Quote:
Originally Posted by BonoboZilla
I'm loving how massive the IMD is getting.
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It’s always been massive, even pre-1950 when it was just Rush Hospital, Cook County Hospital and the U if I hospital/med school acting independently. The buildings loomed over Little Italy, even back then it was probably the tallest cluster of buildings away from the lakefront.
The problem there, since the creation of IMD scrubbed away whole neighborhoods around the hospitals and pumped wide roads like Damen and Roosevelt through, has been to lure residents and businesses back to create a more efficient, round-the-clock area that doesn’t shut down outside of 9-5. The new Gateway is a good first step that will eventually connect the IMD better to Tri-Taylor, but the key problem is that the IMD remains closed off to residential development. Retailers and restaurants only have so much desire to open in a location where the customers only come in from 8-2. Hotels like the 3 flags going into the old Cook County are a part of that solution, but they really need to build significant residential there and make it truly mixed use a instead of using it as a land reserve for whenever the State needs land in the city.