I think Mr. D weighed in on this a few years ago. Historically there was wholesale grocery in the Haymarket/Randolph area and the South Water Market on what is now Wacker Drive, but not really public markets like you see in Europe (or Cleveland, lol). Probably in the early days these markets sold directly to consumers on a small scale, but the rapid commercial growth of downtown soon pushed most of the residents to outlying neighborhoods. Downtown became strictly a business district and the downtown markets focused in on wholesale only by ~the 1890s.
Out in the neighborhoods, Chicagoans did their shopping at countless small grocers, often with a particular ethnic specialty. I assume all those small grocers had political power, so the city never stepped in to build neighborhood-level public markets that might compete with them. Eventually the small grocers gave way to larger supermarket chains (A&P, Jewel, etc) that combined greengrocer, butcher, fish, dry goods, bakery, floral, and eventually pharmacy/liquor under one roof and importantly provided parking for shoppers.
Later even the wholesale markets moved out of downtown, ironically to make way for new waves of residential. The South Water Market moved to 15th/Blue Island in the 20s and then to Damen/Blue Island in the 2000s. Obviously the meatpackers moved out of Fulton Market in the 2010s...
I guess we could fix the "mistake" and build a market today, but what would be the purpose? Downtown residents are already fairly well-served by supermarkets, although there's room for improvement. If the point is tourism, what exactly would the market offer? There are some good producers out there, but the Midwest doesn't have the rich bounty of California, Spain or Italy. We have a short growing season and most farmers are growing corn or soybeans. The existing farmer's market system is excellent, but if you shop there you quickly figure out that the good stuff is only available for 4 months out of the year. Not really enough to support a permanent structure.
Milwaukee of course has a great public market, but I think part of the rationale for building it was to provide a grocery option to the Third Ward so the residential population could keep growing. I assume private grocery chains were not interested in building there, or at least weren't interested in an urban format. We don't really have that issue in downtown Chicago.
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la forme d'une ville change plus vite, hélas! que le coeur d'un mortel...
Last edited by ardecila; Apr 7, 2023 at 4:00 PM.
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