A friend of Field's?

I just want to do a little brain storming here...and in so doing, I only ask you to think of the possiblities here (and if what I have suggested is not right, could it possibly lead to something that might be?). Keep an open mind, if you would... I think it is fairly safe to say that Federated wasn't thinking about Field's State Street store when it acquired the chain and other May Co. stores. It was thinking about territorial coverage throughout the Midwest. I don't know how important any of the super sized locations (Hearld Square, State Street, Union Square, etc.) are to Macy's, compared to the hundreds and hundreds of normal size branches. I would imagine the branches are the real work horses of the chain. So let's say, for the moment, that Field's on State is not esential to Macy's, that Macy's fully recognizes it will not be nearly as "fan friendly" on State as Field's was, that it probably can never capture the loyality of the orignal Mashall Field's. Let's also realize that Macy's has options on what will be its Chicago flagship store...be it at Water Tower Place's Field's, a combination of Field's and L&T at WTP, or 900N's Bloomingdale's. What if Federated were willing to unload the Marshall Field's property on State, knowing in doing so, it would gain good will at the other Chicagoland Macy's stores, knowing it would have a more managable sized downtown Chicago anchor? Would it do it? So here's the proposal: with a considerable dose of public support and the prospect of being able to make $$$$, could a local retailer take on the Marshall Field's State Street store (as a one location institution) and, in doing so, bring it back to its glory days? Which retailer? How about the Sears/K-Mart conglomerate or Crate&Barrel? Could they be persuaded to undertake a subsidiary that would have only one store, with the city and the public working with them to create something that really works? Keep in mind the following and think of Harrod's in London: the State Street store is in the heart of a heavily populated, upscale area. It is an area frequented by other folks in the city, but suburbanites, and by tourists. Everybody's got the same credit cards, so it would be easy to shop here as any place else. Being a one-of-a-kind store, it would be able to be a trendsetter and to offer the type of merchandise you may not find at the typical department store. Outside venders would still be included as they are today on the lower level, perhaps in larger numbers, so more allure is added. Such a store would be a destination like no other store because it would be able to project its own unique personality in the finest department sore building in the nation. It would also keep and enhance Marshall Field's in Chicago where it belongs: on State. Give it some thought....could this be a win/win situation for Chicago, for Federated's increased good will, for the retailer bold enough to consider the idea?>

Nimbyism in Rogers Park/Broken Heart Rogers Park

An Open Letter to the Public was posted in Rogers Park in regards to the development of 7015 n sheridan, only in RP would this happen, nimbyism runs high there, i wonder who would win as the most nimbyist neigborhood in chicago? well i think RP would be in the top five easy, What follows below is craig's response to the open letter on his Broken Heart of Rogers Park blog, a great nimbyist website, but craig does try to improve the neigborhood and he has some accomplishments, The building in question is a turn of the century ho hum old house that is half brick half not, and i have no objection to its demolition, ha! bet you didnt see that coming, its right on the lake, and what is proposed is street level retail, four residential condos, ?30 parking spots (i think the owner is just trying to get as much money out of the property in its current zoning), a top floor restaurant, which i think is fucking cool, 26 of the 30 spots would be rentals, she wants a zoning change so that the building can be 7 stories high, 79 feet high, very short by our standards, ofcourse the RP contingency is in an uproar over this "dangerous precedent". There is a picture of the project that can be seen on the overhead projector on the Broken Heart of Rogers Park Blog, sorry i havent learned how to post pictures yet, but i will, its actually a nice looking building and I hope it goes through The contingency feels that sheridan rd is a residential street and that this is too much retail, especially the rooftop restaurant, because the plot is inbetween two apt buildings, personally i dont see what the beef is, ITS SHERIDAN ROAD for godsake, not some small side street, just wondering what you guys thinks The letter should read... To my dearest friends and neighbors of mine, My name is Connie Abels and I am the queen of the cheap, re-habbed condo conversions in the 49th Ward. I also own 7015 North Sheridan Road. This property at 7015 North Sheridan Road is a single family home I let go to hell. I let it fall apart. I never bothered fixing it up and now it has deteriorated to trailer trash status. I neglected this single family home so bad and for so long, now I'm going to tear it down. But my close friends and good neighbors, have I got great news for you! I got a super idea one night after watching a wicky loud band play at the Morseland Night Club. I saw people who were foolish enough to pay $5 and 10 dollars just to get in the door and eat (hee-hee). I said right then, that's the business for me. I'm going to open up this roof-top restaurant (hee-hee) 79 feet high in the air. I figured I could get into the liquor selling business too. The word on the street is, selling booze is like printing money. Plus, real estate is on the down-slide. The bubble is nearly bursting and I need to find a new career, pronto fast. Plus, plus, being a smart business woman, I picked this location because it's no where near the Special Service Area #24 tax boundaries. Who wants to get screwed paying into that boon-doggle tax? Not me. Besides, did you see the way they treated me at the Morse Avenue Streetscape meeting in Novermber 2005. Those ace Morse Avenue Streetscape committee members couldn't even get me #@$-%#@# planters. Pardon my french. Plus, plus, plus, I'm such a great neighbor and am doing this all for you. I am building 30 parking spots too. Parking spots are so hard find and I want to help my neighbors out by renting 26 of them to you. Market value of course. I haven't worked out the details yet, but 26 spots is good to rent, right? Let's see, if my math is right, that leaves 4 parking spots for my cookie cutter condo buyers and 26 to rent out to John Q. Public. That's 30 parking spots. Who needs parking for all my restaurant (hee-hee) workers and patrons. What am I going to do about the ground-floor commercial tenants? They can find spots on Sheridan Road. That's if they don't get rear-ended finding a spot on Sheridan Road (hee-hee). Traffic gets heavy sometimes in the morning hours and sometimes in the evening hours for some reason. Please, please, please, please, come with an open mind. Don't believe everything you read on the Hell Hole. I see a silver lining in this property I let go to the toilet and I will show you all the plans on Wednesday night. So, here's the deal, take it or leave it. I'm asking for a R3-5 because knowing the zoning rules. I can about get away with anything I want after I get that zoning R3-5. Then I can say...."Screw you neighbors, I'm doing what I want!" Signed, Connie D. Abels - The citizen. Not Connnie Abels-The realtor.>

