Bucktown's six corners sees burst of development (Chicago, Evanston: lease, condos)

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by Chicago76

As far as six corners goes, Crain's still has it wrong though. Drop 100 people in the middle of that intersection and have them face in any direction at random and 90 of them will call it Wicker Park.

At minimum.

[sydbarrett]

Originally Posted by Chi-town Native

the history of the changing ward boundaries is hilarious

And it is happening again this year. This should be fun.

[paytonc]

I'm glad to see that a group with some small-hotel experience -- seems that they own a boutique in Miami Beach -- may make the Northwest Tower into something useful for the first time ever. (It's been half-filled with small, noir-ish offices since it was built in 1929. There's still an elevator operator; stop in sometime and say hi.) However, it would work a lot better if they had a bigger footprint to work with, if only so that the hotel lobby & restaurant can have more breathing space. I wonder if the fireproof warehouse behind it is part of the deal.

I used to live just west on North and always coveted that envelope-company building. Too bad they decided to sell only after the market had collapsed.

Originally Posted by Attrill

I moved into a place around Chicago and Damen in '92 and it was advertised as being in Wicker Park. I knew it wasn't, but because of that I did some informal surveys of old drunken Polish guys who grew up in the area. They all thought Wicker Park was just that - the park. Maybe a couple blocks around it, but nothing more than that. They would argue about the existence of "Bucktown" and some insisted it was all Logan Square. Others used either Armitage or Bloomingdale as the south end of Logan Square and considered the area to all be Ukrainian Village. Granted, this was just a bunch of old guys I sat around and drank with - but in some ways that may be the best way to define neighborhoods. 70 year old guys in 1992 who had spent their lives in the area couldn't agree on boundaries, so it isn't surprising that people today can't.

Neighborhoods are by definition social constructions, and as such their boundaries are socially determined. "Back in the day," people weren't quite as attached to micro-neighborhoods as they are today; Chicagoans probably replied to "where do you live?" with a cross-street rather than a neighborhood.

I remember once presenting the idea of the Bloomingdale Trail to the Bucktown Community Organization. A trio of longtime residents were the only ones who didn't support the idea -- and why? "That's not in Bucktown. If you can't hear the bells of St. Hedwig's, you're not in Bucktown." So, to them, even Armitage may not qualify as Bucktown.

[faintlyamused]

Originally Posted by paytonc

I'm glad to see that a group with some small-hotel experience -- seems that they own a boutique in Miami Beach -- may make the Northwest Tower into something useful for the first time ever. (It's been half-filled with small, noir-ish offices since it was built in 1929. There's still an elevator operator; stop in sometime and say hi.) However, it would work a lot better if they had a bigger footprint to work with, if only so that the hotel lobby & restaurant can have more breathing space. I wonder if the fireproof warehouse behind it is part of the deal.

I used to live just west on North and always coveted that envelope-company building. Too bad they decided to sell only after the market had collapsed.

I totally agree! You would think Chicago would have more boutique hotels in some of the cool neighborhoods around town. I think the hotel above Longman & Eagle turned out to be a really great idea: Sleep | Longman & Eagle

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by faintlyamused

I totally agree! You would think Chicago would have more boutique hotels in some of the cool neighborhoods around town. I think the hotel above Longman & Eagle turned out to be a really great idea: Sleep | Longman & Eagle

Do you know how it's doing?

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

Do you know how it's doing?

I think they're doing well, if you want to stay there on a Friday/Saturday you need to book months in advance. You can usually get a weekday reservation 2-4 weeks out. My wife and I stayed there for our anniversary and loved it. If you're a guest you get seated in the restaurant without a long wait, you can also order room service. I've never seen a mini-fridge with such great choices - everything from PBR to great Belgian beers.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Attrill

I think they're doing well, if you want to stay there on a Friday/Saturday you need to book months in advance. You can usually get a weekday reservation 2-4 weeks out. My wife and I stayed there for our anniversary and loved it. If you're a guest you get seated in the restaurant without a long wait, you can also order room service. I've never seen a mini-fridge with such great choices - everything from PBR to great Belgian beers.

Wow, that sounds pretty cool. Seems like they're doing well!

[aragx6]

When we come back to Chicago for a visit my goal is to stay off the mag mile. It'd be fun to stay in the old neighborhood

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by paytonc

Neighborhoods are by definition social constructions, and as such their boundaries are socially determined. "Back in the day," people weren't quite as attached to micro-neighborhoods as they are today; Chicagoans probably replied to "where do you live?" with a cross-street rather than a neighborhood.

hell, I did that just last night meeting some long-time residents. if you've been here for more than a decade, cross-streets are a lot more precise.

but the problem with neighborhoods being "socially constructed" is *which* subset of "society" gets to make that determination?

I'd argue in the 90s and Oughts it was some cabal of realtors, home appraisers/lenders and real estate speculators.

AFAIC, the only people that get to make these determinations are the residents.

And while I know there is no hard-and-fast rule for how long you have to be in Chicago to really qualify, I think most people would agree that 6 months after you move to Chicago you really aren't in a position to be arguing with decades-long residents about where they live - it's like those ridiculous signs that say "established in xxxx" that are just a few years old. You may be open for business - but you most certainly are not established (see: how many of these go out of business within 5 years).

I use 10 years as a standard marker for being transformed into a Chicagoan. If you've been here 5 - 10, I'm going to listen to you and take you seriously. If you've been here less than 3, and there are very few exceptions in my experience, frankly, you can zip it when it comes to conversations that related to long-term planning in Chicago.

In the business world we would call that "knowing when to keep your mouth shut when the experts are talking."

In Chicago, I call it being aware of the needs of people at age 1, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 +, an adapation of the Iroquois Confederation's "law of seven generations."

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by aragx6

When we come back to Chicago for a visit my goal is to stay off the mag mile. It'd be fun to stay in the old neighborhood

If you can get a reservation you should definitely do it! They serve coffee and pastries starting at 8 and then full brunch after 9 so you can grab breakfast there before heading out for the day.