Empty Supertall Proposals

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by hjt123

Chicago isnt crowded. Large swaths of the city are pretty depopulated. And even the densest areas don't match up to Manhattan, Brooklyn, or even SF's top density.

This is true, especially compared to NYC. SF is pretty damn crowded in areas too but the north side actually takes it over after a little bit. The north side and part of the NW is actually denser, overall, than SF for about the same area, but SF is denser in the core than Chicago is. Census tract level, SF is denser than the north side in the core as well. If you go to the block level then things start to get interesting. NYC though - yeah by far much denser.

And really, compared to some other world cities, Chicago isn't that bad even in the densest areas. I happen to like comfortable density. I live in the densest census tract in Chicago (other than the fluke 500,000/sq mi one in Edgewater) and there's a lot of street level activity which I happen to love. It's about to get denser too

[hjt123]

Originally Posted by marothisu

This is true, especially compared to NYC. SF is pretty damn crowded in areas too but the north side actually takes it over after a little bit. The north side and part of the NW is actually denser, overall, than SF for about the same area, but SF is denser in the core than Chicago is. Census tract level, SF is denser than the north side in the core as well. If you go to the block level then things start to get interesting. NYC though - yeah by far much denser.

And really, compared to some other world cities, Chicago isn't that bad even in the densest areas. I happen to like comfortable density. I live in the densest census tract in Chicago (other than the fluke 500,000/sq mi one in Edgewater) and there's a lot of street level activity which I happen to love. It's about to get denser too

yeah, Chicago definitely has great street life in the warmer months. i think the bustle of Manhattan could get overwhelming after a while. the north side is consistently lively enough but more relaxed. it's underrated to have an urban experience but be able to walk down a major street without having to dodge people, and hang out on a balcony or rooftop without the audial assault of 20,000 people, cars, and dogs on the street below you.

Though i'd prefer if Edgewater & other lakefront neighborhoods had more consistent 4-6 story mid rise buildings instead of 2 story apartments/duplexes and crappy modernist towers along the water

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by hjt123

yeah, Chicago definitely has great street life in the warmer months. i think the bustle of Manhattan could get overwhelming after a while. the north side is consistently lively enough but more relaxed. it's underrated to have an urban experience but be able to walk down a major street without having to dodge people, and hang out on a balcony or rooftop without the audial assault of 20,000 people, cars, and dogs on the street below you.

Though i'd prefer if Edgewater & other lakefront neighborhoods had more consistent 4-6 story mid rise buildings instead of 2 story apartments/duplexes and crappy modernist towers along the water

Yeah, I agree. I think it's good for a little bit but after awhile you get sick of it. I like how a friend of mine described the NY experience. It's like meeting this awesome, hot, intelligent girl for the first time and your first date goes well, and you can't wait to see her and you go on some more dates and it's awesome. You start hanging out and it's awesome and then all of a sudden you start to find these little things that are annoying about her that keep adding up.

I guess you could say that about a lot of cities but it's a good analogy. I love Istanbul for example, which is denser than Manhattan on much of the European side, and wanted to move there for a long time...but I know after awhile I'd get sick of it as you have to continually dodge people in a lot of areas, even during winter since it's so dense and populated.

The street life in Chicago is great in the summer for sure in some areas and as you mentioned, you don't have to dodge people usually but it's comfortable but you still get the vibrancy feel. I do think that some areas could stand to get denser even and I think that it would take a lot for it to get to the point of having to always dodge people on the street. Even in my area, pretty much the densest in Chicago, I don't have to dodge people even though there are a good number of people always on the sidewalks.


Yeah the modernist towers do suck up there for the most part. I love high rises and everything but I also love the European style where it's dense and everything is 7-10 stories for a long time. I think that type of thing is great