why does steely dan close all the cool threads?

I dont know why? fine please censor me whenever i go even slightly off the specific topic, i didnt use the word yuppie even once buckthorn is a relevant chicago area topic.>

Could promotional NU put U of I in dust?

I doubt that this thread will generate any interest, especially with the White Sox in the WS, but I'll give it a try. Northwestern is the Chicago area's only BCS football school. In the last ten years, NU has been by far the more succesful Big Ten program in-state, far exceeding the U of I. For a presigious, highly selective private university, Northwestern football has done very well for itself, a fact that isn't always recongnized. But has NU done that well off the field? Has Northwestern promoted itself in the Chicago area the way that it should? Sure, it is a private school, but that never stopped LA from supporting USC (even with UCLA in town) or the Bay Area in supporting Stanford (even with Cal in the area). How about Miami? And even though Notre Dame is different (with its catholic affiliation), it's prviate and selective, too. Couldn't a strong promotion on the part of NU make Chicagoland more NU country (despite the stronge Illini Alumni base) than U of I; it's the local team and Illinois is some 160 miles away.>

Have people checked out A9 Maps?

And just when I had bearly shaken off my amazement at comprehensive satellite imagery.. this comes along: nearly sidewalk-level views of miles of streetscape for major US cities, including Our Fair City, the one and only.. Check this out if you haven't already: maps.a9.com..>

Neighborhoods cleared for the Dan Ryan

I grew up near 29th and Wells and sorta, kinda remember them building the Ryan but I was too young to remember any of the streets. Does anyone have any photos of the neighborhoods wiped out when they built the expressway?>

Idea for Projects/Construction

Instead of putting neighborhood development news/pictures in Northside/Westside/Southside, what about creating a thread for the more developing areas? Uptown/Bronzeville/Edgewater/Lakeview/Roscoe Village/Bridgeport etc?>

Does Chicago need a greenbelt?

Like many found in the UK and some in Europe? What would be the effects? Would it raise housing prices around the region artifically and make the region less welcoming to transplants? Would it just create more sprawl if expansion just went beyond the green belt? Would it make people gravitate towards the city if expansion is further cut off? Would it deter people from moving to the area in favor of sunbelt cities where sprawl is more or less welcomed?>

Caisson Crane Collapse

I saw this baby come down today about 6:15 PM. There were no injuries and the crew kept their cool. I'm not going to disclose the particular project, but veteran forumers will probably recognize it. If you recognize the site, please keep it to yourself. >

Construction on Roosevelt and Michigan

Hi, does anyone know what construction is planned for the corner of Michigan and Roosevelt (where the Central Station office is now)? I also heard that 2 towers may be built on the Southwest corner of Indiana and Roosevelt and that one of them may be a hotel. Does anyone have any information on this? Thanks.>

grant park extension

I've been hearing about the Grant Park extensions to cover up the railroad tracks like they did with Millenium Park. Is there more information about this? timing? plans? or is it too far out?>

