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IrishIllini - how was the south loop no mans land 10-15 years ago? It's littered with numerous high rises. Lots of people live in the south loop but yet nothing is grabbing hold as far as restaurants, bars, nightlife. It's staaaarting to turn but honestly I feel south loop people like the quiet neighborhoody feel.
BRU67 - I pretty much lived at my girlfriends place in the south loop for a year so I know there's no nightlife there. Look at all the high rises around south loop...yet can you name one street that has a strip of bars/restaurants like in Old Town...or Southport Corridor...Or even Division/North like in Wicker? There is none. I think Scout was really the only nightlife spot besides a handful of bars where you could grab a casual beer.
IrishIllini - how was the south loop no mans land 10-15 years ago? It's littered with numerous high rises. Lots of people live in the south loop but yet nothing is grabbing hold as far as restaurants, bars, nightlife. It's staaaarting to turn but honestly I feel south loop people like the quiet neighborhoody feel.
BRU67 - I pretty much lived at my girlfriends place in the south loop for a year so I know there's no nightlife there. Look at all the high rises around south loop...yet can you name one street that has a strip of bars/restaurants like in Old Town...or Southport Corridor...Or even Division/North like in Wicker? There is none. I think Scout was really the only nightlife spot besides a handful of bars where you could grab a casual beer.
Beanie - yes i believe it will go west.
I think with neighborhoods that have as much ongoing new construction as the south loop, the number and density of restaurants, bars, and shops in general changes noticeably from year to year. It's not to say that it'll be a nightlife destination for the city, but just that there's a lot more neighborhood stuff that eventually develops after an influx of people.
IrishIllini - how was the south loop no mans land 10-15 years ago? It's littered with numerous high rises. Lots of people live in the south loop but yet nothing is grabbing hold as far as restaurants, bars, nightlife. It's staaaarting to turn but honestly I feel south loop people like the quiet neighborhoody feel.
Even today the South Loop has more than its fair share of parking/vacant lots. Also a good number of one to three story buildings. Their days are numbered though. The number of parking/vacant lots and underused parcels was even higher in the early 2000s. If I'm not mistaken, One Museum Park's east and west towers were built on vacant parcels. Vacant parcels literally sitting on the southern edge of Grant Park! Same goes for a number of condos built in the area during the boom before Great Recession.
What's interesting about the South Loop is it is arguably as a great a location as Streeterville, the Gold Coast, LSE, etc., but perceptions have kept many people north of downtown. You have the same views of Grant Park and the lake, and access to downtown is probably easier. The major difference is the concentration of higher end retail/entertainment options. I have no doubt this perception is changing and the South Loop will continue to evolve. The South Loop of 2000 is totally different from the South Loop of 2017. The South Loop and the West Loop are probably the two areas that will change the most in the coming decade or so. The area around Goose Island and the Finkl Steel site should also see major changes.
I love having easy access to the South Loop. It's so much less crowded than the North side with wide streets, easy parking and its less busy I think also due to the expressways everywhere nearby as even during rush hour I can casually drive over to Roosevelt and do some shopping. I think the area is vastly underrated.
Even today the South Loop has more than its fair share of parking/vacant lots. Also a good number of one to three story buildings. Their days are numbered though. The number of parking/vacant lots and underused parcels was even higher in the early 2000s. If I'm not mistaken, One Museum Park's east and west towers were built on vacant parcels. Vacant parcels literally sitting on the southern edge of Grant Park! Same goes for a number of condos built in the area during the boom before Great Recession.
What's interesting about the South Loop is it is arguably as a great a location as Streeterville, the Gold Coast, LSE, etc., but perceptions have kept many people north of downtown. You have the same views of Grant Park and the lake, and access to downtown is probably easier. The major difference is the concentration of higher end retail/entertainment options. I have no doubt this perception is changing and the South Loop will continue to evolve. The South Loop of 2000 is totally different from the South Loop of 2017. The South Loop and the West Loop are probably the two areas that will change the most in the coming decade or so. The area around Goose Island and the Finkl Steel site should also see major changes.
well finkl steel is in the heart of lincoln park. and right on the river to boot. that goes without saying that that area will be developed.
Even today the South Loop has more than its fair share of parking/vacant lots. Also a good number of one to three story buildings. Their days are numbered though. The number of parking/vacant lots and underused parcels was even higher in the early 2000s. If I'm not mistaken, One Museum Park's east and west towers were built on vacant parcels. Vacant parcels literally sitting on the southern edge of Grant Park! Same goes for a number of condos built in the area during the boom before Great Recession.
What's interesting about the South Loop is it is arguably as a great a location as Streeterville, the Gold Coast, LSE, etc., but perceptions have kept many people north of downtown. You have the same views of Grant Park and the lake, and access to downtown is probably easier. The major difference is the concentration of higher end retail/entertainment options. I have no doubt this perception is changing and the South Loop will continue to evolve. The South Loop of 2000 is totally different from the South Loop of 2017. The South Loop and the West Loop are probably the two areas that will change the most in the coming decade or so. The area around Goose Island and the Finkl Steel site should also see major changes.
I agree with what you're saying and you just proved my point that 290 is a dividing line. Look at the Roosevelt red line stop. You literally are steps from downtown, Grant Park, the lake, museum campus, and there is a Trader Joe's and Jewel right there along with a Whole Foods and tons of other stores just a short drive down Roosevelt. Yet where are the floods of residents? Where is the Old Town wells street or Southport corridor equivalent? One Grant Park has only now just broken ground on the SW corner of Grant Park. That's insane...with that location and those views it should have been developed years ago. The development south will be slower than west.
