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A simple way to make biking easier

November 16, 2007 / / 0 Comments

Biking is already super easy. There’s so little investment. And most people’s bikes aren’t even in top or good condition. Bikes will roll for so long before the last piece to break down actually goes ahead and breaks down. You don’t need a license, but you do need some lights. No helmet is required and neither is registration.

Buy a bike and go.

But it’s hard to go uphill, right? Fortunately, Chicago is flat. If you think there are hills, please vacation to Seattle and Portland to see what cyclists there have to deal with. The only hills we have in Chicago are bridges going over the different branches of the river, and a handful of overpasses – and these are mainly to go over railroads because Chicago’s expressways are smartly built below regular ground level.

A couple bike lifts, like this one mentioned and picture on CoolTown Studios, might be just what is needed to get half of a town’s cyclists up and over to the grocery store or music venue on the other side.

Just to quickly inform you how it works: There is a tinny escalator installed on the side of the road, but instead of steps, there are short poles. Stand over your bike with one foot on the pedal and the opposite foot on the end of the lift, waiting for a pole to show up so you can step on it (pushing it backwards) and be pulled and rolled up the hill. It’s kind of like a ski lift on a bunny hill.

The article I referenced indicates that hills are a problem for Vélib, the bike-sharing system that opened in Paris this summer. Many bikes are abandoned or returned to stations at the bottom of hills: bike renters didn’t want to pedal up and walked instead. Install some bike lifts on some strategic hills in the city and this problem could go away. This issue also presents problems for the system’s basic workings: there must be an equal distribution and flow of bikes being returned to their stations. In these cases, maintenance vans working for the bike-sharing system operator must pick up bikes overflowing at one station and drop them off at stations missing bikes – namely the stations at the tops of hills.

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Classmate discussion: The UIC campus

November 15, 2007 / / 0 Comments

I read through classmate Karen C’s blog.

I first wanted to answer her question, “Have you been to Rogers Park?” I would answer, “I haven’t” and the entry would be done. I didn’t know where to go with that. I’ve heard many things about the place, and that it’s right next to Andersonville, one of the city’s major gay ‘hoods. I think there’re some great bakeries up there, and there’s a Metra stop. It’s going on my never ending list of places to visit – it even has the benefit of being extremely easy to get to. My bike job will probably take me there soon.

Now I will be responding to her post, “UIC development. Blog 27.”

She included a picture taken from the second level of the Student Center East looking west onto the lecture center and I guess what you would call our “university quad.” To digress briefly: does every university have a quad or is that some movie gimmick featured at Ivy League schools?

Her point is that UIC’s buildings are nothing to look at or pay attention to, and in fact make you want to turn away. The lecture centers have a neutrally-appealing design – they aren’t horrible, but they still aren’t inviting. Prominent in the photo’s background is the UIC Daley Library. It’s one of the larger buildings that shares the Sovietesque, monolithic design seen everywhere on campus (University Hall and Science and Engineering Labs being the other two).

The lecture centers could be improved by removing every other column and hanging ivy or some greenery from the roofs. The library is a different story. It also suffers from an outdated and non-functional lobby design as well as an entrance plaza. The plaza should be removed and made smaller. More trees and planters should be added to divert our eyes away from the building. The lobby should be redesigned to better funnel people where they need to go. Putting aside the exterior design, the internal spaces of the library are very confusing and do not lead people to their destination. Most things students need in this library are not on the first floor and there is one tinny escalator whisking people up and dropping them into the middle of a study and research area. Elevators are out of the way and finding bathrooms might take a few mistakes to find the right one.

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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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