Quote:
Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright
TUP, you do realize that virtually everything surrounding the Loop was industrial up until the 1980's or 1990's right? I mean Streeterville, River North, West Loop, South Loop, etc. All those nice historic loft buildings that are now fancy condos were once warehouses or factories. For a few decades there was a Chicago (and continues to be a Chicago) where vast amounts of central city were just up and abandoned by industrial interests which went overseas or to greenfield sites in the suburbs. I can't even fathom what downtown must of been like before I was born. This little island of office buildings in the midst of a sea of despair. No wonder everyone decamped to the suburbs.
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downtown was still downtown. at least it wasnt entirely populated by national chain sandwhich shops. Chicago was still interesting in its own way. everythings relative. i lived nearby and visited all the time in the 80s and 90s. it still felt like an exciting, vast place. youre looking at it with todays upmarket expectations overlaid with yesterdays reality. it wasnt depressing, because it was all anyone knew. it was home. people were just as proud of it then, if not moreso.
"sea of despair"? can you be any more melodramatic? living and visiting a place packed to the brim with old world industry and 100+ year old warehouses, ethnic populations, and Victorian era homes was a thrill in its own right. frankly, i find crash pads for the global elite far more depressing, but thats just me. there were house dance clubs and underground nightlife on Michigan Avenue. it was the heyday of punk and industrial, which Chicago was an epicenter for. there was vibrant black culture on the south side. the Symphony was a powerhouse under Solti. the Blues were still living. you had some of the most respected journalists in the world calling the city home and writing about it...in the late 70s three newspapers were still viable, and even after that both the trib and sun times published to extremely high standards. Siskel and Ebert were shaping the nations taste in film. a woman by the name of Oprah Winfrey started a little talkshow. bars in the loop were filled with the working class. bears won the superbowl. a kid by the name of Michael Jordan was just signed by the bulls. catching a rooftop game at wrigley was simply friends getting together to grill, not forking over $200. the city was the center of the universe for options trading and open outcry. Steppenwolf and Second City were rising to national prominence. architects like SOM and Goldberg were pushing the envelope. neighborhoods were intact, close knit, and largely not architecturally compromised. and it actually WAS affordable as a place to live (not just the "its cheap compared to Manhattan!" relativism that gets trotted out today).
all you see is real estate opportunity. the people on the ground were simply living life.
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