A Tale of Two Exurbs

Interesting article in The American Prospect about new urbanism and the right (and wrong) way to build suburbia.

A Tale of Two Exurbs
http://prospect.org/cs/articles?article=a_tale_of_two_exurbs

This article fits nicely with Christopher Leinberger's Atlantic Monthly article I cited last year (and actually quotes Leinberger.)

Another Great Atlantic Monthly Article

I just love the Atlantic Monthly. Not only does it have a great stable of bloggers who I follow, but a bunch of interesting long-form articles as well. This month has an article by Richard Florida, who is famous for popularizing the idea of the "creative class".

Interesting thesis in the article that the current economic crisis will have the long-term effect of remodeling the economic landscape. He also argues that dense, walkable urban areas will prosper, since these areas are desirable for "creative class" types. Good news for the Chicago metro area in general and particularly for the city of Chicago. Not so great news for Detroit and possibly Las Vegas. It dovetails nicely with "The Next Slum?" article from last year's Atlantic.

I should probably get a subscription to the magazine.

More Transit Woes

Ridership on public transit in Chicago is up 10% this year thanks to high gas prices. Great news for the CTA right? Unfortunately, the increase in ridershp is only exacerbating the financial problems at the chronically underfunded agency. You'd think that now would be precisely the time for this city, state, and country to be investing in better public transit. You'd be wrong.

Our inept and corrupt political culture at the state and local level seems to know no limits. Our current governor, a Democrat, is largely ineffective, as well as likely a criminal. Our prior governor, a Republican, is a convicted criminal. Mayor Daley, much as there is to admire about him, presides over a system of graft and cronyism. Then add in the perpetual city versus suburb tug-of-war on top of everything else. Its a wonder that anything gets done.

End of White Flight?

There's an interesting article in the latest New Republic that uses Chicago as a central example. It's more data that shows the revitalization of centralv cities and their increasing desirability to affluent (predominantly) white families. The American model of poor in the center and wealthy on the periphery is gradually reorienting itself towards the European model which is the opposite. I've personally noticed the changing demographics of Chicago in my time living here since 1992. Taking this trend to the extreme, you have the possibility of slums migrating to the exurbs.

Now, its doubtful that, even over the long run, all the suburbs will go into terminal decline. For one thing, Chicago is blessed with a good radial transit system that allows people to live far from the central city and still commute into the central business district relatively easily. It also allows people like me to do the reverse commute from the city (and inner burbs) out to the outer suburbs. Still, the revitalization of Chicago is a trend I'm happy to see, and it'll be very interesting to watch the progress over the next few decades.

New Census Estimates

The latest annual census estimates are out and for the first time this decade, Chicago is estimated to have gained population, a fairly modest 0.3% or 8,000 individuals. Of course, the actual hard count will have to wait for two more years. The last census count of 2000 showed an increase in Chicago's population contrary to prior estimates of population decrease.

After seeing all the high rises being constructed in Chicago its hard to believe that Chicago has lost an estimated 60,000 residents since 2000, but apparently a lot of the non high-rise neighborhoods are losing population to the burbs. Poor and moderate income families are being pushed out and replaced by yuppies (who have fewer children). Demographic geek that I am, I'm looking forward to 2010 (or actually 2011) to see the census results. I'll be very curious to see if high fuel prices and renewed interest in urban living result in real population shifts or not.

Suburbia, the next Slum?

There's this great article in the March 2008 Atlantic Monthly called The Next Slum?.

The premise of the article is that due to long-term economic and demographic changes, suburbs, or more precisely exurban auto-centric suburbs, will undergo economic decline while central cities and urban suburbs with walkable neighborhoods and rail transit will prosper.

The Wire

My most recent TV discovery is the HBO series The Wire. Yes, I know, its been around for years, but not being much of a tv watcher it takes me a while to catch on. Kelly and I didn't start watching Friends until after the series ended. Anyway, a few months back I read Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets which was written by David Simon who is also the creator of The Wire. I've been hooked on his dreary and depressing vision of inner city Baltimore ever since. Living right next to a poverty-stricken Chicago neighborhood, his writing seems like a small window into that world. Our long dormant Netflix cue is revving up.

Iphone Update

I've had the Iphone for a while now.

Verdict: Its great, I think its worth every penny we paid for it. Once a new upgrade is released, I think I'll buy one for Kelly. I don't listen to music all that much, an occasional audiobook maybe, but I use the web browser all the time. I'm fairly impatient, and I always find getting annoyed waiting in line, on the phone, at a restaurant, or whatever, and now I have something to keep me busy during those times. Kelly appreciates the phone because I no longer bug her (as much) to hurry up all the time. The camera is okay, not great, but its a big improvement over my previous phone camera (ie: I didn't have one).

