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It is pretty neat. It's cool driving down the interstate and seeing a train right at your level
It's efficient to have transit run in the middle of the freeway, but it doesn't make for very pleasant waits at the station. Also it doesn't support transit-oriented development as well as stations elsewhere. Still, I think Philadelphia's transit system is better than people realize.
It's efficient to have transit run in the middle of the freeway, but it doesn't make for very pleasant waits at the station. Also it doesn't support transit-oriented development as well as stations elsewhere. Still, I think Philadelphia's transit system is better than people realize.
Philadelphia has plenty of other stations not in the center of a freeway to build TOD... haha. TOD can still be built around stations in the center of a freeway as well.
i believe 3 expressways have centrally mounted, at times elevated portions of the cta running along in-betweeen inbound and outbound lanes of the kennedy, eisenhower and the dan ryan. stevenson and edens however dont have or contain cta branches within their right of way.
chicago will continue to expand that much is certain. downtown will continue to beautify and densify. the question remains if interconnecting public mass transit to lakefront attractions museums and retail will continue and bolster the growth of communities like streeterville, river north and near south loop?
observing chicagos history of seperating certain things on an epic scale, this is a long standing tradition that should continue to be honored. Its obvious from regional planning forecasts that LSD traffic will increase, but its infractructure is incapable of handling the increase. id like to see a reduction of the current LSD to include a street car and less lanes and an expansion of express-only lanes to seperate commercial n/s traffic from tourist or regular commuter traffic. expanded use of the lakefront should be embraced not shunned. routing or actual specifics of where these new lanes should go i havent created yet, sorry im a bit sick with the flu so my response is limited. when i recover i intend on elaborating.
I'd like to see most of what you're saying, but also putting in more streetlights (so pretty much no more expressway unless it's below grade somehow). Traffic can be re-routed and mass transit can be prioritized.
Location: East Central Pennsylvania/ Chicago for 6yrs.
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I like Navy Pier. I can't imagine Chicago without Navy Pier and Millennium Park now? Chicago is evolving to more and More. The valid title of... The Most American City.
I'm from Philadelphia but lived in Chicago for awhile. Philadelphia seems more sociable in its downtown core. Chicago's loop area is more business towers etc and perhaps a little boring for a city that size. Throughout center city Philadelphia people live throughout it. If you take away Chicago's skyscrapers in its downtown it don't feel much bigger than Philadelphia's downtown which stretches 30 city blocks from 30th street Amtrak station to the water front. Also downtown Philly stretches from the art museum area to south st is pretty big. I walked from the business section of the loop to north Michigan ave aka the magnificent mile. I really thought Chicago's downtown would be bigger before I moved there. Chicagos downtown feels bigger than Philly because of the wider streets and skyscrapers. But Chicago does not dwarf Philly. People from Chicago are also delusional in thinking it compares to NYC.
Chicago is a big deal ...but you will feel completely like a tourist all the time while you are there. I wish Chicago had an epic center like times square or Piccadilly circus in London. Its more sophisticated than Philly but not as socialable. Chicago has a great shopping area in magnificent mile...and several things to do...the buildings are a bit spread out. Comparing Chicago and Philly is not 100% fair. Chicago has more historical wealth and you can see it along lake shore drive. Chicago is better compared to Toronto just as NYC is better compared to London.
These are really two examples of two completely different types of downtowns. Chicago has the grand feeling with the amazing bridges and river running through it. And with the lake and L running.
Philadelphia has the colonial streets mixed in with skyscrapers. Quaint sidewalks, great examples of mixed use, parks like Rittenhouse. Cool hoods from Old City to Fitler Square to Chinatown.
If I had to vote, I'd choose Center City, but I love the Loop!
Unlike Chicago which attracts people in the summer Center City Philly takes a big hit in the summer as alot of the citys vibrancy gets redirected to the beaches of NJ and Delaware.
Philly is noticeably quieter in the summer and you have to take points for that imo.
Center City taken from atop new 750' FMC Tower in University City
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