Center of it all, the ultimate core (Chicago, Lincoln: transplants, real estate)

[edsg25]

One has to be pretty twisted when he actually starts quoting himself. Twisted I am.

But I copied and pasted my own response to a post I made on the "Cities with downtown 2.0" thread in City vs. City forum.

In the discussion about which cities have developed another core outside the traditional "downtown" one, DavePa offered the following: Chicago NEVER PEGGED its downtown was the Convention center to Lincoln Park. Real Estate eights like to claim a GREATER CORE IS basically downtown neighborhoods too.The irony to fight for one downtown core .... when other cities claim a few..... to which I responded (and which, though you may easily disagree, I meant. Every word of it).....

************************************************** *****

The irony to fight for one downtown core .... when other cities claim a few.....

Ah, the thinking man, the guru, managed to nail this one down tight in less than ten words. What Dave said is the answer; all the rest is commentary.

and, what did Dave get from so identifying: the absolutely best, most spectacular, most core-like core, the best center-of-everything, the true emerald city downtown/center city/core in America. Bare none. Hell, we could market that in "The City Second to None"

Competition simply does not exist. The only so called "competition" would be found in the lower two thirds of Manhattan and this long, incredibly linear stretch is no core. In fact, Manhattan never could be what it is if it had a solid core. Manhattan was blessed by this linearity because it could stick and few north-south subway lines underground and end up with everybody a few blocks away from any of them. Topography and geography offered New York a connectivity that is unmatched anywhere on this planet. And there would have been no New York without it; the ingredient was essential.

Only New York, among American cities, would find its core (Midtown) miles away from the original (downtown) core. Only New York could have a core whose main streets are given such large double digit numbers as 34th, 42nd, 57th. Only New York could have invented the word "downtown" because lower Manhattan was as down as you could get......yet along with Philly (Center City) is arguably one of only two US cities where the main core is a place not called "downtown." How's that for irony. New York "exported" the term downtown....and yet in San Francisco or Boston or Portland or Cleveland, downtown is about as far "up" as you can go.

New York's core works, and works so well, because it is.....well.....coreless. New York's non-core works so well that it can gladly concede to Chicago the title of The Ultimate Downtown Core in America.

Hell yes, Chicago. Ah, Chicago......the ultimate spoke-and-wheel, the ultimate concentric rings that would put a redwood to shame.

Our core was pinpointed. And spread outward from it. Our downtown managed to mix lake with river and a flatness one could die for (the ultimate palette for core urban development) with happily not a hill in sight (you see, Chicago is to flatness what San Francisco is to hills....and, as such, both are about as good as it gets). And in this pinpointed spread are beach (and endless ocean spreads eastward, but it is the gentle kind and you actually can build right on it), park, retail, residential to the hilt, commercial, cultural (mind boggling culture...what city manages to pack the Art Institute, Museum of Contemporary Art, History Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, Adler Planetarium into its very center?)

Gosh, I need to stop: this guy is beginning (?) to sound like the ultimate homer, and rather obnoxiously I may add simply because....well...quite frankly......he is. Mea culpa. You don't have to berate me. I'm on to my flaws. And please note though homer-he-may-be, you will not find a single insult or beration (yea, I invented the term: live with it) of any other city. Nobody was put down to put Chicago up. Heck, I'm fully aware that Chicago got The Ultimate Core because New York never wanted one (and benefited greatly from its lack)

Point being.....there will never be (IM-Less*than*humble-O) a core like Chicago's. Anywhere. Ever. Case closed. This is it, folks. Chicago's facts-on-the-incredible-ground have this one firmly nailed in place. The irony to fight for one downtown core. I'm jealous I didn't come up with that one myself.

[Manhatta]

Originally Posted by edsg25

Hell yes, Chicago. Ah, Chicago......the ultimate spoke-and-wheel, the ultimate concentric rings that would put a redwood to shame.

What about Beijing? They literally organize their hierarchy by which concentric ring of the city you live in.

[Curly Q. Bobalink]

Originally Posted by edsg25

Point being.....there will never be (IM-Less*than*humble-O) a core like Chicago's. Anywhere. Ever. Case closed. This is it, folks. Chicago's facts-on-the-incredible-ground have this one firmly nailed in place. The irony to fight for one downtown core. I'm jealous I didn't come up with that one myself.

Very poetic description. I can't vouch for its accuracy, because I haven't been in or studied enough other urban cores to make a comparison. Seems true enough, though, to pass muster for someone such as myself. Chicago ought to hire you to do the Marketing campaign for when its assets need to be sold off in the almost-inevitable bankruptcy. Yeah, I'm trolling, Illinois cities can't go bankrupt without permission from the state. But between the underfunded pensions, bonds, crumbling infrastructure, etc., it's doubtful enough people willing to pay the necessary tax increases will stick around to do so. Except for some vibrant areas north and west of downtown, "The City of Big Shoulders" is quickly becoming "the City of Torn Rotator Cuffs and Lumbago".

What a shame, I remember my Grandma taking me downtown when I was very little, and eating at "Wimpy's Hamburgers", I thought that was the coolest thing in the world. A friend and I ditched a day in high school and wandered the Loop, looking up at the canyons of skyscrapers, and walking through the lobbies of some (First National Bank, for one). I remember going to a Guess Who concert at Arie Crown in McCormick Place, and walking the lakefront afterward. But, I'm sure Detroit was beautiful in its heyday, as well. The last time I walked around downtown, The Bean had just been completed, haven't been back since.

[VA All Day]

eh the neighborhoods are much more interesting by far. Here, NY. virtually anywhere.

[Do That Thing]

Originally Posted by Curly Q. Bobalink

the Loop

The Loop. Dat's what I'm talking about.

[jonnynonos]

Originally Posted by VA All Day

eh the neighborhoods are much more interesting by far. Here, NY. virtually anywhere.

I don’t know about that. In the 40s when you had dozens of thriving ethnic neighborhoods, yes — even though the people who care about such things today wouldn’t have likely even been aware of them back then. (Young, college/educated transplants etc.)

Don’t get me wrong. I like Chicago’s destination neighborhoods, and they are nice places to live. I’m not really sure I would call them “interesting” though.

[Do That Thing]

We are excited to be visiting Barack Obama's hometown.

[VA All Day]

Originally Posted by jonnynonos

I don’t know about that. In the 40s when you had dozens of thriving ethnic neighborhoods, yes — even though the people who care about such things today wouldn’t have likely even been aware of them back then. (Young, college/educated transplants etc.)

Don’t get me wrong. I like Chicago’s destination neighborhoods, and they are nice places to live. I’m not really sure I would call them “interesting” though.

Can't really disagree with that...those type of people tend to stay in their bubble, and would characterize them as the same types to seek out the "destinations" (assuming you mean LP/LV/the blue line hipster highway areas). And agree, those aren't the most interesting places, at least to me. Other neighborhoods exist though no? And isn't that where most of the "culture" here, especially restaurants (excluding some of the more high-end spots) is found?

Maybe it's because I don't report to an office downtown anymore but just feel like I never have much of a reason to be in "the core" much except when passing through to get elsewhere.

[OyCrumbler]

I agree that Chicago has an incredible downtown core. I really like the many neighborhoods that comprise the city, but the Loop really does have a combination of unique features that aren't found in downtowns elsewhere.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Manhatta

What about Beijing? They literally organize their hierarchy by which concentric ring of the city you live in.

We should make this our Sister City!