Author: Steven Vance

The creative class

November 14, 2007 / / 0 Comments

Thank goodness Chicago has a stable creative class. We’re a more interesting city because of it. Or maybe we were a more interesting city first and the creative class followed.

It doesn’t matter for us anymore – the creative class is here and it’s not leaving as long as Chicago doesn’t drastically change its policies and attitudes that are welcoming to the creative class. Changing the policies to instigate such a dramatic change as an exodus of knowledge workers and artists would be economical suicide and would be antithetical to one of this city’s foundations and strongpoints: diversity.

The comments following will make more sense if you’ve read Richard Florida’s “The Creative Class.”

I think that Chicago definitely did not have to go through the processes of attracting desired creative-class workers as Pittsburgh is doing now, or other cities before it. Chicago had some already existing features and elements that are universally attractive to all people, let alone the creative class. These features are ethnic enclaves, extensive parks and recreation systems, well-known museums and cultural centers, an independent arts and music scene, and lots of diverse shopping (just another attraction to the city – superficially, this doesn’t seem like a make-or-break interest, but for those who have money to spend, they need a place to spend it).

Florida mentions how Chicago is unique because of how the working class and creative class coexist. He attributes this fact to a political and cultural solution that the city and the current Mayor Daley devised. I think the city’s existing dynamics (local, long-standing, universities; history as a national hub for business and transportation; enormous variety of people; and a plethora of “stuff to do”) were at the right levels and the systems of the city were making the right connections and this naturally made Chicago a great place to foster growth of the industries which are heavily supported by the creative class, or which grew to accompany them.

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UIC development and expansion

November 13, 2007 / / 0 Comments

UIC, in the past decade, has received quite some flack for its South Campus redevelopment. It’s only a redevelopment in the fact that the school took over some blighted land (the land and its used was worthless, whatever definition you try to apply) and made it active, good looking, and useful for living and learning in the 2000s.

What was it before:

Parking lots (disgusting)
Homeless people (not attractive)
Dilapidated buildings (dangerous)
Abandoned buildings (a turnoff)
A road in poor condition (also not attractive)
People selling things: open air market (neutral)

What is it now:

Local and chain restaurants
Parking garage
Restored buildings
Active nightlife
A road in better condition
People selling things: retail with physical stores to sell from
Dorms
Classrooms
Pharmacy
Doctor’s office
Administrative offices
Market-rate housing
A large recreational park
Insulation from the highway

If you open Google Maps with the address of Halsted and Maxwell Streets, and click on Satellite view, you will be able to see some of what the south campus used to look like. The official name for this area is now University Village. Some people are still used to the name Jewtown or Maxwell St. Market. The “market” has gotten larger, safer, and a new location – about 5 blocks to the east.

The redevelopment was vital for the University’s expansion plans and its goal to attract and keep students on campus. So far it’s working and far more numbers of people are enjoying University Village than its previous incarnation.

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Five favorite places in Chicago

November 12, 2007 / / 0 Comments

jackson park 1. This is Jackson Park, the Columbia Basin, and the East and West Lagoons. This is a beautifully landscaped park, originally built for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The Museum of Science and Industry was built for this show and was called the Palace of Fine Arts. Unfortunately, it is the only surviving building from that festival, but my god, it is gorgeous as is the entire park – designed by one of the world’s premier landscape designers, Frederick Law Olmsted, who left a legacy in Chicago as well in New York City.

The park, ideally, should be biked or walked to. One must visit the Japanese Gardens in the park on the Wooded Island in the lagoon.

2. Lower Wacker, Michigan and Columbus. The lower levels of these three streets (plus many intersection others) are very intriguing and unknown to most, if not all, visitors to the city. They can only be explored by walking or biking (except for Wacker which is too narrow and high-speed vehicle traffic makes it dangerous). It is home to loading docks for so many downtown buildings, and also to many homeless Chicagoans. For a short length, there is even a lower lower Wacker Drive. There are a handful of other things that can be accessed on these lower levels: the Randolph Street Metra station, an independent stage theater, and the city’s towing pound. Looking at the bigger streets above from below puts one in the scene of one of many futuristic movies. The support beams for the streets and skyscrapers show the importance of these lower levels of Chicago.

3. Not Millennium Park. The amusement park on the lake is quite a fantastic place. The Pritzker Pavilion could not have been better designed or featured in the city. However, Millennium Park is not a place in or of Chicago that makes the city what it is. It’s only been around for four year, but it’s also not something that city residents themselves are quick to brag about. The artistic playground is just one itty bitty parcel of the interestingness of the city.

