Quote:
Originally Posted by Tombstoner
My wife and I are looking forward to moving into the Loop very soon--maybe in Spring. We aren't terribly transient or anti-social but guilty-as-charged to the white collaredness. When we become semi-retired in a few years we want to live steps away from the Art Institute, Symphony, Riverwalk, Millenium Park, Museum Campus, lakefront, Architecture Center, Newberry Library, Cultural Center, Lyric Opera, theatres... Without thinking of it as a retirement community, we think it will feed a very active leisure/cultural niche that can't be met anywhere else in the US--maybe the world. We've lived all over the world (hmm...maybe we are transient) and when thinking about ridiculously easy access to a high quality of cultural life, the Loop seems unbeatable. That said, we have another place where we'll spend winter months--we're enthusiastic, not masochistic.
Obviously we hope for a recovery of business and a vibrant restaurant/bar/entertainment scene, but the cultural institutions and topography aren't going anywhere.
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Thank you for your response and helping me realize there are definitely other demographics I hadn't fully considered. I'm very happy you chose to to move to the Loop and it sounds like a dream "retirement community" to me - especially considering the community/campus where my grandma lives in NJ.
However, you also seemed to prove my point... being a snow bird you are most definitely transient and admittedly white collar. And not trying to gatekeep or anything, but retirees weren't exactly the social scene I imagined to make the Loop a desirable place to live for other Chicagoans (or anyone except other retirees, really). So while you may not be anti-social, you're probably not the type of social that the Loop needs to draw other residents and keep trendy establishments in business - especially on a (presumably) fixed income.
From a demographic perspective, I hope the Loop can continue its effort to appeal to the residents currently being drawn to West Loop, River North, Old Town, Wicker/Bucktown, and even Pilsen. That being said, undoubtedly you and your wife sound like a net addition to the area.