Quote:
Originally Posted by west-town-brad
Even if we somehow forced the industrial parcels to become parks or residential or other low impact use the discussion would inevitably turn into one of injustice and gentrification and pushing out poor people because the area would now be much more desirable.
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i dont know if this is entirely fair. there probably are some people who think that way, although even the die hard activists generally advocate for more community based amenities like parks/green space...they just also typically want community benefit agreements tied into them.
i think a perfect example is the development of La Villita Park. that was a toxic superfund site. the community for years fought to get it cleaned up and turned into a park. their thoughts easily could have been dismissed and something like a distro warehouse could have gone there. someone could easily say "why build a park in a space thats directly adjacent to a massive jail complex? this isnt an ideal spot and it could be used for other uses". today, thats a lively park as it was originally envisioned that is primarily used by locals, and it has not led to gentrification. people here are
yearning for more green space. theyre not opposed to it in the least as far as ive seen. but larger economic development forces typically steamroll those ambitions. and thats the point: folks here dont have significant political capital. something like the Hilco demolition never would have happened on the north side. its a community thats been taken advantage of time and time again. and someone could easily say "well it dosent make sense to put a distro warehouse in Edgewater" and theyd be right, but you cant have this conversation with tracing back the reasons the expressways are where they are in the first place, and why some communities were spared that burden and others were chosen explicitly to carry it.
the reality is this site COULD be an incredible amenity with a bit of creativity. imagine climbing classes up the exterior of the old silos and the ensuing "summit" views, fishing and kayak docks, restored prairie paths. simply look at what the city has done with Big Marsh Park, which is also in a heavily industrial area but has become a natural and recreational oasis in the midst of it. or Palmisano Park, which also was more or less a dump and now is a best in class neighborhood amenity. the irony is these old hulking industrial sites/buildings offer truly rare opportunities to build things and tell stories utterly unique to the city and the neighborhoods while also contributing to growth, and theyre treated as disposable afterthoughts all too frequently. yes, warehouses have to go somewhere and tax dollars are important, but there needs to be a balance, esp in relation to what other neighborhoods are afforded.