Riot Fest moving to Douglas Park? (Chicago, Grant Park: 2015, how much, neighborhoods) - Illinois (IL) - City-Data Forum

Drover · 05-20-2015, 04:51 AM

Riot Fest in Talks About Moving to Douglas Park

Aw, so you want to take your ball and go to a different playground? Good luck with that!

You can avoid the bully at your local playground by moving to a different playground if you want. But don't think for a second that the bully at the new playground is any better than the bully at the old one. Sure, he'll pretend to be your friend -- just long enough to size you up and figure out how much he can bully out of you. But if he already knows you've been cowed by your own neighborhood bully, all bets are off.

Welcome to Chicago politics! Now wipe the blood off your nose and mouth, put this ice pack on your black eye, and think very carefully about whether you want to be under the thumb of the new bully or make peace with the old one . . . . .

noid_1985 · 05-20-2015, 08:13 AM

Why Douglas Park though?

marothisu · 05-20-2015, 08:17 AM

There are many people in HP in support of having the fest there. I think people need to stop being so ridiculous about these things. It has been positive for the neighborhood overall.u

eevee · 05-20-2015, 08:24 AM

Screw Humboldt Park. I'm getting sick of all the anti-gentrification whiners. I get it, gentrification erases culture from areas, trust me I get it and would HATE to see Humboldt Park turn into Wicker Park 2.0. But let's not pretend that this area was Mecca either. It's still dirty and has high gang violence (and this is coming from someone who truly likes the area and would love to move back to the area except for the fact that prices jumped up astronomically in the years since we left).

But I used to live near California and North Ave and let me tell you, I used to DREAD the Puerto Rican Festival. Something bad ALWAYS seems to go down, the chaos, the pollution (noise and trash both) was unbearable. But hey, I guess when it's Puerto Ricans doing it, it's okay? Humboldt Park is huge and large parts of it are barely used regularly it seems like (especially the portions south of Division). Riot Fest gave people a reason to go to this park, to buy food from the local food trucks and restaurants, to buy booze and snacks from Cermak Produce and the liquor store across the street from it. That gas station at California and North would be packed with concert goers buying coffee and snacks. I know people still living there that saw it as another sign of the area changing for the better.

I think this is a good move. I actually now live in North Lawndale (maybe not one of my better decisions for sure, but it was hard to beat the price) and I've used this park. It has some issues and isn't as nice as Humboldt, but it is so much more convenient to public transportation (walking distance from the Pink Line, decent access via the Cermak, Roosevelt, and other buses). Lagunitas saw value in moving to this area, as did Cinespace Cinemas (the folks working on Chicago PD/Fire, Empire, the Divergent film series and other Chicago productions). There is actually a fairly mixed population here that I didn't know existed when I first moved here. North Lawndale isn't as great a neighborhood as Humboldt Park, but it's moving down the right path and maybe if Riot Fest sets up roots there, it can take advantage of the changes.

Good luck to Humboldt Park, not sure how many people will want to host events there if the alderman and people living there are going to be such whiners (and all this after they gave them $30K to reopen the kiddie beach in the park. I say rescind that offer and put that money towards redeveloping Douglas Park instead!).

via chicago · 05-20-2015, 09:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by noid_1985

Why Douglas Park though?

because theres a limited amount of parks in chicago that can accomodate a fest of this size which are also well served by transit

Its right off the Pink Line, plenty of buses, and Metra BNSF has a stop right there too.

And, well, the alderman wanted it.

Lookout Kid · 05-20-2015, 09:45 AM

I like the idea of Riot Fest, but I'm very happy it's not held in MY neighborhood park, and can fully understand why people who live in the neighborhood would have some objections to it. It really doesn't belong in a neighborhood park, as "cool" as that makes the festival. I'm sorry that northerly island and other "festival grounds" are booked.

If you actually use parks frequently and have kids in park district activities, you can easily see why these festivals are problematic. Even a well-kept field is a challenge to maintain in the Spring months, and this festival just trashed all of the turf in the park to the point that it was unusable. You can re-seed, but that takes a full season to really flourish and compacted soil under the feet of thousands of revelers may not ever be the same.

