In November of 2004 residents placed a similar referendum on the ballot in the 10 lakefront precincts of the 49th Ward. An overwhelming 88.3% of voters said no to an extension of Lake Shore Drive and Broadways, marinas, housing or commercial structures as part of any lakefront expansion from Hollywood Avenue to Evanston.
Still, the next day, Alderman Moore was quoted in the Chicago Tribune saying he would keep his mind open to marina or commercial building proposals.
On Tuesday, however, the advocacy group Friends of the Parks will unveil a visionary plan that seeks to change that.The only "swaths of green" coming from this project will surely line the Mayor and his friends pockets. I guess the voters don't matter?
Called “The Last Four Miles,” the plan proposes to plug these holes with 2 miles of new parkland on both the north and south lakefronts. If fully carried out, it would create a chain of parks, beaches, lagoons and bike trails that would stretch without interruption from the Evanston border on the north to the Indiana state line on the south. “Park poor” neighborhoods on the city’s edges, which the City of Chicago defines as those with fewer than 2 acres of park per 1,000 persons, would get new swaths of green. Source/Read more.
27 comments:
I haven't lived in the area long so maybe I don't understand... what is the major negative about extending Lake Shore?? I think it is a HUGE pain that there is no available highway access for at least 15 min on a good day. Getting to LSD now is such a pain when every other car is turning, buses stop every 10 feet, bikers are 6 feet into the driving lane, people are crossing the street wherever and whenever they want... If getting to 90 isn't going to be any easier why would you not want to get on LSD a little easier?
The article clearly states that there is no plan to extend Lake Shore Drive and that this is about extending the beaches and parks. What is the problem with that? There is no good way to ride your bike into Evanston from the south; this would fix that, in addition to giving people additional beach access.
Please explain to me why you are against expanding the beaches and parks.
I'm all for it...
Don't expect it to be finished for at least 20 years if it really is going to happen.
The best first step would be to get rid of those eyesore soviet-bloc looking high rises all along Sheridan between Hollywood and Loyola. Make it so people can, you know, actually SEE the lake.
But that will never happen nor will any kind of major construction project in that area unless it gets some huge infusion of stimulus money.
Blood boiling, bile rising.
Time to organize again.
Great topic...
Brian: Dude! I live in one of those Eastern Bloc buildings. I'd prefer to see some green space on the ground, though. Without question the lake would look better with that nearby (as opposed to ugly fences and concrete). As well, as Moldy Orange noted, there'd be a good cycling route to Evanston.
mindi: If you're driving to work everyday, sure, it would be nice to have an LSD extension. Where, though? If you're currently on the lake (as I am) it would s*ck having a high volume of traffic whizzing through what amounts to your beach. I'm a bit torn, though. I might prefer a mix of that and some green space to the current charmless concrete and asphalt beach.
Put LSD under the lake. That or put it a half a mile out into the lake.
Plant 1000 money trees.
If you're in the loop on Thursday, consider attending the lunchtime lecture and ask Erma Tranter some pointed questions.
06/11, Thursday, 12:15pm-1:15pm, Creative Living in the City Lecture: The Last Four Miles: Completing Chicago's Lakefront
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To celebrate the centennial of Burnham & Bennett's 1909 Plan of Chicago, Friends of the Parks presents the Last Four Miles: Completing Chicago's Lakefront parks. Architects Joanne Bauer (BauerLatoza Studio) and Thom Greene, Green & Proppe Design, will discuss planning to complete the last four miles of Chicago's unique public lakefront, which now totals 26 out of 30 miles. The lecture is free and is co-sponsored by Friends of the Parks and the Active Transportation Alliance. The lecture will be held in the Chicago Cultural Center's Claudia Cassidy Theater, 77 E. Randolph Street.
Mindi, the way it is right now we all have access to the lake without crossing LSD. If LSD were extended, it would probably destroy the lakefront as we know it. Yes, getting to LSD is a pain, but I'd rather have the access to the lake that no other neighborhood in Chicago can claim.
from the article
"Neither alternative includes a northern extension of Lake Shore Drive, marinas or commercial development"
so whats the problem?
06/11, Thursday, 12:15pm-1:15pm, Creative Living in the City Lecture: The Last Four Miles: Completing Chicago's Lakefront
Yes, ask pointed questions! I would also recommend you bring a few GOOGLE MAPS snapshots of the areas so you can compare them to the proposed plan. Don't let them snow you, they're talking about displacing families, tearing down homes and affodable rental units. Then, once that is all done, the Mayor will come in at some point and declare the whole thing a loss and put in what he wants to any, namely an extension of LSD.