German Forum members masthead

Am I the only one that finds the German Forum members xmas masthead kind of strange......ok this topic isn't strictly about chicago but since I see the masthead every time I am on the chicago forum I thought it might qualify.....anyhow its meant light heartedly>

Trump, State, & Michigan

How much do you think the completiton of Trump Chicago will have on the much bally-hooed dream of a linear access starting on Michigan Avenue, at Oak Street), going down the Mag Mile to the river and cutting westward to State, while continuing south from Wacker to at least Congress? Will Trump actually make this happen as the true backbone of downtown Chicago?>

Frustration with Corporate Chicago

Maybe I am just paying too much attention to bad news and not enough to good enws (and good stuff that doesn't make the news ). But I 'm just frustrated with the circumstances that so many Chicago companies seem to find themselves in year after year. Sure, you have the companies that just consistently do well -- Walgreens, and Illinois Toolworks to mention maybe the two most promiment. But of the newer generation of companies, and some of the old standards, so much news of mediocre performance, or mediocre Wall Street evaluations. Sears was supposed to have a new lease on life (according to some) with the role out of new Sears stores in old Kmart locations. But now some are second-guessing Lampert's move and Crain's recently reported that Sears isn't even really trying to compete during this Christmas season. But then I think of what are supposed to Chicago's stars. Take Tellabs. Seemingly one of very few telecom equipment makers not based in california, its revenue has shrunk considerably since the early 2000s. Apparently not seen as an innovator, its a possible takeoverr target. Add to that the news about Ameerican Pharma. partners. A stable generic drugmakrer, its now to be recombined with another ompany also controlled by a biotech entrepreneur Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong and relocated to LA. Investors were nonplussed, as they see APP paying too much for American Bioscience, a deal orchestrated by the CEO. Where are Chicago's new stars ? Where are Chicago's companies that don't miss a beat, the smaller Ebays, or smaller Microsofts? Sure they won't be as big (nearly) as the West Coast counterparts, but at least they can be top performers. Even Navteq of late has had some rough spots. sigh.>

Would you live ....

in chicago, but you can never, ever leave for one million dollars a day? Its a fun game I like to play with my friends. I like to see how people answer this question. How about the state of illinois, you can never leave for one million dollars a day? >

Opinions Needed Please on Museum Park Condos--What Would You Choose??

Hi, My aunt and uncle would like to move to one of the Museum Park condos. They are currently looking at One Museum Park West and 1400 Museum Park. Being by the lake and facing Grant Park is not a big deal to them--they are both retired and wish to find a place that is comfortable, safe and relatively close to stores. They have asked for my opinion as to which of the above 2 buildings they should choose, or if they should wait until the Southwest corner of Indiana and Roosevelt (across from where One Museum Park West will be) is developed. I am not sure myself and therefore would appreciate all of your input. I know there are lots of factors involved in choosing a place, but at first blush which of the above do you think would be a good choice, keeping in mind that at some point years ahead they may sell their condo? Thanks much!!>

Should Lane Tech become a Chicago Landmark?

If anyone knows where Lane Tech High School is, they will know that it is very significant. The building will soon turn 100 years old, (the school is actually much older, if that makes any sense). I think it should be a landmark because it has stunning architecture, a beautiful campus, historic location (right next to riverview) and is enormous. Quite frankly, from Addison it looks like some kind of castle. Since I went there for school, i think there are a few things that could be done to bump it to landmark status. 1. Put a new totem pole, the one that is up looks cheap, and is rusty. 2. Add new night lights which should beautify, attracting attention to it. Instead of the nasty yellow lights that light it up now, put some real nice white lights. 3. Fix the stadium up so it fits in nicely with the school. Actually the list could go on and on. My main point is that i think it should be given more attention as a landmark. Do you agree? Is already one? Seriouly, cause there is not a lot of other buildings that looks just as beautiful as Lane Tech in the Chicago area.>

Chicago Employment Agency

Hey y'all, I am posting for the first time. I am relocating to Chicago from Boston in January and I am trying to find the names of some reputable recruiters/headhunters. Does anyone on here know of any that deal with finance/commercial real estate type stuff? Any help would be greatly appreciated.>

Downtown growth's next wave?

