Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila
...
This particular site is on the (smelly) South Branch, with no lake views and it's not within easy walking distance of dining, entertainment or transit.
...
|
It's not that far from Printers Row, there's some dining in Roosevelt Collection, theatres there, it will draw in more just by virtue of the population it brings.
The furthest part of the site is less than a 10 minute walk from the Lasalle subway station on the Blue Line or the Harrison stop on the Red Line subway, and maybe an 11 minute walk from the Lasalle/VanBuren loop station. The north end of the site is less than a 5 minute walk from the Blue Line, and 5-6 minute walks to the Loop or Harrison/Red. While I agree it doesn't "feel" close to transit, it's actually not badly served. I mean, sure, if I were King, the Orange Line would come north over the Metra tracks and then cut over to Wells just south of Congress to join the Loop at Wells/VanBuren, with stations at Polk, stretching south from Roosevelt, and at 15th, with 15th re-opened as a public through street through Dearborn Park 2. But even without that, there is rail transit nearby and for most of the site it's only a 5 minute walk to some or all of the 22/Clark, 36/Broadway and 24/Wentworth buses. And if they do make a Polk bridge, the 156, 157 and 125 buses won't be far, either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by VKChaz
I really would like to an effort to develop some of these large parcels in the form of traditional neighborhoods rather than "planned communities"
|
I agree. I actually with the City would have just bought the land, plotted it, added utilities in the street robust enough for the zoning and sold off the plots that way, with "walkable streets" design requirements. It'd probably be a much more interesting area in 20 years if they'd done that.