Since the end of the year is rapidly approaching and various news sources are looking back at the decade, we figured it's a good time to have a post about what this decade has meant for the Sloop. Although the neighborhood has been around for a long long time, it probably can be argued that this past decade was one of the most transformative ones for the Sloop.
With the real estate boom, came a big boom in buildings and high-rises in the South Loop. With this came more people, shops and restaurants. The neighborhood looks much different then it did in 2000.
We know some readers have been in the neighborhood for a long time and some are relatively new, so we wanted to open up this post and have people comment on what they liked or didn't like about all that has transpired over the past ten years within the Sloop. We also encourage people to predict what will happen in the next ten. So here is our take:
Looking Back
We like that the neighborhood is increasingly becoming a desirable residential neighborhood. In our opinion it's a great hybrid of downtown living mixed with the characteristics of a calm and peaceful residential neighborhood. We like how the character of the neighborhood continues to evolve and is hard to stereotype. We like that the neighborhood is diverse. Go to Jewel on Roosevelt and Wabash and you will see all walks of life. We like that there are more and more artsy college students shooting movies in our allies, we like that there are more and more families playing with their dogs and kids in the South part of Grant Park. We like that Mayor Daley moved into our hood. We like that we can live so close to the lake and world class museums. We like a lot of things about this neighborhood.
Looking Forward
We're excited for the next 10 years in the Sloop. We predict that we will have two more El stops at Cermak and 18th. We predict that Cermak will evolve into a major retail/restaurant corridor that will bridge McCormick Place to Chinatown. We predict that Roosevelt Road will increasingly become a headache in regard to traffic congestion. We predict that there will be plans to house Obama's presidential library/museum in our hood (ok, this might be a long shot, but it seems like a good fit to us). We predict we will have a new NFL football coach in the Sloop (probably within the first year of the new decade). We predict that at least one more residential high rise will be built on Roosevelt Road east of Michigan by 2020. We predict that the neighborhood will continue to grow, but at a much slower pace then we saw this last decade.
So please look back and look forward and let us know what you think about the Sloop!
(image from chicagoreader.com)
6 comments:
Comments on your predictions.
We predict that we will have two more El stops at Cermack and 18th.
I still don't see the need for 2 EL stops within four blocks of each other, or for that matter a stop at Cermack which you'd be able to see from the Chinatown stop. But, I also hope we get at least one in the Sloop EL wasteland.
We predict that Cermack will evolve into a major retail/restaurant corridor that will bridge McCormick Place to Chinatown.
I don't see this one happening. The south loop seems to have stalled at about 18th (I know, with a few outposts further south) and there is just too much junk that would need to be cleaned out first. The restaurants we already have in the south end of the Sloop seem to be struggling, and I predict that a lot of them will be empty storefronts soon.
We predict that Roosevelt Road will increasingly become a headache in regard to traffic congestion.
No need for a prediction here - its already impossible on weekends unless you know the secret routes, and the new stoplight at the Roosevelt Collection doesn't help things any.
We predict that there will be plans to house Obama's presedential library/museum in our hood.
I think Hyde Park has this sewn up.
We predict we will have a new NFL football coach in the Sloop (probably within the first year of the new decade).
No brainer here!
We predict that at least one more residential high rise will be built on Roosevelt Road east of Michigan by 2020.
Probably, but there is a lot of inventory to sell first. I think this will be at least 5 years out.
We predict that the neighborhood will continue to grow, but at a much slower pace then we saw this last decade.
I predict we'll see a lot of shuttered local businesses before things get better. There are at least four empty storefronts in the 500 block of Dearborn (5 if you count the underutilized Chase ATM location), and several others down there look shakey. I would further predict that the last of the booksellers will soon be gone, I don't see any way they can hold on in this new online era.
I would like to add a prediction that one of the three grocery stores won't make it, and I'll place my bet on the Dominicks.
Cermak and Jewel.
Not trying to be mean, but these just jumped out from the text.
My anonymous best wishes to South Loop in the next decade, and to you Sloopy.
The neighborhood will become more gentrified, whiter, with a mix of students to make it looks as if it's diverse. There will be more high-rises, more modernism, and it will become ever more antiseptic.
The artists and the odd will move South and West, or both.
As long as there's a Printer's Row Book Fair, expect Sandmeyer to stay in the area. I'd venture a guess that the owners of this shop have an excellent long-term lease on their space or the own the property outright.
The "rare book" dealer on the East side of Dearborn does big business internationally/online and will maintain his storefront regardless of local economics.
The prospect of one of our local chain grocers going under seems a little far fetched.
Airlines tickets are really unpredictable.Can you give me some details about cheap first class airline tickets .As i have seen Sometimes the prices are so high and sometimes we get it for a cheap deal. Last month i booked a few tickets for a very high price even though when I booked 2 months in advance. Again, one of my friend booked his ticket in the same flight on the same date and he got it at a cheaper price. i was so surprised. You know, booking flight tickets is just like gambling. What do you say?
Airlines tickets are really unpredictable.Can you give me some details about cheap first class airline tickets .As i have seen Sometimes the prices are so high and sometimes we get it for a cheap deal. Last month i booked a few tickets for a very high price even though when I booked 2 months in advance. Again, one of my friend booked his ticket in the same flight on the same date and he got it at a cheaper price. i was so surprised. You know, booking flight tickets is just like gambling. What do you say?
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