4. Roosevelt Rd. bridge over the South Branch of the Chicago River. This bridge is the largest viewing platform for trains in and out of the city. Come rush hour on a summer weekday, you will spot Metra after Metra after Metra, all leaving Union and LaSalle St. Stations. It is a fantastic opportunity to fill up a camera’s memory card with train after train after train. There won’t be much variety of compositions or subject matter, but you will have enough practice time to get the perfect shot.

5. Madison St. after the workday is done. Madison St. just happens to be one way east of Des Plaines. It’s a major exodus route for buses, taxis and private vehicles. Its sidewalks are also teeming with commuters walking or rushing to the train stations. Ogilvie Transportation Center sits on Madison St., but Union Station also has a Madison St. annex, and the main platforms for the busier station are only two blocks south of Ogilvie. In a two-hour window, more than 100,000 people will make their way to either train station and take Metra home. It’s a fantastic sight to see so many people walking in the same direction to the same place. And it only happens once a day.

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The Olympics in Chicago, 2016

November 11, 2007 / / 0 Comments

I’m excited that Chicago is a prospected city for the 2016 Summer Olympics. I think that it will be an interesting time to live here while hundreds of thousands of people from all over the country and the world will descend upon this amazing city. I think that we will easily be able to accommodate them all, both with our infrastructure (I must surely sound like a nut now) and with our good attitudes.

Chicago is a pretty well-known city to the world, especially in the landscape, planning, and architecture cultures. Chicago leads the world in architecture in so many ways.

Atlanta is the American city which most recently held a Summer Olympic Games – that was in 1996. Atlanta received many great benefits from hosting the games: the stadium was converted to become the home of the Braves; the Olympic Village became student housing for Georgia State University; and the city got a major park with Centennial Olympic Park.

However, Downtown Atlanta missed the opportunity to piggyback the Olympics and be revitalized and MARTA, the transit system, was not improved – it hardly can handle the city’s own population.

Transit improvements is one thing that Chicago and Atlanta have in common: we both need more funding to improve quality and speed of service. Fortunately, Chicago has a very broad and deep service system – trains and buses go where we need them, and both of our international airports are directly serviced by trains that leave often. However, yearly funding issues put the CTA’s service in jeopardy and only a few legislatures have stepped up to fix the problem with public funding of the Chicagoland transit agencies.

Chicago is already ahead of many other cities that want the Olympics, including Atlanta. We already have a large, beautiful park to serve as a central meeting location for athletes and spectators. We already have practically all the sports venues we need; facilities at our universities will play a key role, including UIC. Chicago will follow in Atlanta’s footsteps by using as little public money as possible and getting private investors and corporations to pay for the games. We also have a well-established hospitality industry that can temporarily grow to meet the needs of the influx of visitors. And since Chicago is so diverse, travelers will be able to feel welcome in neighborhoods reflecting their home cultures.

Most Chicagoans agree that the CTA will need some help before we can host the Olympics, and I think many people are relying on this prospect to turn the transit agency into something wonderful: always fast and always on time.

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Can Illinois and Louisiana be compared?

November 10, 2007 / / 0 Comments

Governing magazine’s 2005 report, Grading the States, evaluates all 50 states on Money, People, Infrastructure, and Information. In class we looked up and talked about Illinois and Louisiana. Without any references, I guessed that Illinois would get a higher grade than Louisiana, mainly because I believe it has a more positive perception and we have more people, jobs, capital, and I guessed, a healthier economy.

The report didn’t necessarily take these things into account. It is “Governing” magazine. The researchers looked at more governmentally-based levels of analysis.

Bottom line: Louisiana scored above Illinois, but you wouldn’t get that by reading the summary. The one for Louisiana starts off by mentioning their huge budget shortfall ($596 million) and talking about they hold $3 billion in “backup” trust funds. And they haven’t spent a dime (well, just a paltry $90 million per year) on maintaining state-owned buildings and assets. What Louisiana excels is at performance budgeting: agencies get more when they get more results, are more efficient.

Compared to Illinois in that respect, Louisiana is a decade ahead. Illinois doesn’t require performance data recording but agencies are still required to report quarterly performance data to the Office of Management and Budget. I’m going out on a limb by suggesting that these data aren’t based on universal collection and recording methods, and are subject to some fudging. Another problem for the state of Illinois is funding its employee pension fund.

What is Illinois doing well with? Well, it’s consolidating agency functions like auditing, legal counsel, IT planning, and procurement. Because of this the state is saving tons of money. How much? I don’t know. But the summary did stress again that Illinois has made some strides in eliminating redundant IT systems. Go us.

All states and the entire project can be accessed through a well designed website.

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