Sloopin's Top Posts of 2020: Protests, Riots and a "Restricted Area"

For our final post of the year it seems fitting that the post with the highest traffic was one dealing with the intense circumstances that erupted across our nation after the death of George Floyd.  Chicago certainly felt the pain and so did the Sloop.

Our post from Sunday, May 31st titled "Downtown Chicago and South Loop Will Be 'Restrictive Area' on Sunday After Last Nights Protests, Riots & Looting" had the biggest spike in traffic as our neighborhood and community was reeling from an intense night of chaos.

We've lived in the South Loop for the better part of 12 years and it was a night like we've never seen.  The emotions we felt paled in comparison to the thousands that took the street.  However, our emotions were still intense and conflicted.  Certainly the pain minority communities felt had boiled over.  But, it was confounding to hear glass shattering all around us, masked people running down the street with an unusual amount of urgency and smoke billowing into the city air (see "#ScarsInTheSloop: The Morning After...). 

We're not going to parse out the nuance here today, but given that this site is devoted to the South Loop and all that happens in it - we will say that the events of this year have caused people to question so many things including whether living in the Sloop was for them.  We've seen many friends and colleagues leave the city and numerous journalists question what's next for cities (see post from September titled "What's Next for Chicago?").  

The intensity of the protests and riots have subsided since the summer, but the feelings still linger as there is clearly no magic solution to "fix things".  Couple that with the raging pandemic and we start 2021 with an opportunity to turn the page, but realizing that is easier said then done. 

As for the Sloop, we still love our neighborhood.  We assume you do too.  That said, 2020 had us asking some existential questions on where we go from here.  Hopefully 2021 brings some clarity to those questions.

Here is to a happy and healthy 2021!