As we see the city grow upward with new super towers like Trump and Waterview on the way, where do you see the high rise portion of the city spreading outward?

It would imagine that that the area that will change most will be the west loop, between the river and the Kennedy, where the two metra stations futher solidify this area as the new office center of Chicago. N/S Wacker Drive is pretty well developed because of this proximity to rail and most of the new development should be west of the river.

The west loop is downtown. So where else, away from this area? Will other parts of Chicago away from the central city and the lakefront sprout their own skylines? Will we ever see the concentration of high rises that you see in edge cities like the Woodfield area or suburban downtowns like Evanston in parts of Chicago away from the central core.

Will continue growth in Hyde Park and on the U of C campus draw more high rises to this area? Other than height restrictions, how about city areas along the Kennedy near O'Hare where so many hotels and offices already exist?

What areas do you see high rises spreading?

I've always wished that the city would fix South Lake Shore Drive by burying the Metra tracks underground and creating an Inner Drive down to Hyde Park. The Inner Drive in LakeView is a fantastic residential street and provides a focus for development. If the South Lakefront had such a street facing directly on to the park, it would be possible to give the skyline between the Loop and Hyde Park a little punch.

God only knows if that would ever fly with the city or with the neighborhoods down there.

I think we're going to see decent growth along State, Wabash and Clark from downtown to the low-20's. I think River North will also continue to grow upward over the next few decades.

Agreed, it seems like a lot of development has been going on in the South Loop. I predict the city expands there the most, if only down state and wabash.

I would love for the high rises to extend Westward away from the lakefront though. I'm not a big fan of how the high rises stop and the three story buildings start and go for miles until the suburbs.

Agreed, it seems like a lot of development has been going on in the South Loop. I predict the city expands there the most, if only down state and wabash.

I would love for the high rises to extend Westward away from the lakefront though. I'm not a big fan of how the high rises stop and the three story buildings start and go for miles until the suburbs.

^agree. Most growth will occur in the south loop. But I think if more highrises are built on Riverside and Lasalle Parks, that effect of highrises stopping west of the lake front will be diminished.

I also would love to see an "inner Lakeshore Drive" south of the river. In a way, Columbus serves that role south of Roosevelt, right?

The best place to expand the skyline westward is in the west loop. However, as I have always said, the effect will never be complete until they bury the Kennedy expressway between Jackson and Lake

Lakeside neighborhoods like Lakeview, Uptown and Edgewater already have greater skylines than any Chicago suburb. They haven't really had any new high-rise construction there recently, though; wouldn't be bad to see some.

The West and South Loop can certainly fill out and up; there's still a fair amount of development-ready land in Streeterville, too.

where would I expect significant high rise construction and density? around McCormick Place.

McC Pl's biggest criticism has been distance from the Loop and walking outside to....well,nothing. That, of course, is changing already. Ironically if McC Pl had been built closer to the Loop, its expansion would have been virtually impossible (short of a 40 story convention center!). I see more hotels, shopping, offices,etc., going up in the McC Pl area that cater to the convention crowd.

In the Loop, I see the State/Wabash corridor changing even more into a residential/retail district, with the business core shifting westward.

I think this is exceptionally smart, by renovating old, un-leasable office space along this corridor (State/Wabash) into housing, we are not only saving the fabric of the city, but establishing a future for downtown that will endure. State street is well on it's way to becoming a lively place once again, after so many years of decline. The worst mistake ever done to State was to turn it onto a transit mall, the the smartest decision in the last ten years was to "un-mall" it and make it a real street again.

As more and more people choose to make city center a place to live, work, and play, Chicago becomes even more of a world class city, and will draw even more people. It is easy to forget that at one time there were an additional million or so residents of the city, and looking back at old pictures, one can see that the area was amazingly busy and booming. One only needs to look at the sidewalk at State and Madison (in front of what is now Sears) in 1924 to see what was once here.

http://memory.loc.gov/ndlpcoop/ichicdn/n0778/n077873.jpg

http://memory.loc.gov/ndlpcoop/ichicdn/n0844/n084484.jpg

Here is another shot of State and Madison in the 1920's, This city was packed!

http://memory.loc.gov/ndlpcoop/ichicdn/n0853/n085319.jpg

Chicago will never be like this again, but I am glad to see that it is getting better, and that more and more people are seeing the error of their ways, and leaving the suburbs to experience what living is all about. (OK, so I am a bit biased...)

State and Madison was, at one point, the busiest intersection in the entire World, as documented by Donald Miller and many others. Rumor has it, that's why it was chosen as the 0E/W 0N/S delineator.