Now flip back to the north side. I work in finance and just spoke with my 30 year old co-worker. Him and his wife just bought a $500k brand new condo at California and Augusta. Literally a transportation wasteland that is just starting to turn from hipsters to yuppies and get a few diners and bars. When I asked him if he thought about Pilsen or South Loop he just gave me a blank stare...it's a large jump to skip over downtown and 290 and go to the south side that's all I'm sayin...
I agree with what you're saying and you just proved my point that 290 is a dividing line. Look at the Roosevelt red line stop. You literally are steps from downtown, Grant Park, the lake, museum campus, and there is a Trader Joe's and Jewel right there along with a Whole Foods and tons of other stores just a short drive down Roosevelt. Yet where are the floods of residents? Where is the Old Town wells street or Southport corridor equivalent? One Grant Park has only now just broken ground on the SW corner of Grant Park. That's insane...with that location and those views it should have been developed years ago. The development south will be slower than west.
Now flip back to the north side. I work in finance and just spoke with my 30 year old co-worker. Him and his wife just bought a $500k brand new condo at California and Augusta. Literally a transportation wasteland that is just starting to turn from hipsters to yuppies and get a few diners and bars. When I asked him if he thought about Pilsen or South Loop he just gave me a blank stare...it's a large jump to skip over downtown and 290 and go to the south side that's all I'm sayin...
I didn't ever disagree with you . The joke used to be that all the white people got off the Red Line at Jackson. Then it was Roosevelt. Soon it'll be Cermak? I do think the communities along the south branch of the Red and Green Lines will be more diverse, so that's something to look forward to.
500k at California and Augusta?!? WHAT?!?!? I've seen new construction 4 bed/3 bath condos for sale over there, I'm just shocked people are actually moving on them.
I didn't ever disagree with you . The joke used to be that all the white people got off the Red Line at Jackson. Then it was Roosevelt. Soon it'll be Cermak? I do think the communities along the south branch of the Red and Green Lines will be more diverse, so that's something to look forward to.
It's Cermak already, and been that way for a while. That's the Chinatown stop. It was always relatively safe there, as long as you stayed in the Cermak/Archer/Wentworth street cluster. If anything, I'd say up to Sox/35th is fine now during the day. The area south of it, other than the immediate lakefront, still has a long way to go.
It's Cermak already, and been that way for a while. That's the Chinatown stop. It was always relatively safe there, as long as you stayed in the Cermak/Archer/Wentworth street cluster. If anything, I'd say up to Sox/35th is fine now during the day. The area south of it, other than the immediate lakefront, still has a long way to go.
Isn't there a joke about Illinois ending at Cermak?
my two cents: SW humboldt will have a VERY hard time gentrifying the way the NE corner did. from north & cali you're about a mile west or a mile south of the blue line, depending which way you go. as you go south down cali towards chicago you remain on the edge of wicker/ukrainian village and there's a bleedover of trendy coffee shops, etc. as you continue west on north ave you have decent a decent commercial strip, and bleedover from logan square that stops at just about kedzie. that being said, west of the park (and especially sw) has nothing to offer. miles from the train, miles from the highway. the most logical step in terms of gentrification would be a continuation south along cali into EGP. not saying it will happen any time soon, but if you look around there are beautiful greystones to be had for cheap, two train lines and a highway, besides the UC. the only thing it's really lacking are bars and things to do but if i had an extra couple hundred thousand dollars and 20 years to wait that would be a great move to make IMO.
on the topic of bridgeport/mckinley park/the near sw side, west bridgeport (specifically around morgan ave) is drowning in hipsters already. i don't see it stopping any time soon with all the art galleries, trendy restaurants, etc i believe it's past critical mass. besides that, you have a marianos, a cermak mart, plenty of commercial space (much of it vacant unfortunately), a REMARKABLE park in the quarry on halsted, access to both the 90/94 and the 55, the orange line, and if youre far enough east the red and green lines arent far. you're a ten minute drive from downtown, in a relatively safe neighborhood, with trendy but still "seedy" bars, perfect for hipsters (bernices, marias). as the east side of Bport is pretty expensive and mostly single family homes, i imagine the only logical direction is sw along archer and the orange line into mckinley park/at least the area around archer/31st/ashland, i imagine it would take a while for the hipsters to drift past damen. interestingly, and it's been mentioned somewhere on these boards before, the morgan st corridor is VERY inconvenient for public transit (at least train lines) which are the usual paths of development for younger people, so maybe my guess that theyll follow the orange line is misplaced. also, in the 9 pages of conversation i just read through i didnt see one mention of canaryville (which may be for good reason). while most people consider Cville a s***hole if they even know it exists, it is full of cheap housing, tons of working class whites and hispanics, and near enough the dan ryan to be given a second thought with the current growth taking place in bridgeport. the biggest issue is accessibility, as youd need to cross over to fuller park to get to the red line. that being said, i would not be surprised if the stock yard district becomes revitalized the way fulton market has (though on a smaller scale) there is already a trendy microbrewery somewhere in the stockyards, as well as a 100% sustainable industrial farm(?)/farmer's market. businesses like these are bound to attract attention, and if bridgeport becomes overpriced then next options would be mckinley, canaryville, or back of the yards.
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. The joke used to be that all the white people got off the Red Line at Jackson. Then it was Roosevelt. Soon it'll be Cermak? I do think the communities along the south branch of the Red and Green Lines will be more diverse, so that's something to look forward to. 
