Have you heard that a Rehab Clinic was going to move into 2300 S Michigan Ave? Yelp has it listed. This is the condo building where the developer ran off with the money. We are trying to find anything we can. We are trying very hard to save our little neighborhood. This would most definitely end any chance of positive changes.
(Hat tip: CS!)
32 comments:
Doesn't the sloop already have places like this? 18th and wabash and 16 and wabash?
Rehab clinic? Englewood North!
Relax, you class-conscious denizens of the South Loop.
There was a time when the South Loop looked like it was going to be an overpriced fifty-something ghetto of dry-cleaners and restaurants. We've been spared that fate by the credit crisis: there are now younger people in this neighborhood, and storefronts that are empty.
Take a deep breath. This is a good thing. Twenty years from now this will be a stronger and more diverse neighborhood than many others, today's hand-wringing notwithstanding.
Is that what that building is on the northeast corner of 18th and Wabash is? Whatever it is there's never any problem with it other than an ambulance showing up once in awhile.
Rehab clinic across the street from Ickes and Hilliard, and a currency exchange steps away. . . GHETTO!
seriously? I mean, is a rehab clinic in your area gonna make it seem that bad?
i live in museum park and frankly, i'd have to say it's one of the least 'ghetto' parts of the south loop - but it's just not worth it any more. south michigan is fine mostly, but i saw a guy get punched by a bum outside the jewel, a woman was getting slapped around outside the red line on roosevelt last night, and the crowd hanging around jewel and dunkin donuts on roosevelt after 10 is shady in the least...i'm 25 and am sick of paying 1500/month to live in a neighborhood like this - i'm moving out, as are a few of my other friends in this part of town...having a newer condo just isn't worth the trade off anymore. surprisingly, prices around the sloop are going up not down - it's just not worth it anymore. for how much i'm paying i was able to rent a new construction condo 1 bed in gold coast. so long south loop, good luck with the rehab clinic ya'll.
Good luck up in Gold Coast. Something tells me you will have a boatload of complaints about being up there as well. We will be fine without you.
The real estate market in the Sloop in still in the crapper but the retail business is picking up some steam. There are more new businesses moving in than I have seen since I moved here three years ago. We are moving in the right direction.
Jewel Area? Eh ok it needs some work but lets be honest it is the first area of major commerce for those coming from the west and south side.
Dewitt, complaining about violence and crackheads 1 block away from my condo isn't exactly a boatload of complaints. i don't mind the lack of restaurants, bars, or character in the south loop,
( things most other people hate about it ), just the ghetto populous that controls most of wabash and state south of roosevelt.
gold coast may not be perfect, but i'd say i'd be hard pressed to find a bum fighting a crackhead outside of trader joes or potash. but that's just me.
ive lived in the south loop for years - from 18th street all the way up to 13th, and i know it very well. i will miss some things about the neighborhood, but at the end of the day ,as i said, the rent prices just aren't worth the trade off anymore. i was paying 1200/month for parking when i first moved here, for a nice 1 bed. 1500/month w/o parking just isn't as much of a bargain nowadays.
there's a long way to go before we recover from the real estate collapse - and until that train starts to chug again, the south loop isn't going to be growing much.
its south of cermak you donkeys ...which is not even part of the south loop according to the poll taken a few months back on this same blog. Also, ive seen crackheads on the mag mile...whats your point? The Gold Coast is nothing but a bunch of old, tiny, overpriced space. I will gladly stay in my quite, well maintained and safe area of the prairie district where i can run on the lack and not have to dodge a million people getting there
I think this was an error, but if it is not, we need to make sure this does not happen -- Yes, it is just one street south of Cermak and this street is part of the South Loop & will effect everyone around it - including visitors to McCormick Place.
The building at the northeast corner of 18th and Wabash is an SRO ... one of the developers was the Chicago Christian Industrial League. The South Loop Apartments at 1521 S. Wabash provides supportive housing for low-income single adults as well as homeless and disabled adults and tenants who are HIV+ or suffering from AIDs. ... I am continually amazed at the commenters here who seem to want to live in an isolated bubble and not have to even see people from other socio-economic classes. The hysteria here is often laughable.
You think there aren't panhandlers or crackheads on the Gold Coast or in the Loop? really?
Marty,
One block from Cermak is not the South Loop, its called the Near South Side. People like developers & Yo-Chicago peddle that stuff...City Development maps of South Loop ends at Roosevelt, not Cermak.
Yes, there are panhandlers in the gold coast, indeed. and yes , the gold coast is more expensive, for less space. however, i don't remember the last time i saw a crackhead walking down astor or goethe, and i certainly don't think there is a lack of running space as the lake is only a few blocks away.
the loop is an entirely different beast altogether - i'd take even the south most tip of 18th street over the loop any day of the week.
and to the poster regarding the low income housing, you can hate me, but yes, i don't prefer to live within a block or two of low income housing. i'm sick of this notion that living in the 'city' has to go hand in hand with living close to criminals , druggies, and homeless people. why should i pay thousands of dollars in rent and have to deal with that? as a resident physician i see and treat AIDS and drug problems just about every day - that doesn't mean i want to come home and live next door to them. i don't think that makes me someone who lives in a 'bubble'.
the south loop has many pluses, but i don't consider the shadier aspects of some of the residents one of them. Maybe others are into that gritty experience, it's just not for me.
