If I didn't know better, something sneaky is in the works.
When Richard Daley, mayor of Chicago, bicycles northward on the lakeshore pathway, he finds frustration when the trail dead-ends.Is anyone up for yet another battle with the powers-that-be?
"At Hollywood," he said in an interview in his City Hall office, "it just stops." Source.
Blognotes: Does anyone have video proof? I seriously doubt Mayor Daley has EVER personally peddled from downtown to the end of Lake Shore Drive at Hollywood.
23 comments:
Actually he does. Not all the time, but he is out there. I've seen him in the early morning hours on the lakefront.
I've seen him also.
Extend the path!
Think da Mare might be pushing for the LSD extension, replete with islands, and tunnels and bike paths, and marinas and restaurants, oh my? He probably figures to have it finished for the 2016 Games. Incredible!
Sunday's Chicago Tribune, in addition to a story on "How To Make Chicago Better" with lakefront parkland and beaches, also pondered a new Ferris Wheel for Navy Pier. And of course, there is all the Olympic planning going on. Hmmm. It's fun, isn't it, to dream and fantasize about pleasantly pastoral projects of pleasure.
Well, neighbors let's all take a look at some real priorities, like getting our basic needs met first, before investing money and time on the "extras."
If there are millions or billions of federal, state, county, and city TAX DOLLARS waiting to be tapped for lakefront development projects what else could that money be spent on? Those resources would be better invested, for starters, in public education, public transit, public health, and affordable housing. Of course there's also a need for improved police and emergency services. Didn't our weak/ailing CAPS program suffer another major financial hit last month?
Trib Reporter Blair Kamin is paid to write about architecture and development fantasies. That's OK and it's amusing to read. However, I'm disappointed when we city residents get caught up in distractions from the real issues that determine whether we can thrive and not merely survive city living.
I don't see extending the pedestrian paths both North and South as extras Michael. I see it as a real quality of life issue for everyone young and old, poor and rich, black and white.
regarding that ferris wheel? Those resources would be better invested, for starters, in public education, public transit, public health, and affordable housing.
Who could argue with that. Isn't that what people have been arguing about for an eternity?
Tourist dollars, like em or not have helped fuel all sorts of things and will continue to do so. Let's take some of that money and send it to all the parks, not just Lincoln and Millennium.
Extend the path!
Exactly, Mr. Harrington. If it's not the Olympics, the children's museum, or a ginormous ferris wheel, it's some other grand project. Extend the bike path? Sure, but there are more pressing issues. Do people really believe that the city's "only" $400 million in the hole?
Well, Charlie, I respectfully disagree with you on the priorities and choices we should make for public spending. I won’t back down on labeling new lakefront park/beach development (and the Olympics) as an “extra” that Chicago can’t afford right now. That arena is LOW on the public priority list after education, housing, transportation, health care, and public safety.
For many of us in Rogers Park addressing the massive problems in the following areas actually are, as you say, “real quality of life” issues.
Chicago Public Schools: Two weeks ago I took my kids to the first day of school and I learned that class size has increased by five students in some classrooms. That means more work for each teacher and less attention given to each student than last year. Our school has seriously ramped up its fundraising campaign and set higher goals this year to cover increased costs. Also, the annual student fee went up this year and the list of classroom supplies that we parents need to buy is just as long as it was last year. The pressure on parents for monetary donations and volunteerism to help out is intense.
Chicago Infrastructure: I don’t know about you, but I just finished two days of dealing with gallons of nasty sewer water which backed-up into my basement during the weekend rainstorm. Streets near me resembled rivers due to rain and garbage clogged swears. In the rain, my neighbor Dan and I (like hundreds of other Chicagoans) spent hours with rakes trying to open them up. In other sewers the expensive and faulty rainblocker devices just don’t drain water at all. By the way, do you notice the crumbling bridges and viaducts and the street potholes in Rogers Park?
Chicago Housing: Affordable AND decent housing is harder to find. In Rogers Park it’s been documented that more and more families are doubling and tripling up in order to meet the cost of keeping a roof over their head. Also, there’s no attention to monitoring apartment housing conditions or tackling negligent slumlord management.
Chicago Police Services: We’ve become accustomed to gangbangers-on-patrol in Rogers Park because getting foot police-on-patrol is supposedly too costly. Shootings and street muggings, and where they happen, are now starting to get too predictable. To make the problem worse, regular beat officers just got pulled out of CAPS meeting attendance because there’s not enough money to pay them.
Chicago Public Health: From high rates of teen pregnancy and obesity to our higher than city average HIV rates, Rogers Park residents have no shortage of unaddressed health needs.
So, we need to set priorities and make choices. Education may not be a higher priority than parks/beaches if you have no school-age children or don’t care about their fate. Crime may not be a higher priority if you have no concern about gangs and crime on the streets. Public transportation may not be a higher priority if you don’t expect clean train stations, trains that are not jammed packed when they arrive, and more comprehensive bus routes. Quality and affordable housing may not be a higher priority if you already have a well-paying job and can pay for a nice place to live.
