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I apologize to my friends in Chicago for not telling them that I was in town on Saturday, but that is because I just got married and needed a bit of 'alone' time with my new wife, if you know what I mean.
I was showing her this beautiful city.
I have been mostly pro-development and mildly pro-preservation, although I generally think that replacing a 1-2 story building with 5-6 story buildings are an improvement unless those 1-2 story buildings are exquisitely beautiful.
However, I am coming to realize that a lot of effort has gone into preserving old homes, flats, etc while commercial buildings in Chicago's great corridors are going by the wayside, with some exceptions.
The ever-so posh Lincoln and north Halsted Avenues, for example, look great but I noticed several large semi-blocks of almost entirely new construction mixed-use buildings. Yeah, yeah Chicago is lucky that it has this problem--I've always been a big proponent of that.
But certain commercial corridors of Chicago are so full of character and vibrance that replacing them doesn't seem logical--they don't NEED replacing.
For example, I have now seen several new vacant lots near the Red Line/Belmont Ave stops, probably related to CTA expansion. But what is going to happen to this wonderful district, full of eclectic shops and, my favorite--the VIC Theater!
But that aside, there are other districts that, while safe now, worry me in that they may needelessly become homogenized.
Let me say for the record that I like a lot of the new construction and I think we have gained much more than we have lost by it, and I hope to see it continue, such as the replacement of motel row on north Lincoln Avenue with mixed-use buildings, or the addition of new mixed-use buildings on vacant or underused lots on north Clark or Milwaukee.
But what about the ever-so vibrant and unique 18 st, or 26th st, or Devon Avenue? How about the portion of Clark between Belmont and Addison?
I feel these commercial strips should be landmarked. I believe so because there is no need to replace them, and even using the city's "Pedestrian Street" designation is not adequate. These strips all possess the following qualities:
1) They have reached their "zenith". This means they are vibrant and successful enough so as not to need replacement. Upzoning or increasing densities in these areas is unnecessary, except in the case of empty lots or parking lots, which I believe SHOULD be developed appropriately.
2) They have very nice, historical buildings full of character. Why replace them?
3) They say "Chicago".
4) None of them are long enough to preclude further development. In other words, we are not holding back developers by securing a couple of the most attractive/vibrant blocks of these strips for historical landmarking. It's not like I'm saying "lets landmark Clark St from Fullerton to Devon" or something. Just a few blocks.
Here are some of the commercial strips that I believe should be landmarked:
Clark from Belmont to Addison
18th st a few blocks east and west of the blue line stop
26th st for its 4-5 most vibrant/attractive blocks
Devon Avenue starting 1 block east of Western and ending 1-2 blocks west of Talman.
All of these commercial strips should be preserved, if you ask me, mostly because they are INCREDIBLE places to visit, and need no replacing.
Any thoughts?
I was showing her this beautiful city.
I have been mostly pro-development and mildly pro-preservation, although I generally think that replacing a 1-2 story building with 5-6 story buildings are an improvement unless those 1-2 story buildings are exquisitely beautiful.
However, I am coming to realize that a lot of effort has gone into preserving old homes, flats, etc while commercial buildings in Chicago's great corridors are going by the wayside, with some exceptions.
The ever-so posh Lincoln and north Halsted Avenues, for example, look great but I noticed several large semi-blocks of almost entirely new construction mixed-use buildings. Yeah, yeah Chicago is lucky that it has this problem--I've always been a big proponent of that.
But certain commercial corridors of Chicago are so full of character and vibrance that replacing them doesn't seem logical--they don't NEED replacing.
For example, I have now seen several new vacant lots near the Red Line/Belmont Ave stops, probably related to CTA expansion. But what is going to happen to this wonderful district, full of eclectic shops and, my favorite--the VIC Theater!
But that aside, there are other districts that, while safe now, worry me in that they may needelessly become homogenized.
Let me say for the record that I like a lot of the new construction and I think we have gained much more than we have lost by it, and I hope to see it continue, such as the replacement of motel row on north Lincoln Avenue with mixed-use buildings, or the addition of new mixed-use buildings on vacant or underused lots on north Clark or Milwaukee.
But what about the ever-so vibrant and unique 18 st, or 26th st, or Devon Avenue? How about the portion of Clark between Belmont and Addison?
I feel these commercial strips should be landmarked. I believe so because there is no need to replace them, and even using the city's "Pedestrian Street" designation is not adequate. These strips all possess the following qualities:
1) They have reached their "zenith". This means they are vibrant and successful enough so as not to need replacement. Upzoning or increasing densities in these areas is unnecessary, except in the case of empty lots or parking lots, which I believe SHOULD be developed appropriately.
2) They have very nice, historical buildings full of character. Why replace them?
3) They say "Chicago".
4) None of them are long enough to preclude further development. In other words, we are not holding back developers by securing a couple of the most attractive/vibrant blocks of these strips for historical landmarking. It's not like I'm saying "lets landmark Clark St from Fullerton to Devon" or something. Just a few blocks.
Here are some of the commercial strips that I believe should be landmarked:
Clark from Belmont to Addison
18th st a few blocks east and west of the blue line stop
26th st for its 4-5 most vibrant/attractive blocks
Devon Avenue starting 1 block east of Western and ending 1-2 blocks west of Talman.
All of these commercial strips should be preserved, if you ask me, mostly because they are INCREDIBLE places to visit, and need no replacing.
Any thoughts?