"The building at the northeast corner of 18th and Wabash is an SRO ... one of the developers was the Chicago Christian Industrial League"
That building is on the southeast corner. The building on the northeast corner is some kind of medical facility.
I seriously doubt anyone is renting anything except a shoebox for $1500 on Goethe. That's an extreme example don't you think? Also no-one seems to remember or even mention that Lincoln Park has rehab clinics and sectin 8 housing. The world didn't come to an end there.
it's on astor very close to astor and division-
it's in astor tower and is a newly gutted 1 bedroom on a high floor, floor to ceiling windows and all that jazz.
i rented through the owner, a friend lives in the building and helped me rent the place - it's a beautiful corner unit , and 1500 is definitely a good price. it's smaller than my place in sloop, but only by about 50 sq feet, so i'm not losing much. here's a link to another 1 bedroom done on a lower floor, by the same investor. my place is ~ 75 sq feet larger and has a slightly more open layout..
http://chitownliving.com/2007/11/15/astor-tower/
its not a huge 1 bed, but i wouldn't call it a shoebox either. can you blame me for jumping at it to get out of the sloop?
re: "and to the poster regarding the low income housing, you can hate me, but yes, i don't prefer to live within a block or two of low income housing. i'm sick of this notion that living in the 'city' has to go hand in hand with living close to criminals , druggies, and homeless people."
So low-income or affordable housing = criminals and druggies? wow.
Shows how much you know about rehab clinics. Methadone clinics are all over the loop. The loop, south loop, west loop, downtown, north side, southside. They're not marked, silly. They are always inconspicuous places usually with people walking in and out all day and black windows. Take it from me, I've been to dozens of them, because I am a recovered heroin abuser. And guess what, I live in the south loop! Right in your neighborhood! Boo!
Yes, but we do not want this on Michigan Ave !
Last anon: nobody is doubting that there are countless drug addicts walking around the sloop. In fact, it's pretty obvious that the exact opposite is true! Boo yourself!
This is making me laugh. Did any of you that are so concerned ever venture into the South Loop 10-15 years ago? That is when there were a lot of drug addicts, criminals and homeless wandering the streets. If you think that the Jewel attracts bad elements now, you should have seen what it was like after dark when there was nothing there! This area is far from becoming derelict!
Yet another one of our stellar neighbors from the Pacific Garden Mission was arrested this week for assault. Derrick Gulley pepper-srayed 4 pedestrians in the Loop on Monday. THANKS NEIGHBOR!!
A 25 year old practicing physician moving from one rental apartment to another for "years"? And sick of paying $1500 a month? Um.... I pay nearly twice that for my place in the sloop (without parking) and I'm not a doctor and I don't complain. Something doesn't add up.
Either you're a doctor with bad credit and can't get a mortgage, or you're not a doctor and just trying to make your posts sound more credible by saying you are, or you haven't actually lived in the sloop for that long, because "years" to me means 5+, which almost def. means you were in the area before developers found it and started the improvements.
Furthermore, have you _ACTUALLY_ gotten off the L at the Chicago red line stop? In the heart of Mag Mile/Gold Coast? You know, that McDonalds with 30+ drug dealers/homeless standing around 24/7? Oh, and the money exchange across the street from it?
Here's what I think. You sound like a 20ish year old "business major" brat from the suburbs that grew up on a cul de sac named something like River Mountain Ridge Trail Avenue in your brick facade 4 bedroom/4 bath 3,000sf home in a development called something like River Mountain Crossing. There was probably a main entrance with a giant fountain in a brown pond and a community center with pool tables, a fake "main street" with a frozen yogurt place called Yogurt Mania, and a coffee shop called Reindeer Coffee and various other knockoff restaurants, a Home Depot, a Super Target, and a host of upscale restaurants like Fridays and Olive Garden.
Here's what I think.
Go.
Back.
There.
The comments on this blog can be so annoying. Who cares where this person chooses to live. It's one thing for someone to state why they don't like an area, but it's another to verbally attack a person. Why do you think it's okay to make assumptions that just because he thinks his rent is too high for the area that he's a brat. Did you ever think about how much it probably cost him to get through schooling to become a doctor? Some people prefer not live in debt or spend their money in other ways. People on this board need to stop judging others and assuming things based on what they post.
You live in the city! There is going to be a lot of "stuff" any where and everywhere you go, including the gold coast, streeterville, and lincoln park. Get real....its an urban environment. The buildings at 16th and Wabash and 18th and Wabash are not rehab clinics. They've been here a lot longer than most of you. I have been here 10.5 years and in the very beginning there were some issues but not any more.
