CHICAGO | General Developments

[OhioGuy]

Originally Posted by Thundertubs

Re: Old Town

I live a few blocks away. It's impressive how much street life this place generates. There are people with guitars on their backs coming and going all over Lincoln and filling up nearby restaurants. It's a great thing for the neighborhood. I'm glad they'll be filling that empty parcel across the street.

Definitely a good thing to get rid of that vacant lot. When I moved to the neighborhood, I often walked by and wondered why nothing had been built there.

[the urban politician]

Ahh, thanks guys. I must have misread the article.

[george]

7-22
Lincoln Park Zoo Nature Boardwalk South Lagoon






Wacker Dr Transformer 3 rubble pile

[Busy Bee]

Goodness, the things they can do with styrofoam these days. Those lagoon pics look really nice.

[Rizzo]

Take note. They can make styrofoam look like real masonry but the Elysian will always look like plastic.

[denizen467]

Some projects drag on forever, and then some just surprise you by announcing that they're already done:

http://www.suntimes.com/business/252...OLAR22.article

Onetime eyesore now giant solar station

July 22, 2010
BY SANDRA GUY

As Exelon celebrated completion of the nation's largest urban solar-power plant, the next-door neighbors in West Pullman celebrated a new life for a former polluted industrial site.

The plant began operating in December, with all 32,292 panels tested and in service in March, and final site work just completed.

. . .




--Cost: $60 million
--7 full-time employees of site operator SunPower, a solar company based in San Jose, Calif.
--Site owner: Exelon, the parent company of ComEd.
--41 acres that had been vacant for more than 30 years.
--32,292 solar panels can power 1,500 homes with more than 14,000 megawatt-hours of electricity a year.
--7,300 steel piers sourced from Fabricating & Welding Corp., located one mile from the solar plant.
--Displaces 31.2 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions a year, equivalent to taking 2,500 cars off the road.

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

^ Yeah, I heard about that. Pretty awesome. I didn't realize it was the largest urban solar power plant in the nation. Good PR for Chicago.

Originally Posted by Hayward

Take note. They can make styrofoam look like real masonry but the Elysian will always look like plastic.

[trvlr70]

Originally Posted by denizen467

Some projects drag on forever, and then some just surprise you by announcing that they're already done:

http://www.suntimes.com/business/252...OLAR22.article

Onetime eyesore now giant solar station

July 22, 2010
BY SANDRA GUY

As Exelon celebrated completion of the nation's largest urban solar-power plant, the next-door neighbors in West Pullman celebrated a new life for a former polluted industrial site.

The plant began operating in December, with all 32,292 panels tested and in service in March, and final site work just completed.

. . .




--Cost: $60 million
--7 full-time employees of site operator SunPower, a solar company based in San Jose, Calif.
--Site owner: Exelon, the parent company of ComEd.
--41 acres that had been vacant for more than 30 years.
--32,292 solar panels can power 1,500 homes with more than 14,000 megawatt-hours of electricity a year.
--7,300 steel piers sourced from Fabricating & Welding Corp., located one mile from the solar plant.
--Displaces 31.2 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions a year, equivalent to taking 2,500 cars off the road.

Given our weather, I just never pictured Chicago as an appropriate candidate for solar energy. You'd think wind energy perhaps?

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by denizen467

--41 acres that had been vacant for more than 30 years.
--32,292 solar panels can power 1,500 homes with more than 14,000 megawatt-hours of electricity a year.

It's a cool project but these stats show why this can't and shouldn't be a model that's replicated in an urban setting other than in the most disinvested areas. Those 41 acres could themselves hold in the ballpark range of 500 single family homes at normal Chicago small-lot density --- implying that actually powering a city would require roughly a quarter of its land area be devoted to solar farms.

It's a productive and worthwhile re-use of industrial brownfield albatross sites as in West Pullman, but not much else in an urban context.

[bnk]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

It's a cool project but these stats show why this can't and shouldn't be a model that's replicated in an urban setting other than in the most disinvested areas. Those 41 acres could themselves hold in the ballpark range of 500 single family homes at normal Chicago small-lot density --- implying that actually powering a city would require in the range of a quarter of its land area be devoted to solar farms.

It's a productive and worthwhile re-use of industrial brownfield albatross sites as in West Pullman, but not much else in an urban context.

I thought the same thing too.

This would be better placed in a desert and than we can invest and improve upon our long range electrical transmsion in the process, ie superconductivity ie to reduce waste and e resistance. But then I heard it was in a brownfield and thought ok get some PR out of it these things will probably last 30-40 years, than tear them down and build a park or a combo of homes and green space in the future.

Perhaps in that time frame the brownfield will clean itself up naturally in the process, but I myself do not know what kind of a brownfield it is or its half life.

[VivaLFuego]

Not sure if/where to put it, but thought forumers might be interested. At long last, CDOT/IDOT are kicking off total reconstruction of LaSalle Drive from Clark to Lakeshore/North Ave Beach. It's only noteworthy because it's a high visibility high volume road that's currently in atrocious driving condition, is confusing and dangerous to the many pedestrians headed to the beach, and aesthetically quite ugly. The project will result in a bit more green space, shorter pedestrian crossing distances... and, of course, Daley's trademark median planters and ornamental light poles.