I hope you get my point. Now, after saying all that, I will note that tomorrow I will join the Gale Park Advisory Council since I’ve met their 3-meeting requirement. I am an advocate for the parks and I place a high value on them for what they mean in terms of serving the needs of our community, and our youth in particular. However, given the litany of the higher priority “real quality of life” needs I’ve briefly outlined, instead of launching new and massive park/beach projects the only public spending I support is to improve park programs and to maintain or fix the facilities we already have.
I vote NO to a new Navy Pier Ferris Wheel, NO to islands in the lake fantasies, and NO to Chicago Olympic dreams. They may be enjoyable ideas, but in actuality they are dangerous distractions because the marginal tourism revenues gained from these projects would neither pay for their cost nor substantially augment the city budget to help deliver vital services that Chicago residents expect.
It’s all about making choices and setting priorities to meet the basic health, welfare, and safety needs of our residents and families first! What will you choose?
I vote NO to a new Navy Pier Ferris Wheel, NO to islands in the lake fantasies, and NO to Chicago Olympic dreams. They may be enjoyable ideas, but in actuality they are dangerous distractions because the marginal tourism revenues gained from these projects would neither pay for their cost nor substantially augment the city budget to help deliver vital services that Chicago residents expect.
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I join Michael in his sentiments. parts of Chicago are falling apart. Let's fix what's broken, first!
Would Daley have me wacked if I started a Committee of Chicagoans against the 2016 Olympics in Chicago?
Should we ask I-will-protect-the-lakefront Alderman Joe Moore to take a stand on this?
Charlie, a bike path and pedestrian path (and removing the large rocks and enhancing the sandy beaches) is one thing (and I think most of us want that), but Daley won't stop there -- he wants the gigantic circus that is south of us. And we WILL be separated from our beaches.
Years ago, when all of you doubting Thomases, were singing the praises of how you stopped all of this from coming can now bend over and take it like a man.
All you did was antagonize the powers that be and they get what they want anyway.
I am all for extending the bike path and putting in some islands, how cool!!
While the rest of you whine about the conditions up here, nothing seems to change from you all, just more blah, blah, blah.
I hope they can start tomorrow!!
Personally, I would love to have the bike path extended - it's a great way to save gas and get downtown. I am also for less Section 8 housing and improving the quality of life here.
Didn't Millenium Park go insanely over budget?
We are already overtaxed by corrupted leaders who can't efficiently run the things they are currently in charge of.
No to all of it. Not with this bunch in office.
HEY! Michael J. Harrington. You fucking marxist! All those tax dollars are OUR money and you want to give them to your socialist causes.
michael,
i wonder how you will know when the time has come for "extras". these kind of things make for a more livable city, and are a positive influence. so many of the craig-heads want zero tolerance, "broken window" policing, but want nothing to do with things that really do improve the quality of life in the city.
and then there is the issue of divided government, and where money comes from and goes. the ferris wheel, like everything about mc pier, comes out of the hotel tax, which not too many chicagoans pay. and if you want to bitch about the schools, springfield would be the place. it is the state of illinois that is delinquent in their duties to school children.
and this comment-"The pressure on parents for monetary donations and volunteerism to help out is intense." i can't even believe you would complain about this. when the day comes that this is not true we will really be ushering in the bleak days that some of our bloggers fear. shame on you, just shame on you.
Dear Been There: You seem to deride "broken window" policing. I disagree with you on that.
Your "divided government" notion doesn't hold water in the real world of how Chicago taxing and spending decisions are made. By the way, have you taken your children on the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel? I have several times, and it is just fine as it is.
On your comment about the schools, I have no idea what you're talking about with the "shame on you" comment. I simply noted the reality of how the school my children attend is responding to a serious financial need. I support the school and have given money every year and volunteered there every year. I am also responding to their call for even more parental support.
I articulated some real human needs in education, housing, health, transit, and public safety. Instead, you argue with me in favor of promoting recreational lakefront development. That sounds like real head-in-the-sand thinking. I have no idea when the time will come to spend money on that stuff INSTEAD of meeting basic human needs.
Gee, Chip Bagg, you called me a "fucking marxist" who supports "socialist causes." That's a lot to think about, but thanks for the enlightenment. Up to now I thought I was just your average, garden variety, Rogers Park carnivore!
well, your last sentence is sort of my point. i know a lot of people like you, with a sort of a puritan outlook. sort of believe in meat and potatoes, and no dessert.
but human beings do not thrive on that. i don't refer to any particular item on your list. and like a family budget, you put what you hope is enough into the basics, but if you find no money for any of the "extras" art, music, books, fun, you will raise an impoverished and hungry child. we have to have both, or we lose our humanity. and what is the price tag on that?
and my shame on you comment was directed at your putting your parental investment and contributions to your children's school in your laundry list of what is wrong with the city. this should be a given that you should expect everyone to do to the best of their ability. you should not be crying about that.
and kung fu-
the reason millennium park went so far over budget is that many parts of the project were not in the original budget. like the harris theater. and although there was a budget for art, there was no planning ahead for the bean, and it needed a reinforced platform.
basically, many of the park amenities were brought in through the back door. not to defend ritchie for the way he does things through the back door when he can. just, if it was me, i would absolutely do the same. i would be a shitty mayor. but i would leave some interesting things behind.
