waterfront property/questionable shore usage

This is similiar to a thread I started awhile back, but I sort of tweaked it a bit. Waterfront property has always been an amenity in Chicago and elsewhere. And some parts of our metro area (the Chicago and North Shore lakefronts, the Fox River) have been outstandingly developed for ages. Take a look at the obscene cost of Chicago real estate cost today. take a look at how gentrification has turned the quality of housing totally around in numerous Chgo neighborhoods. Then take a look at prime waterfront property whose price would go through the roof if the "facts on the ground" were different. Then ask yourself: 1. What do you thnk would start making these places attractive? 2. When will it happen? 3. What might it look like when it redevelops? The areas in question? 1. The Lake Co (IN) lakeshore. It may be the most extreme example of such property in the whole US: wonderful lakefront location on totally industrially scared land. The thought of clean up is mind boggling. But if it took place, the land would be worth a fortune. South Works plans on the adjacent Chicago shore might provide some impetus. A related area in this region is Wolf Lake...could it become an attractive lakeshore, too? 2. Chain of Lakes, Lake Co (IL). Lake County is as prime property as you can get. Expensive North Shore communities (Highld Pk, Lk Forest, Lk Bluff, etc.) have been there for eternity. Inland, the wealth is also considerable (Deerfield, Riverwoods, Lincolnshire, etc.). And development has taken place throughout the county. Yet for some reason, the old "summer cottages" throughout the chain of lakes and south even to the shores of Lake Zurich have never been replaced with the type of homes that would be expected on such land. Will it happen? This one is far less expensive to convert than the Indiana shore, the surrounding areas are already very expensive. I find this one a total real estate mystery? 3. Waukegan/North Chicago: some overlap with Calumet region, although not nearly as devastated. Again, this is prime lakeshore and a natural extension of the North Shore, if redevelopment took place. Waukegan is even in positon to create a more urban waterfront with the model right north of it in Kenosha. As of now, nobdoy is going to choose to be an urban pioneer here, but will it happen? 4. Chicago River, north and south branches, outside the downtown district. This one, of course, is already happening. WIll it become a trend? What effect will Bridgeport Village have on recreating the south side riverfront? will it fill in to downtown? and, in filling in, what role witll the Chinatown waterfront have in the process? Would a more promotionally conscious and tourist centered Chinatown (something we verry much see today) finally cash in on incorporating its waterfront into the community? How much devleopment do you see happening on the mid-North Side, where development has occurred in spurts at Diversey, Belmont, other spot, but no where near continuous? 5. North Shore Channel...somewhat like #4. Admittedly the least attractive one of the lot, but with Deep Tunnel, it doesn't serve its old function. The west side of the channel is McCormick Blvd and it prevents waterfront development. But how about on the east side in adjacent Chgo and Evanston neighborhoods? Could it be turned into a more desirable waterfront setting?>