Yes Lakeshore East and Central Station were both planned with an office component and both of those died pretty quickly in the 90s/2000s. But Fulton Market has popped up and is undeniably a successful office cluster outside of the traditional core (I know you have your concerns lol)
In general I do think changing settlement and transportation patterns are making these outlying office clusters more feasible (in the context of greatly reduced demand for office overall). The North Side is no longer the only game in town for professional class people to live in the city... the whole South Lakefront is opening up, plus Pilsen, Bridgeport, Tri-Taylor, West Humboldt etc. That means we will not be stuck with a Loop core and a Near North appendage, but the core will continue to expand out in all directions and spring up satellites.
We've also got work from home trends that are here to stay, which means employers are not prioritizing easy transit access alone but balancing transit access with some amount of on-site or street parking for employees to drive in occasionally, and they are increasingly hiring from a talent pool within 1-2 miles of the office. It's easier to do that in Fulton Market or The 78 etc than in the heart of the Loop. Here in Pilsen, Blue Cross Blue Shield has established a back office in the middle of a residential block - it's a walkable area but they built a parking garage for their employees. That kind of stuff is happening all over.
Finally we've got new ways to move around the city... I really wish we were investing more in transit solutions around downtown and surrounding, but we now have rideshare, Divvy, scooters, water taxi, private shuttles and frankly a younger generation of people who seem less hesitant to walk .75-1 mile across the city. Some people will of course try to drive 5 days a week and traffic will likely get worse. I don't think worsening traffic will be the end of the world nor will it threaten the continued growth in these areas. I'm hopeful the new mayor will prioritize bus lanes, bike lanes and other mid-cost investments to give people an alternative to sitting in that congestion.
__________________
la forme d'une ville change plus vite, hélas! que le coeur d'un mortel...
Last edited by ardecila; May 14, 2023 at 10:48 PM.
|