Quote:
Originally Posted by SamInTheLoop
And again, that area is being 'planned' wildly inappropriately for its transit infrastructure/likely near-to-mid term transit infrastructure (as huge, game-changing investments that would be necessary to truly move the needle are vanishingly unlikely to materialize).
Now, there are of course gradations of "makes little sense" for large scale office concentration, by location (having to do with a combination of extant transit infrastructure and proximity to the metro's transit nexus (Canal/Wacker/Franklin, etc). For example, although poor, Fulton Market is a better location for major office density then the 78, and the 78 is a much better location for major office density than Lincoln Yards.
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Are people really unfamiliar with this modern transit technology commonly called a "bus"?
In Chicago something like 2/3rds of all trips, including for commuting, are by bus. The Near West Side and West Loop have bus route service. The Morgan station makes for a nice anchor in the middle of an area with relatively less bus service than other downtown-adjacent areas, but even before that existed, most of the growth was an organic extension west along Lake Street, where the Clinton stop was useful. The Halsted bus also provided useful service as buildings got a little further west. And all along the north edge of Fulton Market, walking from the Grand bus stops was not, in any way, particularly difficult. Certainly much easier than walking from West Loop Metra stations to the East Loop or River North, yet thousands of people do that. Also, walking north from Madison covered the south edges of Fulton Market. And even walking from Ogilvie to Fulton or the West Loop west of Halsted. Walking from Ogilvie to where the Morgan station is now is the same distance as walking from Ogilvie to State/Lake or State/Monroe. And more than a few commuters do that daily. For city commuters, the types of companies that first started locating in the Fulton Market area tended to be younger, so a larger-than-normal portion likely rode their bikes or lived not too far away and walked. A good friend of mine bikes from essentially Melrose and Halsted in East Lakeview to Google's headquarters in Fulton Market, and he's not alone. That's a four-mile ride, and anyone else willing to make a ride of that length (which is likely 20-30 minutes most days), creates a huge pool of available workers for the area. And it's not just Millennials - I'm 46, but I walk to work most days from the north part of River North to Dearborn and Washington in the Loop, and another of my coworkers (in an office of 15 people) walks a mile into the Loop from the West Loop. For both of us, our commute almost exactly a mile, walking. So anyone who lives in the West Loop can easily walk to anywhere in the Fulton Market area as a commute.
So, could downtown function if all parts of downtown had transit like Fulton Market does, or especially if it were like Fulton Market pre-Morgan station? No, it couldn't. But fortunately not everywhere downtown has the same moderate transit density of Fulton Market. *Most* people aren't dumb enough to apply for jobs they don't want to do what's needed to commute to. Sure, there are people who do apply for and even accept jobs without considering the commute, but there are apparently also people who tried to eat Tide Pods, so there's that. But most people wouldn't eat Tide Pods, and most people will self-regulate their commutes.
The 78 needs the 15th St Red Line stop, but the CTA can extend the 22/Clark to 18th Street, or run more 24/Wentworth buses and/or route it up the Wells/Wentworth connector instead of up Clark once the W/W connector is done. People can reach a reasonable amount of the 78 from the 12/Roosevelt bus and the Roosevelt Red/Green/Orange station. The CTA may even eventually make an Orange Line station at 18th or Wentworth, helping serve the south end. And the 18th St bus could easily be extended east to Indiana to help pull people to the 78. And let's be real - Clark/15th is equidistant between the Roosevelt Red Line station and the north exit of the Cermak/Chinatown Red Line station, at .6 miles according to Google Maps - a 10-15 minute walk which, while not ideal (I frequently advocate for transit that places people closer than that to major destinations), but, again, is similar to people choosing to walk from the West Loop Metra stations to the East Loop, or people walking from Metra Electric stops in the East Loop to the near West Loop or much of the North Michigan Ave office corridor.
Is transit for the 78 optimal, even with a Red Line 15th St station? No. And I've pointed out the the City and the CTA have dropped the ball by not choosing to route the Orange Line north through the 78 to join the Loop at Wells/Vanburen instead of routing to the Green Line, because that would be a far better solution than only having the extra Red Line station.
As for Lincoln Yards, it is served by a Metra stop that enables commutes for much of the North Shore and NW suburbs and some north and northwest city neighborhoods. And the 73/Armitage bus serves it well and can have increased service. The CTA can resume a Clybourn bus - there used to be one as recently as the 1980s I think. Walking from North Ave to the southern parts of Lincoln Yards is less than a 10 minute walk. Walking from Ashland is doable for the western edges. The 606 will assist with cyclist commuters coming from the west. And the eastern portions of Lincoln Yards are even not that bad of a walk from Armitage Brown Line stop - less than a half mile (less than a ten minute) walk from Armitage Brown to Kingsbury and Cortland, and just over 10 minutes walking to Southport/Cortland. People who live in western Lincoln Park can easily walk to work, as can people in eastern Wicker Park/Bucktown.
Now, are either the 78 or Lincoln Yards excellent commutes for everyone in the entire Chicagoland Region? No. Especially not compared to the western portion of the Loop proper. However, not every office district needs to be. Either of them are more accessible to more people than nearly ANY suburban office park. So what, exactly, is the complaint?
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