Editorial: Downtown Chicago needs reimagining. It’s OK (this time) to think small. – Chicago Tribune*

"Well, today’s Chicago is broke. And, in the short term, it’s hard to imagine the city implementing anything like Millennium Park, the massively successful civic endeavor of two decades ago. We’re entering the second week of December and we don’t even have a 2025 budget or any clear consensus toward achieving one. Just plenty of red ink."
3 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
debtsor
1 year ago

Downtown and the near north side isn’t too far away from an urban poor and cyberpunk dystopian sin city, something straight of a movie, with nightclubs, prostitution, vice, drugs and cannabis, bars and restaurants and gambling all in one walkable location, with bright flashing lights, and the other smells and sounds of a gritty, dystopian urban environment. That’s where it’s heading, a sort of Chicago’s version of 1970’s Time Sq. with peep shows and all the rest.

GM
1 year ago
Reply to  debtsor

A bit like Weimar – era Berlin, in that Chicago is a decaying and decadent place, dancing on the edge of a precipice. But unlike 1920’s Berlin, Chicago lacks the cultural creativity and technical innovation that Berlin gave us, and that still resonates all over the world a century later. Berlin had Einstein, Brecht, the Bauhaus, and Marlene Dietrich – while we have the mental dregs of a Preckwinkle, a Mayor Johnson, and the CTU…

mqyl
1 year ago

The Chicago pols have already started implementing their reimagining of downtown Chicago. As most rational people can see, the result isn’t good.

SIGN UP HERE FOR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER

Home Page Signup
First
Last
Check what you would like to receive:

FOLLOW US

 

WIREPOINTS ORIGINAL STORIES

WE’RE A NONPROFIT AND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS ARE DEDUCTIBLE.

SEARCH ALL HISTORY

CONTACT / TERMS OF USE