Random Chicago Posts

Wicker Park.

The building at the center of the picture is a collection of artist's studios (I live six blocks south of it).

Is it North and Milwaukee, by any chance?

... and Damen.

I wish that Chicago Mile High building, by Frank Lloyd Wright I believe, was built.

Oh and um, I want something large and iconic. Something like, I dunno, a statue(?) on lake michigan. Could be called Lady of the Lake. A total rip off from New York, I know, but I needed to say it.

make a waterfall... elevate the lake, when it empties into the river like a waterfall, an urban waterfall is iconic..(and make the canal somewhere else like.. near 22nd ST).

Is the Chicago river natural or just a canal, I been wondering that all my life, is the river's bottom cement/steel or soil?

- 2100 N Elston was an industrial wasteland; quite literally, as it is a brownfield with extensive contamination from a prior use. so was North/Clybourn once upon a time--it was part of the halo of abandoned factories that surrounded Cabrini-Green, once providing plenty of jobs but in later years just cutting it off from the rest of town. the retail development along Clybourn wasn't planned, per se; no one realized what was going on until too late. the Clybourn corridor straddles two wards and is outside the purview of any one community group except the LEED Council, a group of industrial employers along the river. their main mandate was to prevent residential encroachment within the riverside industrial corridor; the compromise with the first few developers was that big-box retail was okay. no one, least of all the retailers (many of whom entered only hesitantly), expected that the retail would be anywhere near that successful in drawing traffic--hence the expansion of the corridor to Elston.

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This was in the Chicago mistakes thread in response to talk about Kohls and Bestbuy going up around that part of town, including a parking lot. I was really suprised to hear how close it is too neighborhoods like Wicker Park or Lincoln Park..or isnt it?
Does this area look like a suburban interstate or something?

aion26--How do you like living in Wicker Park/Bucktown/wherever? That seems like an awesome place to live. Very urban--active streetscape, solid stock of old buildings and houses with generally good infill. Distance to amenities--coffee shops/restaurants/pharmacies/shops/grocery walkable. IS this actually true or just my fantasy? How does it compare with Lincoln Park or Lakeview?

Wicker Park


Lakeview:

ChicagoLover said:

aion26--How do you like living in Wicker Park/Bucktown/wherever? That seems like an awesome place to live. Very urban--active streetscape, solid stock of old buildings and houses with generally good infill. Distance to amenities--coffee shops/restaurants/pharmacies/shops/grocery walkable. IS this actually true or just my fantasy? How does it compare with Lincoln Park or Lakeview?

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I love it. I live a bit south of wicker park actually, about 6 blocks south of the Damen "L" stop and really like my area. It is a good mix of the old and new, I still hear loads of Polish and Ukranian on the street but also am able to walk a bit north to the eclectic resturants on Division ave. There is a crappy grocery story near by (Edmars) but some good eastern european deli's/groceries and excellant inexpensive mexican places. It really has a different feel from Lakeview (which almost has more of a sports/frat feel ... don't get me wrong, I don't dislike the area, I spent my teenage years at the Metro) and Lincoln Park (which seems to have been taken over by the chains and very scrubbed). But if the truth be known, I'd prefer to life in Old Town over those two areas. I've lived in many areas of chicago (from old town to albany park) and I think this is my favorite.

My only complaint is that I wish I lived closer to the "L", but the #66 bus runs (albeit sometimes poorly) 24/7. My only concern is that the Damen bus is on the chopping block except for rush hour service if the CTA goes through with their cuts.

how tall is the sears tower if you counted the antennas toward the height?

The total height of the structure including the two television antennas on top was 1,707 feet (520 m), until these were later extended to 1,729 feet (527 m) to outstrip the World Trade Center antenna.

aion26 said:

My only complaint is that I wish I lived closer to the "L", but the #66 bus runs (albeit sometimes poorly) 24/7. My only concern is that the Damen bus is on the chopping block except for rush hour service if the CTA goes through with their cuts.

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Is the Damen bus the same as the #66? Will you still be able to get around okay if those specific cuts go through?

Damen is either #48 or #50. Bus # 66 is Chicago(avenue)

I just thought of something that I always wanted, well ever since I saw I, Robot. Damn, I WANT THOSE LED SCREENS IN THE CITY. ahh, feels good to get that off my chest.

So yeah. Do something about the Daley.

I think Chicago needs a giant indoor amusement park downtown.

james2390 said:

I think Chicago needs a giant indoor amusement park downtown.

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we had one of those, and it fail miserably(Disney Quest)

^Oh yeah, I remember that.

digital_slash said:

I just thought of something that I always wanted, well ever since I saw I, Robot. Damn, I WANT THOSE LED SCREENS IN THE CITY. ahh, feels good to get that off my chest.

So yeah. Do something about the Daley.

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I'd single handly tear down every one of those screens if that were to ever happen, this isn't NYC! or some tacky Asian city.

i'd want them, plus id think daley could do a good job of doing it tastefully. i've seen one up in lincoln park already.

it would be a good thing. just don't go ape nuts about it like some asian city or nyc.