Oak Park - District House
 

Aug 6



Aug 16

Albion Oak Park
 

Aug 1



Aug 9



Aug 11





Aug 13

The view from my window (with a big lens)




Aug 16

Oak Park has been as busy as any area in the Chicago area... Let's just hope they don't get the NIMBY disease that Evanston has fallen ill to :/

Oak Park > Evanston.

I may be biased, I did grow up only a few minutes away from there :)

What in the wide wide world of sports are you talking' bout!!?

JK. Having grown up in Evanston its shocking to see any new high-rise development at all going up anywhere. Busybody capital of the Midwest

South - n - Harlem
 

We have the NIMBYs - in force - but the village government out maneuvered them.

The real story isn't the flashy high rise next to the park - it is this behemoth next to the El station.

Aug 11



It appears that the texture on the walls will be painted Styrofoam block - hopefully fireproof Styrofoam looking stuff.






Aug 13

Wow, talk about an increase in urbanity. Someone could be forgiven for thinking they were in the West Loop if they wandered around DT Oak Park for a few minutes haha

In the recent presentations by developers to the village board the West Loop has played a key part in the pitch. TONS of new tech jobs, just 15min down the Green line to Morgan.

Oak Park stands to gain a lot by jumping on this trend early. If they capture a large population of Loop train commuters, they will have that much of a head start on other communities trying to reinvigorate their downtowns with professionals and good shops, restaurants, etc

I don't think that billygoat wanted his photo taken...

IMO, having Oak Park capture a sizeable portion of West Loop workers is also a good thing for Chicago, by increasesing ridership for underused sections the Green Line. If more development can be concentrated between West Loop and Oak Park, the Green Line has the potential to knit together West Side neighborhoods rather than only act as a means of transportation

Exactly and as someone who invested in oak Park years ago, all I hear is ......ching ching! Hahaha

Oak Park really has the location. Evanston is what, 45min to the Loop, even longer to WL.
Palatine is 40 minute Metra express to Ogilvie at best.

15min to West Loop and close to both airports will keep driving growth.

not quite.



from downtown evanston:

davis street to oglivie via UP-N is 24-28 minutes (depending on express vs. non express).

davis street to clark/lake via purple line express is 36 minutes.



from downtown oak park:

oak park to ogilvie via UP-W is 16-19 minutes (depending on express vs. non express).

harlem/lake to clark/lake via green line is 27 minutes.




oak park's biggest commuting advantage would be to the west loop where a single seat green line ride can get you from harlem/lake to morgan in 22 minutes.

from evanston that trip would take ~35 minutes if you get a UP-N express to ogilvie and then transfer to the green/pink line.

that's not a huge time difference, but you'd have the hassle of transferring from metra to el, which is always annoying because our competing transit systems behave like petty little children.

Oak Park for a long time has acted as a regional anchor for the near west burbs, and host to the main restaurant and nightlife scene as well (in addition to nearby Forest Park). By that standard, it's had a decades long head start in comparison to other towns trying to revitalize (or create from scratch) an active downtown. It has always had a large amount of Loop commuters, although its definitely growing that number now as the West Loop booms.

Its fun to see the changes there every time I head back to visit my parents.

hmmm, not so sure... you don't grow that not to attract attention... having said that, I always find the dudes with the super long whiskers mysteriously intriguing...

Hey at least one hipster found a job that pays.

It's really great to see some suburbs get more in the way of actual urban development. Hope it continues for many years.

I think he was checking out my beard - which is longer, but grayer.

My man is rockin the beard. I love how all of HarryCs updates include at least one candid shot of a construction worker. The other dude in the shot looks like he's gonna try to take a lift on that hook