I guess the families in Douglas Park have less pull with their Alderman. So once again in a new location, screw over families who live in Chicago neighborhoods and make the city a playground for dumbass self-absorbed 20-somethings. It's not a sustainable model for a city.

marothisu · 05-20-2015, 09:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

If you actually use parks frequently and have kids in park district activities, you can easily see why these festivals are problematic. Even a well-kept field is a challenge to maintain in the Spring months, and this festival just trashed all of the turf in the park to the point that it was unusable. You can re-seed, but that takes a full season to really flourish and compacted soil under the feet of thousands of revelers may not ever be the same.

I like the idea of Riot Fest, but I'm very happy it's not held in MY neighborhood park, and can fully understand why people who live in the neighborhood would have some objections to it.

Yes, this is true and it would be more of a problem if Riot Fest did nothing to fix the grass they wreck when doing it. But they do give money to fix it just like Lollapalooza does with Grant Park.

There are also other groups in HP in favor of the fest being there as well as residents.

Drover · 05-20-2015, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

If you actually use parks frequently and have kids in park district activities, you can easily see why these festivals are problematic. Even a well-kept field is a challenge to maintain in the Spring months, and this festival just trashed all of the turf in the park to the point that it was unusable. You can re-seed, but that takes a full season to really flourish and compacted soil under the feet of thousands of revelers may not ever be the same.

I like the idea of Riot Fest, but I'm very happy it's not held in MY neighborhood park, and can fully understand why people who live in the neighborhood would have some objections to it.

If only they'd called it "Puerto Riot Fest" . . .

If you saw the park today, you'd be hard-pressed to tell that anything major took place there. If the festival took place in July and left the park unusable for the rest of prime park-use season, I'd get it. But it the festival took place toward the end of the season and repairs were made when the park was going largely unused anyway.

The selective outrage by Maldonado reeks of an old-school Chicago-style shakedown turbocharged by ethnic-identity politicking -- the kind of crap you wish weren't still happening in the 21st century. That said, my original post was to make the point that they might as well play ball because they'll probably encounter the same hardball routine eventually if they move to Douglas Park. But now it seems that "if" is "when," since it was only speculation when I posted the link this morning. Now it looks like a done deal.

via chicago · 05-20-2015, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

If you actually use parks frequently and have kids in park district activities, you can easily see why these festivals are problematic. Even a well-kept field is a challenge to maintain in the Spring months, and this festival just trashed all of the turf in the park to the point that it was unusable. You can re-seed, but that takes a full season to really flourish and compacted soil under the feet of thousands of revelers may not ever be the same.

I like the idea of Riot Fest, but I'm very happy it's not held in MY neighborhood park, and can fully understand why people who live in the neighborhood would have some objections to it.

honestly its the same issue with all the fests. Lolla destroys GP to the point where it needs to be entirely resodded every year. Union Park after Pitchfork/North Coast is a mess. So yeah, I think its a legitimate concern especially since they are neighborhood parks. The organizers only say, "Well, its only 1 week out of the year" but if the infrastructure is destroyed every year and takes months to repair, then Im not sure how much good is coming from it. And if it rains, forget about it. That park is out of use for the rest of the year.

Chicago really needs some sort of dedicated festival grounds.

Lookout Kid · 05-20-2015, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marothisu

Yes, this is true and it would be more of a problem if Riot Fest did nothing to fix the grass they wreck when doing it. But they do give money to fix it just like Lollapalooza does with Grant Park.

There are also other groups in HP in favor of the fest being there as well as residents.

It takes more than a year for turf to recover. No amount of money will fix the problem, unless they re-sod every year (which they are not doing). Even new sod can't be trampled by thousands of feet every year without consequences. Heck, I can't even keep up with the area that my dog tears up.

I'm sure this benefits restaurants in the area and brings some economic activity. Though there is so little around Douglas Park that a typical festival-goer would venture to... I think it's basically turning the neighborhood in to a big toilet/puke bowl for a weekend, and trashing the park.