Quote:
Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop
...in not directing heavy office to the transit core, and in allowing for residential to effectively be blocked from Fulton Market...
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I keep looking at the map and I keep on not seeing the problem. The major Metra transit hubs are all between the Kennedy and the River. If west of the Kennedy doesn't make sense, east of the river doesn't make sense either.
But east of the river does make sense, so...
From the west, get off at Morgan. From the NW, get off at Grand, walk down. From the north, transfer to the Green, too bad. From the South, take the Green to Morgan. From the burbs, walk the same distance west you'd walk east.
For burbs to the west, put in a Green Line station at Western, allow for Metra to CTA transfers at Western.
The West Loop around Morgan is not some isolated transit desert only accessible by fleets of cars. It's just not, and I don't understand this thinking.
As for residential around Morgan, it's the same. The west loop there has great transit access. Residential is best put further out on the spurs. There is tremendous room for residential growth west on the Green Line, and elsewhere. Build, build, build.
I've said it before, I'll say it again. Don't build residential districts within a 15 minute walk of Ogilvie/Union Station. Nor Morgan. Some scattered infill residential is fine. But the west loop around Morgan is not a place for families trying to raise kids. It's fast becoming an office district, just embrace the change and go with it.
Case in point: WeWork is taking office space at 167 N. Green. That's a 10 minute, 1/2 mile walk from the Ogilvie exit on Clinton.
I've walked from Ogilvie to the WeWork office at 332 S. Michigan Ave. That's a 27 min, 1.3 mile walk. So which one makes more sense for the most people?