerate the second while finding the first unbearable.