The La Salle Drive Project consists of a complete rebuild of La Salle Drive from Clark Street to Lake Shore Drive. The two pedestrian underpasses (one just east of Stockton and the other is half way between Clark and Lake Shore) will be rebuilt. Traffic signals will be modernized, new ornamental street light poles will be installed, medians will be planted and the parkway will be landscaped. The southbound exit ramp off of Lake Shore Drive will be reconfigured. The intersection of Inner Lake Shore Drive and La Salle will be rebuilt, shortening the crossing distance for pedestrians to improve safety while maintaining smooth traffic flow. Over 7,000 square feet of parkland will be added.

Sorry, don't have any images larger than this.

[lawfin]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

Read the article closer. They aren't moving out of their current and very beautiful facility. They are simply expanding the school because they need more space and there is no adjacent parcel's to their current location that would allow them to add to the existing building.

Yep....and it really is great news actually. I remember back in late fall or early winter being down in Lincoln Square and asking about this. I was relieved when I was told that OTSFM was not moving but expanding.

[J_M_Tungsten]

So is it still a court battle right now between the residents and CHA over at Cabrini-Green? Any tentative demolition date for the remaining two towers?

[ChiPsy]

Originally Posted by J_M_Tungsten

So is it still a court battle right now between the residents and CHA over at Cabrini-Green? Any tentative demolition date for the remaining two towers?

I think the easternmost white building, on Larrabee St., is now vacant (a judge upheld evacuation orders about a month ago), so demo should probably happen "soon." Would the strike have affected that too?

That same judge also chastised the CHA for moving too quickly on the building, though (despite it having decayed into a drug-dealing nest), so the courts may yet drag out the replacement of the remaining white and 2 reds.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

It's a cool project but these stats show why this can't and shouldn't be a model that's replicated in an urban setting other than in the most disinvested areas. Those 41 acres could themselves hold in the ballpark range of 500 single family homes at normal Chicago small-lot density --- implying that actually powering a city would require roughly a quarter of its land area be devoted to solar farms.

It's a productive and worthwhile re-use of industrial brownfield albatross sites as in West Pullman, but not much else in an urban context.

Wel'll get it worrked out eventually though. I'm hoping solar shingles and masonry will come out on the market eventually to make the outer skin a power generator without actually looking like one.

[denizen467]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

it's a high visibility high volume road that's currently in atrocious driving condition, is confusing and dangerous to the many pedestrians headed to the beach, and aesthetically quite ugly.

Forgive me for being underwhelmed, but .. Hello?!?

The words atrocious, confusing, dangerous, and ugly can all be applied in much greater helpings (as can unnecessarily-congested) to many other intersections or stretches, both downtown and around the city. The recently-discussed Oak/Michigan is just one, and Elston/Fullerton/Damen is another. May I also suggest that NB LSD is regularly ridiculously clogged just before the Belmont exit, something that could easily be alleviated by creating a long, double-lane off-ramp for Belmont, maybe even with another lane for bus priority. I would be happy to compile a nice long list and mail it to CDOT.

This stretch of LaSalle is, honestly, basically a glorified on-ramp / off-ramp for LSD, so I don't see much priority in beautifying it as it stands. Safety of the thousands of beachgoers could be achieved by much simpler means, like a ped path / underpass nearby (see, e.g., Museum Campus).

How could this be a priority? Is this an aldermanic clout thing?

[Nowhereman1280]

^^^ This is a "50+ year old infrastructure needs to be replaced before it falls apart and IDOT/DOT has funded it" project... Yes Michigan and Oak and few other places need to be replaced, but this stretch of road is right up there with it. The DOT can't fund everything, but this is certainly a project that needs to get done. I believe that Michigan and Oak won't get rebuilt until they are ready to completely restructure LSD in that area (the whole interchange needs to be replaced) which is a HUGE project that might also involve rerouting LSD and back filling the lake. Is it really that hard to imagine that such a project might take a little longer to get funding for and plan out?

[denizen467]

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

Is it really that hard to imagine that such a project might take a little longer to get funding for and plan out?

Exactly the point - the greater LSD/Oak Street Beach project is such a huge project that it's many years out (then, just add on 2 decades for environmental approvals). Time to do some band-aid or limited-scope work on Michigan/Oak (dollarwise comparable to or less than this LaSalle project), even if it will be mooted later. Same idea as the Eisenhower Expressway resurfacing going on now: A complete rebuild is expected before long, but they went ahead to resurface an incredibly long stretch anyway because it was way overdue.

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280

Yes Michigan and Oak and few other places need to be replaced

A few?? In the whole city?

[Nowhereman1280]

Originally Posted by denizen467

A few?? In the whole city?

Yeah, I would actually say there are only a few place in the city that are so outdated and decrepit that they could compete with this section of roadway. Especially when you take into consideration that a lot of the infrastructure that is this bad is in parts of the city with far less traffic.

[denizen467]

^ An incomprehensible statement from someone who is not a cabbie or a cop. The city is spectacularly vast, and also massive traffic occurs in locations throughout it, not just downtown or along the lakefront.

This section of LaSalle has some awful stretches of pavement, but generally they are not bomb-blast potholes and could be addressed by resurfacing. If the underbed is shot and there is a life-span economic argument to completely rebuild it, then I understand that part (but not the planters). But it's not a more urgent situation than other places I know. Unless Jaguar or Lexus repair costs are considered in weighting these decisions.