Dear been there, You either can’t or won’t discuss recreational lakefront development rationally. Instead, you continue to mischaracterize my comments and views, and refuse to acknowledge serious points I made. (Surprisingly, you even spread your spin on my commitment and personal investment of time and money to support our school. I've advocated for vigorous community involvement at local schools in the many years before, during, and after my 2003 aldermanic campaign in our 49th ward. Since you always jump to defend the establishment around here, I'm wondering if that explains your oppositional attitude about me? Is there some political motivation for it? Or, do you want to argue with me just for the sake of arguing?).
Consider this analogy. Think of Chicago, or our Rogers Park community, as a sick patient. We have longstanding health problems, some at the emergency/crisis level. Although medical intervention has been advised for years we’ve ignored it. Now, instead of getting the kind of health care we need to survive and thrive, we demand expensive cosmetic surgery. Heck, we even insist on tooth whitening! We pull out the checkbook and take out a massive loan for this in hopes that the new gloss and glitter will make us feel better and enjoy life more. Meanwhile, dire warnings from our cardiovascular specialist, our neurosurgeon, our nutritionist, our infectious disease specialist, our physical therapist and others are ignored.
Pushing for NEW, MASSIVE, RECREATIONAL lakefront development for new north side parks and beaches (while our existing park facilities and programs remain underfunded) is equivalent to the sick patient getting a fancy nose job while the rest of the body is falling apart. Think about the ignored human capital needs of our residents, our crumbling city infrastructure, and our failing public service systems. The image of putting "lip stick on a pig" also comes to mind.
This is what I expect our elected officials to be thinking about, and yes, also our 49th Ward alderman. The choice for me on what to advocate for is simple. Spending many hundreds of millions of dollars for lakefront enhancement (given that much more than mere bike path improvement is planned) versus devoting our tax dollars to support basic urban survival needs is a no-brainer.
Someone here earlier called me a Marxist and said I support socialist programs. (Well, I will confess to being a Democrat and a Carnivore.) Now, you’re suggesting I have Puritan views! When will the name-calling end? But, I can hang with that penny-pinching, tight-wad association. Yes, the austere Puritan in me pays attention to the family budget when I shop, and I will continue to pay for the fundamentals like meat and potatoes for our family dinner.
Hey, if you want, you guys can stick another label on me as well. Call me a closet Hedonist for secretly desiring a fancy desert with every meal, some deliciously sweet bakery delight of my choosing. That would be great. But it’s not essential to the health and survival of my family. It’s an “extra” unaffordable extravagance we don’t need. My kids do just fine with fresh fruit, cookies, and bulk ice cream thank you.
Islands in the lake
That is what we are
No bike paths in-between
How can he be wrong
Sail away with me to another new marina
And we rely on Da Mare, ah-ah
From one Daley to another, ah-ah
well michael
i just don't think we see the neighborhood the same way, or life for that matter. which was the point of my comment.
but i will make this point about "extras". to me culture and beauty are not "extras". they don't call this stuff "the humanities" for nothing. without culture, we are primates with car keys and little more. we are brutes. we are ignorant. we are hopeless.
but if you want to stick to your crass outlook- culture is a business. one that brings millions of dollars into this city. the beauty of our lakefront is one of our most precious assets. it brings people here from all over the world.
if we are talking about a triage of human needs, you cannot allow such assets to be the last thing on the list. or the rest is worth nothing.
you are who you are michael, and i am who i am. we just see the world a whole lot differently. i was only annoyed at your adding supporting your kids' school to your list of complaints.
peace.
Been there seems to an inability to absorb points of view outside her own! I've seen this play out several times over the years(yes, years). In my opinion, it's not worth arguing with her because she just goes in circles.
I know MH and I know he supports the arts. BT is just knee-jerking and showing her personal value of the arts. The issue is so close to her "identity"(she is an artist you know), she can't see it clearly.
it's not about the arts, jocelyin.
as i noted, it is also about the bread and butter of economic development. and about taking a long view instead of reacting to every crisis.
it is about the purpose of government- just another word for the things we choose to do together. and what a good government chooses to do is to take that long view.
funny that the same people who are spouting about broken windows do not see the non-violent version of that view. if you think that the perception of order helps to maintain order, then you must, it seems to me, accept that building beautiful public spaces helps to maintain order as well. unless broken windows is really just about sanitizing the environment, and leaving it sterile.
it's not about the arts, jocelyin.
as i noted, it is also about the bread and butter of economic development. and about taking a long view instead of reacting to every crisis.
it is about the purpose of government- just another word for the things we choose to do together. and what a good government chooses to do is to take that long view.
funny that the same people who are spouting about broken windows do not see the non-violent version of that view. if you think that the perception of order helps to maintain order, then you must, it seems to me, accept that building beautiful public spaces helps to maintain order as well. unless broken windows is really just about sanitizing the environment, and leaving it sterile.
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