Loving the south loop
These personal attacks are a part of an anonymous posting. Sloopy should block anonymous posts and make people sign up.
Wow. Some people are so angry.
If you had educated yourself on anything to do with medicine, you would notice that 25 is when an individual is an intern resident physician. i'm sorry, but how many practicing physicians complete residency at 25? oh, wait, i know, 0. My salary is 48,000 a year. and it will be that way until completion of my residency , in 3 years. at which point, i still won't be able to afford 3k per year, because i will be in the hole hundred of thousands of dollars for funding my education, so please, forgive me for only being able to afford 1500 a month - and maybe educate yourself before making ridiculous accusations and comments. I didn't grow up in the suburbs, I grew up on the westside of this city, and my old man raised 3 kids on a sub 30k salary. i'm the farthest thing from the picture you paint, HOWEVER, if i was a rich suburban kid with a business degree, why does that entitle you to tell me where to live? this is the problem with this town - people that live in the city have some strange sense of entitlement, like they're better than people who are transplants from a big 10 school or the suburbs. I'm sorry , but the south loop is one of the most commercialized and suburbanite infested portions of the city, so get used to having neighbors from forest hill drive cul-de-sac's.
PS - home depot, target, whole foods, lou malnatis?
you know what neighborhood this sounds like? oh yeah, the south loop. good one buddy.
Furthermore, i'd just like to thank the previous poster for pointing out 1500 a month isn't chump change for everyone, and it's ignorant to make assumptions about people from a blog post.
i never stated that the gold coast didn't have it's red line issues, even the jewel on division can be sketchy - i just can't ignore the fact that there is definitely a lot more low income housing and sketchy characters in the sloop, and was simply pointing out that for the 1 bedroom rental market, it's just not worth it to live in the sloop anymore.
and to the posters offended that i correlate low income housing with crime...i mean, honestly? this is proven fact. i've got nothing against low income households, i was raised in one - but the crime rates are nearly double with them.
if i was renting a townhouse or bigger place, i'd probably stay bc i would save a ton of money , if i had a family and needed less congestion and more space , or space to walk my dog or something, id probably stay - i'm just saying as a young, single professional, on a budget, the sloop isn't worth it anymore - some sketchiness was a tradeoff for the bargains, but the prices are going through the roof on rental properties.
also - though the gold coast & streeterville also have sketchy characters, but i don't think anyone will deny that there are far less of them - and there is a heck of a lot more to do in terms of shopping, eating, bars, and everything else - that's why that area is so much more expensive to begin with.
also, it's so annoying when people start talking about the sloop 'before the development'. PLEASE. who the heck would live there 15 years ago? before development? i don't think 90% of the people who live in the sloop would be comfortable hanging around on 'satan's mile' with the junkies and hookers - the development brought the south loop out of the gutter and revitalized the neighborhood, it's nothing to be proud of to have lived here pre-development. Also, 5 years ago isn't predevelopment. The sloop was well on it's way to being a development's fantasy in 2005. I first lived here in 2003, and it was already getting pretty developed.
to each their own, i still think i make a valid point in terms of rental price to sketchiness ratio . When i can afford to buy a place i'll definitely consider the sloop - and then i'll be more active in improving the things i don't like about the neighborhood, but since i'm a lowly business grad -renter impersonating a doctor, i have the option of moving elsewhere until that day comes.
PS - pepper spray is nothing, remember that guy at jewel who cracked the ladies skull open? she was my brother's patient - permanent brain damage and a lifetime in a wheelchair - all for refusing a homeless dude at jewel spare change. what a waste.
Those of you who don't think this neighborhood is in trouble if places like the proposed Rehab Clinic start opening up rather than quality retail or dining options clearly aren't familiar with the history of this city or don't follow the news on a daily basis. The hoods just south and west of the Sloop - which are full of "clinics" and "currancy exchanges" and "liquor stores" - are under siege from drugs and gangs right now. There are young kids murdered EVERY DAY in these hoods. Believe it or not, most all of these now ghetto hoods used to be nice family-friendly places to live. However, once foreclosures started to increase (happening in sloop), good families began to flee for the suburbs (happening in sloop), and liquor stores and drug dens became the only entertainment options (happening in the sloop) the hoods went to sh!t. People, these neighborhoods are so much closer than you think! And the criminal element which permeates all over places like Englewood are starting to spill into the southern portions of our neighborhood. Telling your neighbors that "it was far worse 10 years ago" is not a good excuse for what it is becoming now. One step forward, two steps back, is NOT the way to grow a neighborhood.
This is an undesirable location in an increasingly undesirable neighborhood. Might as well put up a tax-subsidised clinic to rehab the drug addicts our tax dollars are raising/housing across the street in Ickes, Hilliard, Long Grove, etc. FYI: the Lexington is about to be purchased by the city and become public housing.
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