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Originally Posted by Chicago3rd
Bet you never have been here. Don't go making me post all my photos of condos and apartments built right next to the EL on the north side...new ones. Some are even between the EL and the METRA line. So you idea seems sort of expensive and sensless.
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Hey dude, I lived here for 6 years and rode the Green Line often to visit my family in Oak Park and graduated from IIT in Architecture where I had a design studio with a project sited on this Lake Street Green Line. Sorry if I wasn't clear as to where I refering to.
Sure there are apartments/condos next to the L but how are they positioned? Are they directly fronting the L, like buildings would be on Lake Street or will their backs/porces/fire stairs face the 'L'? Are they on the side next to the 'L' with a slightly thicker CMU/brick wall?
There's also a design factor involved as to where the steel structure on the 'L' is placed and how it affects the surroundings. In the Northside it's near a main street but not directly ON the main street so there are buildings that act as a buffer to the steel structure and their backsides are facing the 'L' to serve as a noise buffer rather than the direct front. On the Brown/Red Line is near Sheffield but not on it. The Ravenswood its near Ashland or Lawrence but not on it. The steel structure in those areas create virtual alleyways in the areas it serve, that is not a bad thing in a dense environment, these can function depending on the design and span of the structure as additional neighborhood parking in the Wrigleyville area or right-of-way for a partial alley. In addition on the Northside, the stations are closer together so that slows down and reduces the noise impacts that may occur so that buildings can be placed closer to the 'L'.
In the Loop, the sidewalks that operate under the streets are wider and have more stations within close proximity limiting the overall speed of the Loop which makes a steel elevated structure livable.
The Green Line on the Lake STREET segment is literally under Lake STREET (street being the operative word) so based upon those conditions and how the current projects that are being built are designed near the 'L' between Ashland and Western on the old public housing sites, how are they designing this? With wide setbacks away from the 'L' to counter direct noise in segments where the trains speed up to the 55 mph zone that can hinder building any kind of ground floor retail elements or any positive TOD's next to this 'L' which is the whole point of this discussion. On the Southside Ashland Green Line Branch there are a few developments and buildings that are planned and under construction right now (at least on my recent visit last week), why? Maybe placement of this steel structure may give you a clue.
Now this can be counteracted by adding more stops along the Lake Street line to slow the speed and allows for more opportunities for this. That is all I was saying. Right now with the L in it's current arrangement, the designs will treat Lake STREET like an alley rather than a boulevard which effects the TOD potential for this section of the Green Line.
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when I took the Green line down to the Garfield stop 2 weeks ago (on my way to Hyde Park). The rundown vacant lots along the track are just terrible. I sat there on the train imagining thousands & thousands of international visitors riding through the area on their way to the Olympic Stadium and thinking that this isn't a particularly good impression the city will be making on them, let alone the impression IOC voters will have if they opt to check out the public transit to the prospective Olympic Stadium site. Something needs to be done to spur TODs along the southside Green line.
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