Classmate's blog part deux

This time I chose to read Joel's blog at http://www.joelaudiovideo.blogspot.com/.
Joel has an ongoing story about the mystery building that is being erected near his house. I don't know why, if he is so curious about its construction, he doesn't just ask one of the people on the site.
He has an interesting viewpoint on the suffocating nature of suburban sprawl (from an outsider's perspective as through his life he has lived either out in the country or in the city). I agree with that sentiment, because I think it will eventually prove unsustainable, with dire consequences for us all. He mentions being annoyed at "bad" bicyclists and I will admit that they are out there but I believe he has to put himself in the place of a bicyclist for just a little bit. Attempting to ride through major streets (i.e. the ones that don't have bike lanes and where traffic moves faster) inevitably leads to the bicyclist being harassed, bullied or honked at at least once (from personal experience. However, his opinion should be taken into as much consideration as everyone else's because, like I said before, unsafe cyclists are out there and they share responsibility as well.
My biggest gripe is that he put his house as a top Chicago spot. What a cop out!

UIC Development

UIC has developed quite a bit since its modest beginnings at Navy Pier. Obviously this is because of the increased demand for higher education due to societal changes in the need for an advanced degree as well as increased population. The facilities are certainly much better now than they were when UIC was a crowded campus on Navy Pier but through the years UIC has remained largely a commuter school that many find drab and uninviting.
The development on the former Maxwell St. neighborhood (now University Village) attempted to right some of those wrongs. There are many newer student residences as well as street shopping. However, the reality is that many of the apartments in the new developments are being bought by people of a higher socio-economic status that students simply cannot attain. These residents are changing the character of the street shopping to be something that is out of the reach of students. I cannot say that I am familiar with the old neighborhood but at times the new development feels empty, like it was just dropped fully formed into the area. Maybe it will get better over time.
What UIC really needs is more student residences. UIC is starting to move in that direction with higher numbers of incoming freshmen living in the dorms. With a larger resident population the ambience of the school will change for the better. When the campus is empty it feels desolate and rather scary. Contrasted with schools that have a larger resident population it simply feels boring. I have faith (and I really have faith in so little) that given enough time UIC will become a fun, interesting campus. It's really too bad that I won't be around to experience it. I can come and visit but it will not be the same.

CTA ...still there

Hey, it's actually been a while since I have talked about the CTA. The other day I finally checked out a site that I had seen referenced in various places. The CTA Tattler(http://www.ctatattler.com/). As the name implies the main purpose of this site is to talk about experiences in the CTA, though not necessarily bad ones. The webmaster also has had the opportunity (along with others) to have a casual discussion over coffee with CTA president Ron Huberman, which is an opportunity I certainly would not pass up.
Here are my recent thoughts on this behemoth:
Abandoned stations in the Eisenhower median and along the Englewood Green Line Branch - this past weekend I drove past both of these and wondered to myself why these structures are allowed to sit there, decaying, rusting and becoming an eyesore. Maybe the CTA plans on rehabbing the stations should demand ever warrant it. By then I will probably be in my 50s and the cost of rehabbing the stations (which will by then probably seem quaint, although I fail to see how) will be far greater than constructing a new one.
Bus bunching - the CTA has launched an expanded Bus Tracker service that provides riders with detailed information on when the next bus should arrive to their stop in 20 different routes. Supposedly, this would have the effect of reducing bus bunching yet there it was, on a route with bus tracker fully implemented. Friday morning I missed an 49 Western bus that had an X49 bus right behind it (which I could not board as I was not on an express stop) and, less than a minute later, came another 49 bus. After boarding the 49 bus I realized that there was another bus in front of the bus I had originally missed...probably another express bus. 4 buses operating never farther than a block from one another. I am sure that this caused some disruption to someone, somewhere.

Daydream

There are abandoned tracks along Bloomingdale Ave. from Ashland to Lawndale which I always thought would be perfectly converted to a bike trail. They are visible from the blue line and look like quite an eyesore from that vantage point which only led me to the daydream of an open bikeway.
Of course, I wasn't the first to think about it.
Here is a link to a WBEZ story about such a possible conversion, apparently many individuals and organizations are on board with the idea: story. Since I thought of the idea independently of this organization, I would like to take credit for it (I won't though).

Children's Museum/Daley rant

My internship is working with Head Start Children at El Valor in Little Village. Today we took a field trip to the Chicago Children's Museum. It is quite an entertaining (and obviously educational) little place that I had never gone to, what with not having been a child for some time now and all, it was all new to me. The kids were worn out by the trip and promptly fell asleep upon returning to the center which left my sleep-lacking body with little comfort. The Museum is currently located in Navy Pier but Mayor Daley among others have been attempting to move it to Grant Park, which has raised quite a bit of ire from many segments of the population (ok, no one wants it there except the Museum itself and Mayor Daley it seems). This goes back to the "open, clear and free" argument about the lakefront which stems from the decision to move the Field Museum from its planned location in the middle of Grant Park to where it stands today. The Art Institute is a notable exception for reasons I can't recall and will not look into (I admit to my laziness, but hey the internet is out there...I think it has something to do with air rights over the Illinois Central tracks but I might be wrong). Personally, I guess that if Da Mayor wants it Da Mayor gets it but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I have a love/hate opinion on Daley. He is improving the city in myriad ways...if you consider parts of the city that did not need much improvement. Hopefully he doesn't take the same approach to this issue as he did when he destroyed Meigs Field overnight and without warning. I wish I could find the video clip of him saying "You wouldn't want to find a rat in your sandwich, wouldya?". He was referring to some health inspector action or another but it sounded like a threat, which is great. Love his Chicago accent as well so maybe talk about accents is a future blog entry, Seacrest out.

Hard times and building in Chicago

Being a geeky urbanist, it pleases me to see construction cranes downtown and old industrial buildings being rehabbed as condos (though for the time being they are FAR beyond my price range). However, with the economy in the state that it is currently in how long can this growth sustain itself? Are there enough buyers to fill the condo suites in the yet-unfinished Trump Tower? How about in the Chicago Spire, which has not gone past the foundation stage? The latter project has begun to recruit potential buyers from as far as Singapore. Is everything going to turn all right or will Chicagoans grow accustomed to half-built skyscrapers and great projects that never were? Time will tell.

News

You Can't Eat There
This article focuses on a superstar chef that has just opened a restaurant at the Carter Harrison Water Intake Crib, two miles off Oak Street Beach on Lake Michigan. He will not give reservations to phone numbers with local area codes (not that you can find his number as it is unlisted) and dinner costs $1600. "I’m not opening a great Chicago restaurant,” he says. “I’m opening a world-class destination. And for better or worse, diners that make those distinctions live in New York, Los Angeles, London." Bottom line, this guy's a pompous jerk and he insulted Chicago. No way the food is worth the mortgage on a house.
Edit: After reading this week's letters section of The Chicago Reader it is clear that this article was an April Fool's hoax. I wasn't the only one to fall for it thankfully.

Nation's Gentrified Neighborhoods Threatened by Aristocratization
A comedic take on gentrification and cities; this time the people being pushed out are upper class professionals. Here they are being pushed out by aristocrats who convert their French bakeries, faux dive bars and condos into opera houses and castles. Something to laugh at.