Recovery may bring new wave of development By Thomas A. Corfman Tribune staff reporter Published April 20, 2005 The market for retail space along the Magnificent Mile is improving slightly after a two-year funk. The vacancy rate for smaller, specialty store space on North Michigan Avenue edged down to 6.9 percent from a year ago, when it reached 7.1 percent, the highest level since 1999, according to the annual survey by Northern Realty Group Ltd. And rents are rising again, after falling last year to their lowest level in more than a decade. This modest recovery may set the stage for a new period of leasing and development on Chicago's premier shopping strip. A new wave of European merchants is looking for space, and some existing Michigan Avenue retailers are dropping plans to cut back. The street is likely to see construction of at least one new luxury high-rise. And even the troubled vertical mall, Chicago Place, is under new, more aggressive ownership. "We've had the war, we've had the recession, we've had high oil prices," said Michael Shields, an executive vice president with Northern Realty. "I don't see anything beyond that trilogy that's going to have any impact as large as those." Yet several factors could complicate the street's rebound. Retailers could slow expansion plans amid economic indicators showing that slowly rising interest rates and skyrocketing gas prices are forcing consumers to cut back spending. And the lineup of anchor retailers could change in the midst of unprecedented consolidation in the department store sector, creating the possibility of a large vacancy. Nonetheless, Michigan Avenue's vacancy rate has apparently topped out, though the street's biggest shakeup could follow Federated Department Stores Inc.'s acquisition later this year of May Department Stores Co. The deal would give Cincinnati-based Federated control over Lord & Taylor and Marshall Field's at Water Tower Place, 835 N. Michigan Ave. It already operates Bloomingdale's at 900 N. Michigan Ave. Some observers think that's one store too many. Adding to the uncertainty, rivals such as Neiman Marcus Group Inc. and Saks Inc. are both exploring strategic alternatives. "This is a degree of turmoil that no one has ever seen in department stores before, so I am not sure if anybody knows how to interpret it," Shields said. When Michigan Avenue's fully leased department stores are included, the vacancy rate slipped 1 percentage point, to 4.3 percent, over the last 12 months. In 2002, the total vacancy rate was just 1 percent. The Northern Realty survey includes buildings on North Michigan Avenue from Oak Street to the Chicago River. Only retail space with a street entrance or escalator access to the street level is included. A department store's defection could present an opportunity for new merchants. High-end European retailers traditionally make Chicago their third or fourth choice for U.S. expansion, after New York, Los Angeles and perhaps Miami. But Michigan Avenue has moved up in the pecking order, some retail real estate specialists say. "After New York, Chicago is the next stop for the Euros now," said Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of the retail division at New York's Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate. For example, representatives of Zara, a moderately priced fashion chain owned by Spain's Inditex Group, have recently been scouting Michigan Avenue for space for a new furnishings concept called Zara Home. The chain has 16 apparel stores in the U.S., though none in the Chicago area. At least one new luxury development could be started this year on Michigan Avenue, as the Fourth Presbyterian Church seeks zoning approval for a condominium development on a site behind the historic church. Although that project would not include retail space, the Terra Foundation for the Arts is evaluating proposals from several developers for a high-rise or midrise building that would replace the shuttered museum at 664 N. Michigan Ave. Among those who have made proposals is Chicago-based Prism Development Co., confirmed Donald Ratner, the foundation's executive vice president. Prism's plans do not include a hotel, he added. Sometime this summer, Terra expects to either reach an agreement with a developer or decide to conduct its own redevelopment, which would add about 40,000 square feet of space on four levels. Strategic Hotel Capital Inc. is also considering a retail redevelopment of the InterContinental Chicago hotel, 505 N. Michigan Ave., which it purchased earlier this month. But Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. has seemingly dropped plans to add a shopping plaza to the street level of its namesake building. Although street-level stores can command rents of more than $300 a square foot, difficulties in renting out upper-floor space helped drag the average rent down. Landlords have raised average asking rents 7 percent, to $37.28 a square foot, compared with a year ago, when rents hit their lowest level since 1993. Average asking rents were $128.42 a square foot in 2001, the highest level since Northern began the survey in 1991. But in a hopeful sign, several Michigan Avenue retailers that a year ago were quietly marketing some or all of their space have stopped doing so, and now apparently plan to fully use their space. They include fashion house Escada AG, 840 N. Michigan Ave.; computer superstore CompUSA Inc., 101 E. Chicago Ave.; and clothier Eddie Bauer, 600 N. Michigan Ave. Demand for retail space, as measured by net absorption, rose for the first time since 2002. Net absorption, the annual change in the amount of leased and occupied space, is nearly 5,500 square feet this year, compared with a negative 10,300 square feet in 2004, the study found. Of the 141,025 square feet of vacant retail space, less than 10 percent is on the street, a sign of the challenges that some vertical-mall landlords face. ---------- tcorfman@tribune.com ____________________________ so what kind european retailers do you expect to see? its not an upscale european retailer but i would like to see a celio they don't have a single store this side of the pond, if we could land the first one i think that would be awesome.>

Downtown Chicago: nation's best CBD??

