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Old Posted May 11, 2012, 10:06 PM
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ardecila ardecila is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: the city o'wind
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Baronvonellis View Post
I'm not sure that the high line park in Chicago that they want to build would be used that much either.
The Bloomingdale Trail is just that - a grade-separated urban trail that allows for cyclists, runners, and pedestrians to do their thing. It's all about transportation and exercise, not repose or whatever it is people do on the High Line. I think it would be remarkably successful if it provides a convenient link between Blue Line stations at Damen and Western, and neighborhoods further west like Humboldt Park and Hermosa.

Bloomingdale won't have the fancy, expensive manicured landscapes that the High Line does - they are landscaping the Trail, but the goal is to make it as low-maintenance as possible, set it and forget it, low-cost.

Besides, have you walked the Bloomingdale Trail? It's not the Meatpacking District, but it's entirely built-out except for city owned parcels slated to become access-point parks. The surrounding neighborhoods are already thriving and dense.

I'm not familiar with Philly, so I can't say what the effect of the Reading project will be. From the renderings, it looks far more like the High Line than the Bloomingdale Trail - manicured landscapes, fancy lighting/furniture, art installations, etc. They're expecting people to visit because it's a unique destination, not because it's a convenient place for recreation. I don't know the surrounding areas well enough to say whether that strategy will work or not.
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Last edited by ardecila; May 12, 2012 at 8:47 AM.
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