Hey, I could be wrong and I hope I am but after all this is Daley's Chicago, you know.
- PEACE -
Jeff:
You are so right about what's included in their proposal, but so many people like to add fuel to the fire to gather opposition to ANY plan.
I can hardly wait for the next meeting and voice my backing for this project and wait for the stones to fly!!!
Maybe Harry Osterman can be there again with his flapping jaw and state how all boaters (if marinas) would mow down his senior citizens on the sidewalks with their bikes.
Heck, the drug dealers and gang bangers in the area do a fine job of that already!!
I'm all for extending LSD and creating new beaches and marinas. But for the cost of the mess and the nightmare it will be for me as a resident living east of Sheridan now, I'll have to insist that the City give me the keys to a new mini-yacht and my own slip at the marina.
And maybe a couple of Craig's money trees.
That or just leave it all alone, I like that, too.
I wouldn't want to see LSD extended but it would be great to have the bike path all the way through to Evanston. The city should have a clear path from north to south - the lake front is for the people, not the property owners.
Plant 1000 money trees.
You think that will be enough?
;-)
The park district should charge for overnight parking. That should help cover the cost.
any links to the proposed plan??
Be real...friends of the park? HA!! how about "friends of daley"...and his privatized contractors.
It is a total disappointment that they would take that position to destroy the last natural beaches on our lakefront. PERHAPS there is a need for public beach development in edgewater where the high-rises block access...but really we HAVE public beaches in RP no thanks to fop...
Have to watch out closely on all this as we have learned over the years - don't want a "meigs-incident".
Where is the Parks & Beaches Committee when we need them? Did yeoman's work at that time. Perhaps they need to be a phoenix?
In reply to mindi: Might there possibly be a higher use for lakefront land than to facilitate the movement of automobiles. Does the U.S. have enough highway mileage already?
To Moldy Orange- Do we need an extension of our parks when we can scarcely maintain what we have.
To Brian- you don't just "get rid of" buildings that are PRIVATE PROPERTY AND PEOPLE'S HOMES. Those buildings are comfortable, reasonable middle-class housing costing anywhere from $100K to $600K and I feel very sure that if you were to propose knocking them down you'd get one hell of a fight from their residents.
Is there ANY respect left for property rights in this country?
Charlie Didrickson- putting LSD under the lake-now THERE'S a real idea. However, there remains the cost to the overburdened public. This project is already projected to cost $400MM, which means it will really cost about $1.2 Billion at least, the best reason to scuttle it all together.
To all, here are three compelling reasons to scuttle this project:
1. Chicago is already having financial difficulties and its citizens are struggling to pay their taxes as it is- FYI this city is now Tax Hell. We have many pressing needs that are currently not being addressed, such as the dire condition of our sewer infrastructure, or our underfunded and undermanned police dept.
2. This project would wipe out our beach in favor of a park, and the outer drive extension would replace quiet beaches with a noisy highway, which is really to serve as a conduit between the north suburbs and downtown. This city and this country do not need any more high speed, limited access roads
In all, the only good thing about it would be the bicycle path, and $400 million dollars is a lot of money to pay for such an amenity.
People don't seem to realize that the U.S. is now a much poorer country than it was 15 years ago, and is already staggering under the load of record public debt. There has never been a country in the world that had the kind of public and private debt overhang, as a percentage of GDP, that the u. s. has. We are all going to suffer for this for the next 20 years, and a lot of things we're used to having and getting both in private consumption and public amenity are going to be off the table.
We're going to have a hard enough time just keeping essential services at acceptable levels, and paying down the horrible public debt, without looking for more nonessential projects to throw hundreds of millions of dollars at, and we are NOT going to need more auto infrastructure.... and we are naive if we believe that the LSD extension is not included in this.
Agree with Save End Street beaches-time to regroup and get this wasteful, destructive project scuttled for good.
Charlie Didrickson- putting LSD under the lake-now THERE'S a real idea. However, there remains the cost to the overburdened public. This project is already projected to cost $400MM, which means it will really cost about $1.2 Billion at least, the best reason to scuttle it all together.
That would be cool ....huh?
