Abandoned Chicago?

[tallboy66]

Kinda. More of these I think are being rehabbed though the homes in Edgewater have been disappearing to make way for high rises.
A fire and a few undeveloped lots too.
After picking on Detroit so much I thought I'd go out and see how many empty spots there are in Chicago's north side, it took 2 days and goes from Rogers Park,Edgewater,Uptown,Humboldt Park with cameos from River West and Lincoln Park and Wicker Park.











































The Graffiti and the last 2 pics aren't abandoned I just liked them.









Creative re-use.

[HomrQT]

Originally Posted by tallboy66

Kinda. More of these I think are being rehabbed though the homes in Edgewater have been disappearing to make way for high rises.
A fire and a few undeveloped lots too.
After picking on Detroit so much I thought I'd go out and see how many empty spots there are in Chicago's north side, it took 2 days and goes from Rogers Park,Edgewater,Uptown,Humboldt Park with cameos from River West and Lincoln Park and Wicker Park.

What the hell?!?! I've seen that banana guy before but at the Belmont Blue Line!

[Rizzo]

I don't care what anyone says, Chicago really got kicked in the ass by this recession. We've certainly been able to conceal the problems well for awhile, but I've definitely noticed an uptick in blight. If I had the time to do it. I could go back and search for my photos from 2006, and take new ones that show streets that are slightly weaker than they used to be. I hope business will pick up soon.

There's just a ton of commercial vacancy along Chicago's major thoroughfares. Most definitely not as bad as some cities, but it's kind of depressing. Division Street at Damen for example. Very strong neighborhood, but alot of vacant storefronts, that seem to have been occupied not too long ago. The buildings look fine for now, but the longer those storefronts sit unoccupied, the more deferred maintenance you will see. The only reason much of it goes unnoticed is because most of the housing above is occupied. But lately, I've noticed owners haven't been as aggressive to clean up graffiti and replacing a broken piece of glass with painted plywood is starting to become more common. This is exactly the type of b.s. complacency with blight that has absolutely hurt quality of life in Detroit. Don't let that happen here. Chicago benefits from very strong residential areas. Keep these people happy by keeping the commercial avenues nice.


Alot of the boarded up residences you see are foreclosure related. Unless it's a multi-family dwelling, you won't see them vacant for too much longer. But some of those 4 flats you posted are concerning. The longer they sit, the worse they will get. And it's going to be difficult to get financing to fix those up.

[Centropolis]

Originally Posted by Hayward

I don't care what anyone says, Chicago really got kicked in the ass by this recession. We've certainly been able to conceal the problems well for awhile, but I've definitely noticed an uptick in blight.

I've seen that everywhere, even a lot of the south/southeast. I haven't been out far west in 2 years, obviously parts of Texas as well as New York City seems to be doing doing alright, but Texas is FULL of blight of a different kind. All of the midwest has been kicked in the junk, far beyond the rustbelt, beyond the cities that've been kicked in the junk repeatedly.

[Centropolis]

That's wild that there is a Kansas City style colonnade in there. I've never seen that style in Chicago.

[ChiTownCity]

Just riding through Orland Park I would say that, that's where a good portion of the jobs went... I mean it makes no sense to have 3 best buys, party city's, Jewel Oscos, etc. all on one strip in one suburb while the city is continuosly bleeding with a mayor fighting just to get one big box to come into city limits....

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

great pics. the sad thing is that the sidewalks and streets in these abandoned areas of chicago look better than most of the sidewalks and streets in LA.

[Rizzo]

Originally Posted by ChiTownCity

Just riding through Orland Park I would say that, that's where a good portion of the jobs went... I mean it makes no sense to have 3 best buys, party city's, Jewel Oscos, etc. all on one strip in one suburb while the city is continuosly bleeding with a mayor fighting just to get one big box to come into city limits....

Now that depends. Actually there's plenty of chain retail that wants in on Chicago, but they want to set up shop in the northside neighborhoods in which residents won't have any of that. I'd argue there are some parts of the city where there is way too much duplication of stores like you mentioned. For example, why does Best Buy need to construct a store on North Ave and on Elston? Meanwhile, yes.. you are bleeding population in areas such as Englewood which desperately need this kind of retail. But that's not a Chicago specific issue. Many cities fight to bring in good retail to impoverished areas.

