The Devil made me ask... Is Chicago Ugly? (Morton, Washington: house, neighborhood)

[Humboldt1]

East Garfield Park is arguably the most beautiful and most ugly at the same time.

For true beauty go and see the Garfield Park Conservatory. It is free and in my opinion puts anything you will see in Lincoln Park too shame, except perhaps Lake Shore Drive and the Chicago skyline from an Odyssey dinner cruise on Lake Michigan.

At the same time, East Garfield Park is a victim of the 68 riots after Dr. King was shot and much of the neighborhood looks like a war zone that needs to be bulldozed.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

...At the same time, East Garfield Park is a victim of the 68 riots after Dr. King was shot and much of the neighborhood looks like a war zone that needs to be bulldozed.

Yes. This is the main reason almost the whole west side looks like it does today...

[Tex?Il?]

Originally Posted by via chicago

I have a certain fascination with the gritty underbelly of cities as well, and Chicago is awesome for that. It feels "real" to me. I think the biggest difference between Chicago and some other places, is that vast swaths of land here were heavily industrial until just recently. Look at a satellite view of the west side...theres a staggering amount of industrial land, a lot of it still in use. And I have no problem with that. But there needs to be a much larger focus on parkland in the neighborhoods that people actually live in, especially as industrial land gets turned to residential. Look at River North as an example..it was heavily industrial until the past couple decades when condos began sprouting up. However, parkland has not kept up. I cant even think of a park off hand in that area, but look at how many people live there without any sort of reprise. Those types of situations need to change, and land needs to be bought up by the city and set aside for parks ahead of time. Because if they dont, developers will put up a tower and that land is now gone forever.

I am not going to agree or disagree here, but like I've commented before in previous posts. If all this grittiness makes Chicago more "real" then Detroit has huge amounts of potential! This is a logical argument.

This is why I define Chicago as:

THE GENERIC RUSTBELT CITY THAT PLAYED ITS CARDS RIGHT AND WAS LUCKY TO HAVE THE CIVIC LEADERSHIP IT DID.

[ITChick]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

For true beauty go and see the Garfield Park Conservatory. It is free and in my opinion puts anything you will see in Lincoln Park too shame, except perhaps Lake Shore Drive and the Chicago skyline from an Odyssey dinner cruise on Lake Michigan..

I agree. The Garfield Park Conservatory is not to be missed. I think many people don't know about it because it's not directly off Lake Shore Drive where many other city attractions are. When I mention it to people who grew up in the Chicago area they seem puzzled as to it's existance.

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by Tex?Il?

I am not going to agree or disagree here, but like I've commented before in previous posts. If all this grittiness makes Chicago more "real" then Detroit has huge amounts of potential! This is a logical argument.

This is why I define Chicago as:

THE GENERIC RUSTBELT CITY THAT PLAYED ITS CARDS RIGHT AND WAS LUCKY TO HAVE THE CIVIC LEADERSHIP IT DID.

When I say real, I mean it feels authentic to me. As in not sterile. I wasn't trying to connect that to "potential" (not sure how you're making that connection. gritty is just my own personal fascination). But since you brought it up, Detroit DOES have huge potential.

And calling Chicago a generic rustbelt city which got lucky is selling it way short. It has always had influence head and shoulders above Cleveland, Detroit, St Louis, Milwaukee, etc...from the very beginning. If for nothing else, by mere fact of its geographic position.

[fine_where_I_am]

Originally Posted by via chicago

And calling Chicago a generic rustbelt city which got lucky is selling it way short. It has always had influence head and shoulders above Cleveland, Detroit, St Louis, Milwaukee, etc...from the very beginning. If for nothing else, by mere fact of its geographic position.

Precisely. The geography made Chicago destined to become the grand city of the Midwest. That, coupled with the population base built up because of labor demand that the geography created, led to an educated populace able to greatly diversify its economy for changing times (which is probably why the Twin Cities are as significant as they are, too). Unlike cities like Detroit, Chicago has long been a great financial center, due to its geographic dominance.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by ITChick

I agree. The Garfield Park Conservatory is not to be missed. I think many people don't know about it because it's not directly off Lake Shore Drive where many other city attractions are. When I mention it to people who grew up in the Chicago area they seem puzzled as to it's existance.

That is because one would be putting his life in danger to go to it from 70's until fairly recently. One is still putting his life in danger to a point going there and is certainly at great risk to be robbed or assaulted than many other areas of the city. I have gone there dozens of times since I was a child. The area is a bit less harsh now than it used to be-but one must still be on high alert when going there.

Also, the Garfield Park Conservatory is not well known outside of the city. Most of that reason has to be that it is located in such a crappy area. (of course when it was built the area was not crappy) You need to ask someone that grew up in the city if they have heard of it. The CPS has had kids going on fieldtrips there for decades. If a person grew up in the city and went to a public school, odds are they know about it.

[Lookout Kid]

My wife and I recently took her parents to the Garfield Park Conservatory, and I kind of felt like the parking lot was being watched... There were definitely some suspicious looking characters casing it out. Also, there were a couple of mentally ill people hiding and acting strange in the Conservatory itself, so that added a bit of a funhouse element to it. But the staff took care of them pretty quickly. All-in-all, I think it's really a wonderful place to visit. You just have to keep your eyes open.

[NYrules]

Chicago is headed in the right direction but still needs work. Billions of $$$ went into the downtown, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Uptown, UIC area, and Ravenswood areas, but still many areas still sit in disrepair in many areas of the city. One area that REALLY comes to mind that the city should be ashamed of itself for ever letting get so bad is the area surrounding University of Chicago with the exception of Hyde Park. Here we have a world reknowned school of prestige and honor surrounded by run down hoods loaded with gangs, and just complete horror. Garbage lines streets, buildings sit vacant loaded to the brim with graffiti, and broken windows, not to mention the lack of everything between lets say the Ryan and the university's campus. It is a shame to say the least and a complete embarrasment to us all. Shame on you Chicago!

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by NYrules

Chicago is headed in the right direction but still needs work. Billions of $$$ went into the downtown, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Uptown, UIC area, and Ravenswood areas, but still many areas still sit in disrepair in many areas of the city. One area that REALLY comes to mind that the city should be ashamed of itself for ever letting get so bad is the area surrounding University of Chicago with the exception of Hyde Park. Here we have a world reknowned school of prestige and honor surrounded by run down hoods loaded with gangs, and just complete horror. Garbage lines streets, buildings sit vacant loaded to the brim with graffiti, and broken windows, not to mention the lack of everything between lets say the Ryan and the university's campus. It is a shame to say the least and a complete embarrasment to us all. Shame on you Chicago!

Kenwood and Oakland to the north of campus are both rapidly improving... The park provides a bit of a buffer to the south. I don't see Woodlawn and Washington Park getting better any time soon, though. They are as bad as it gets in Chicago, and "always up to no good" Englewood is just west of the highway.

Now maybe... Just maybe if we had a huge international event of some sort in Washington Park... Maybe the billions of dollars in investment could turn that area around. I'm thinking some sort of sporting event or the like... Hmmmmm...