Additionally, Apple stock is going through the roof, partly due to the iphone, so that's a bit of a bonus.

(Many) Tall Buildings

On a more positive note, one of the reasons I love being in (okay, technically close to) Chicago is the skyline. Growing up in Alabama, there was no such thing as a "skyline". Chicago's skyline is, arguably, the best in the country.



Of course everyone knows about the Sears Tower, America's tallest building. What most people don't know is that we also have the 3rd (John Hancock) and 4th (Aon Center) tallest buildings (4th and 5th if you include the WTC). Currently under construction are three more 1000+ ft skyscrapers including the 2000 ft Chicago Spire, which will be the second tallest building in the world when completed. (Only Burj Dubai, under construction in Dubai, UAE will be taller at 2684 ft.)



The other two skyscrapers are the Trump Tower Chicago and Waterview Tower. I can't wait to see the Chicago skyline when these three skyscrapers are built. It should look something like this.

Homicide: Life (and Death) on the Street

Life in Oak Park is generally tranquil for us, however, occasional incidents occur which remind us that we are not completely insulated from "big city" crime. In the early morning of September 12th, a murder took place several blocks from our house. All the facts are not known yet, but so far we know that the victim was a gang member with numerous convictions and was presumably killed as the result of gang warfare occuring in Chicago. Division Street is one of the thoroughfares connecting Oak Park with Chicago. Apparently gang members based Chicago decided to drive (with the victim) on Division St into Oak Park where they committed the murder.

In one sense, the details of the murder are reassuring: the shooting took place at 2:30 AM, the victim was not a resident of Oak Park minding his/her own business, and the crime seems to originate from Chicago-based crime/criminals. Nonetheless, the close proximity in itself is obviously quite worrisome. The shooting took place across the street from Taylor Park, where Julia goes to play in a totlot. I can't imagine what I would be feeling had the criminals chosen my street to commit their crime.

Living next to a low socioeconomic/high crime urban neighborhood is simply a fact of life in Oak Park. You do what you can to insulate yourself and especially your family, but obviously there are limits to what you can do, short of moving out.

El of a Trip

Last weekend, I finally got around to doing something that I've always wanted to do, but never seemed to have the time for. I spent an afternoon riding the El, and exploring Chicago. The El, for those who don't know, is the train/subway of Chicago. Its called the El, because for the most part, it is elevated on steel tracks above ground level. Riding twenty feet above the ground gives you a good view of the city, unlike riding underground, so its kinda like a cheap sightseeing tour of Chicago.

I started at the Harlem Ave stop of the Green line, which is only a mile or so from our house (and a few blocks from our old apartment). The train traveled eastward through Oak Park and the west side of Chicago. From the relatively affluent burbs, the transition to the west side is dramatic. Large swaths of the west side have been economically devastated for decades. You get a good view of this from the El. Blocks of dilapidated housing, empty factories which used to teem with employees now sit silently while covered with graffitti. Its only a few blocks from our house, but it feels like another world.

The closer we get to the Loop, you see more and more signs of gentrification and urban renewal. The economic boom of the nineties was good for the city. There's been major reinvestment taking place on the near west side, and if trends continue, gentrification should steadily progress westward and may eventually reach all the way to Oak Park.

After twenty minutes, we've covered 8 miles and have entered the Loop, the heart of the city and neighborhood of skyscrapers. I transfer to the Red line at State street and head north. The Red line is actually a subway in the loop. After a few stops it emerges aboveground just past North Avenue. The North side of Chicago, especially close to the lakefront, is full of expensive, trendy housing, both modern highrises as well as vintage walk-ups. We pass over streets full of shops, cafes, and restaurants. Its a striking contrast to the west side. The train is full of people wearing Cubs paraphanelia, as its game day at Wrigley Field. At the Addison Street stop, the Cubs fans disembark, and there's empty seats available finally.

As the train continues north, the neighborhoods below become a little less tony and a little more gritty, although nowhere to the same degree as the hard-luck west side. After about 9 miles, we enter Evanston, the first suburb north of Chicago. Evanston is a lot like Oak Park, but bigger, and wth a lake front view. I exit the El at Main Street, and walk around aimlessly. I know there's a Chipotle somwhere in Evanston, but I don't know exactly where. After wandering around aimless, I settle for a a Starbucks. It would have been nice to have an iphone at this point, but that's the subject for another post.

Refreshed from a frappucino (bought with my Starbucks card, of course), I wandered back to the El for the trip home. With a few more stops along the way, I eventually got home. My total transit time was about 4 hours, and I traveled about 40 miles roundtrip. No one claims that the El is fast, but for under 4 dollars in fare, I can't complain too much.