[Smuttynose1]

Detroit lost 238,000 people between 2000 and 2010 and Chicago lost 200,000 people over the same period. In terms of population loss just in sheer numbers (and not as a share of the population), Chicago and Detroit were probably the hardest hit cities in the country.

[urbanpln]

Originally Posted by ChiTownCity

Just riding through Orland Park I would say that, that's where a good portion of the jobs went... I mean it makes no sense to have 3 best buys, party city's, Jewel Oscos, etc. all on one strip in one suburb while the city is continuosly bleeding with a mayor fighting just to get one big box to come into city limits....

There are many strip centers in the suburbs that are suffering also. Drive through Cicero Avenue from Alsip to Bedford Park. There are so many vacant spaces. I believe that the entire region took a beating.

[LSyd]

thanks for the pics. i find these types of threads far more fascinating than "oh wow look at how great and shiny my city is" pics any day.

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[tallboy66]

Originally Posted by Smuttynose1

Detroit lost 238,000 people between 2000 and 2010 and Chicago lost 200,000 people over the same period. In terms of population loss just in sheer numbers (and not as a share of the population), Chicago and Detroit were probably the hardest hit cities in the country.

Yeah but a city of 900,000 losing 200,000 (Detroit) and a city of 3 million losing 200,000 (Chicago) still bad but most of the loss from Detroit went out of state most of the loss in Chicago went to the suburbs.

Detroit had a model for a long time, the American Dream. Affordable single family homes too bad wood frames burn fast and are easily broken into.

Also look at how far I had to go to get a building here and there that stands out from the rest of the areas (retail aside) 6500 north to 600 north 1000 west to 2400 west. Unfortunately Detroit is the opposite where a new development stands out.
Chicago had to get a Trump and Aqua to make a noticeable difference in the skyline.

Hopefully Detroit will get mass transit, diversify it's economy and then when 500,000 people move BACK over the next 20 years the majority of those people will buy cars and spend money they made back into the city.

[Expat]

Interesting tour. At least these are handsome buildings worth saving.

[Yankee]

Oh man. Sometimes I forget that Chicago is in the rust belt.

[Rizzo]

I'd have to look at that census map, but I think Chicago's losses where very localized in hotspots. Some neighborhoods took devastating blows, while most other neighborhoods had very slight losses or no change, with the core booming in population.

I think much of the abandonment posted will see a second life in a few years. A couple months ago, I went down to Englewood and took a bunch of photos...man was that depressing. Many blocks were 50% vacant.

[Travis007]

Thanks for the tour. These are some hardcore photos, and a lot of character in those buildings.

[tallboy66]

Originally Posted by Hayward

I'd have to look at that census map, but I think Chicago's losses where very localized in hotspots. Some neighborhoods took devastating blows, while most other neighborhoods had very slight losses or no change, with the core booming in population.

I think much of the abandonment posted will see a second life in a few years. A couple months ago, I went down to Englewood and took a bunch of photos...man was that depressing. Many blocks were 50% vacant.

I think there was a graph article thing in one of the papers and yeah the Southside was hit and maybe a little on the west side as well but mostly it was like 1-2% here and there with Lincoln Park and The Loop 'hoods actually gaining.

Thing is lots of lifelong generations of city dwellers are moving to the burbs and the city is trading with young childless Hipsters or people who grew up in the 'burbs and are sick of that.

Most of the Apartment buildings are being rehabbed, like my old one, then being re rented. I mean some of those buildings haven't been re done since the 70's.

Blight in Chicago is like the neighbor who never cuts the lawn, pretty soon community pressure/activism does something, aldermen want to be re elected.

[tallboy66]

Originally Posted by LSyd

thanks for the pics. i find these types of threads far more fascinating than "oh wow look at how great and shiny my city is" pics any day.

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The Loop, River North,Lincoln Park is shiny and oh so Bourgeois but the rest of the people live in reality, and even that isn't so bad.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by Hayward

I'd have to look at that census map, but I think Chicago's losses where very localized in hotspots. Some neighborhoods took devastating blows, while most other neighborhoods had very slight losses or no change, with the core booming in population.

I think much of the abandonment posted will see a second life in a few years. A couple months ago, I went down to Englewood and took a bunch of photos...man was that depressing. Many blocks were 50% vacant.

^ I don't think it's fair to have this discussion without acknowledging that the boom of the last 10 years also led to a great deal of overbuilding.

This certainly contributed a lot to the amount of vacancy we are seeing.

[1ajs]

whys a community garden shown in abandonments?