The truth is there is no REAL compelling reason to put LSD anywhere else than where it is now. The cost to everyone and the benefit to the suburban commuters and RP/Edgewater makes it a non-starter. It is not gonna happen....
Parks on the other hand will be merged and connected all the way through the city limits at some point.
That you can count on.
nc, your absolute inability to conceive of a park without a lsd extension is a graphic example of your tenuous grip on reality.
"been there" ridicules someone for "a tenuous grasp on reality." Now that's a real laugh since everything she writes is riddled with contorted reasoning. She makes it so easy to slam her.
Jeff--we want to preserve (and maintain!)the natural beaches, not add acres of landfill. Does everything have to look like Lincoln Park? I choose to live in Rogers Park because of the proximity to the shoreline. These beaches should be made historic landmarks, not "developed."
"been there's" tenuous grasp on reality is amply demonstrated by her naive, childlike belief in the plan as it is presented by FOP. "been there" has amply demonstrated her essential childishness and gullibility, not to mention her touching belief in and craving for Father Figure politicians, in many of her past posts.
FOP may have a grand vision of a park without an extension of LSD, but since Daddy Daley has his heart absolutely set on that extension, it is very difficult to believe that any plan is going to fly that doesn't include it, and also doesn't include a marina, with all the displacement, traffic, and boat pollution that would bring.
Equally touching is the belief certain citizens and most politicians have in the depths of the pockets of the body of taxpayers, who are expected to somehow come up with whatever money is needed to plug the expanding holes in our municipal and federal budgets. Our politicians naively based their calculation of future tax revenues on ever-expanding property values, business activity, and incomes, and are sort of surprised that things haven't exactly worked according to plan.
Well, incomes are shrinking, tax revenues are falling, and Chicago will be getting far less money from Washington for anything, because the Feds have an awfully big hole to plug, and no way to do it without jerking more money away from the cities, which will then have to raise sales and property taxes more to cover bigger municipal shortfalls, which won't be helped by Da Mare's plan to make the city into one big TIF to subsidize big box retailers, pharoanic public works projects such as the project we are discussing, and his vanity projects like the Olympics. That means the city will lose more tax-paying business, and become poorer and less able to pay for anything, including our underfunded police service and other essential services. Tourists and suburban day-trippers may be impressed with all the pretty public works, but people will less and less want to live in, do business in, and otherwise provide the ongoing support the city needs as its services deteriorate.
There are many cheap ways to improve the beaches and parks as they exist. An obvious improvement would be to restore the public's riparian rights over certain sections of the beaches that some apartment buildings have claimed as "private property". These secured sections of beach just might not be private, and may legally be public land, and, if so, they should be returned to the public. I'd like it if someone out here who actually knows what the status of those private beaches really is, would weigh on this subject.
The reality, been there, is that an extension of the park would not improve public access, which we already have. It would deprive Edgewater and RP residents of easy access to the waterfront.
Another reality, been there, is that you don't raise money just by printing more of it up, no matter what they believe and preach in Washington D.C. WE ARE TOO BROKE TO FRONT ANOTHER MASSIVE, UNNECESSARY PUBLIC WORKS PROJECT, WE ARE NOW A POOR COUNTRY, AND THE CITY VERGES ON INSOLVENCY.
And we are probably going to be broke for a long time. Whatever money we have to spare needs to go to essential services and to repairing our decrepit infrastructure, so that the city can remain safe and sanitary. This might be more challenging in the next 10 to 20 years than some people think.
That last is reason enough to scuttle a project like this in favor of
North Coast - I do agree that I find it hard to believe in the city that those are truly "private beaches". I thought all of the beach was for the people. Did they just decide it was theirs and take it over? Hmmm I wonder.
Just because there isn't the money doesn't mean this city with the crazy Alderman and Mayor won't do it anyhow. Look at all the money and city services spent on the Olympics already - that's the last thing we need!
SaveStreetEndBeaches
150 years ago most of grant park didn't exist and until the 20s neither did any of the lands that the field museum, planetarium, and shedd sit on. would you have opposed those landfill projects too?
the point here is right now although the beaches are natural, the vast majority of them north of LSD are fenced off and not accessible to the public, yes i can walk down my street and walk right onto the beachfront, but it extends for less than 200 yards each way before i hit a fence put up by a highrise that says no trespassing.
Fill in the whole fucking lake. Then there would be even more places for the Rogers Park dogs to shit and piss.
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