You may notice that I choose to ask some questions that may be loaded, or at least contraversial on this board. That's because I am interested in a Chicago perspective and not a _____ vs. _______ issue. In that spirit, I ask the following: Is downtown Chicago arguably the nation's greatest central business district, perhaps even significantly so? I ask this question with a belief there is only one rival, New York, and thus partially base my argument on the following factors in the Big Apple: 1. Downtown Manhattan 2. Midtown Manhattan 3. the unusual nature of Manhattan First, downtown and midtown: New York has two CBD's, miles apart, never to be linked. This, as opposed to Chicago where the Loop and the Magnificent Mile were close enough to become part of a single CBD, along with neighboring sections of the city. Downtown Manhattan lost much of its power (short of financial) to Midtown years ago. It does, however, retain the historical base of the city, making it akin to Chicago's Loop. Midtown would appear to be the real competition for Chicago, but its transformation into a CBD occurred in a well established city in the early 20th century. Its sheer growth has overwhelmed its part of Manhattan, and much of that growth has been faceless, wall-to-wall buildings. So downtown has the tradition and Midtown is the corporate poster child and life style king. Chicago's CBD contains both environments. Manhattan grew differently than Chicago. While Manhattan is incredibly central to the greater New York City community, Manhattan itself is not centralized; it's linear. Manhattan is able to accomplish what no urban setting in the US can accomplish: a dispersion of cultural attractions away from its CBD's. Thus museums (i.e. Met, Guggenheim, etc.) can be located away from either downtown or midtown. In Chicago, a city built on concentric cores, the CBD is the center and offfers most of the city's great cultural institutions. Chicago's CBD has a much healthier connection to water than does NYC's prime CBD, Midtown, where only the not-too-connected section by the UN links the district to the East River. In Chicago, both river and lake are well integrated into downtown. I don't know about others, but to me, downtown Chicago works like no other CBD in the nation.>

Light Rail: the mising link downtown?

With the high cost of full scale rapid transit, should the CTA look to light rail as the most logical form of transit expansion in the downtown area once the Circle Line is built? The opportunities for light rail to link up with existing rapid transit stations (as well as bus stops) is considerable. Light rail is far less expensive and far less disruptive than rapid transit costruction. The old plans that have been floating around should be revived...as well as increased, including: • a connection between the West Loop (Ogilvie, Union) Metra stations that connects with River North through the r.r. right-of-way south of Kinzie to link up with Michigan Avenue and Navy Pier • a cross Loop line on Madison or Monroe, clear out to the UC • If a Grey Line can not be established on existing Metra trackage, a light rail line (continuation of the Monroe one) to McCormick Place • a Roosevelt Road line that links Museum campus, the growing businesses south of the Loop, UIC, the Med Center...a high growth corridor that needs to be tied together • a similiar line on Division would accelerate the already impressive redevelopment of the Cabrini area. Other lines could be considered. Careful planning to coordinate existing and future CTA rapid transit, CTA bus, and Metra with a new CTA-run downtown light rail system and CTA Circle Line would do wonders in tying together the far flung real estate of downtown Chicago and help it function more and more like one regon.>

Pools in chicago?

Ive noticed that there are a lot of pools in chicago,especially rooftop pools on apartment buildings.New york is very similar to chicago in alot of ways but its very hard to find pools in/on apartment buildings.It seems strange in a northern climate.Anybody know why?>

Rooftop Bars/Restaurants

My dad's having a meeting for his company in Chicago and he decided to fly my mom, brother and myself there because it's over my spring break. I am actually turning 21 while I'm there, so I am looking for somewhere sweet to get completely hammered at. In Boston, there is a restaurant at the top of our second tallest skyscraper, The Prudential Center, called 'The Top of the Hub'. I assume that we're not the only city to have a top floor restaurant, and was wondering if there were any cool restaurants in Chicago that were on the top of skyscrapers, and if so, what were some cool ones? Thanks for any feedback you guys can give me.>

Chicago's Shani Davis wins the Olympic Gold for long-track speedskating!!

He's also the first African-American to win an individual gold medal in the Winter Olympics. Congrats to our homeboy.>

Chicago's Homeless Problem

Is there anything that can be done about it? If there is I really hope we do it soon. I recently went to NYC for the first time and was amazed by the fact that the whole time I was there I was approached once by someone asking for money. I live 4 blocks south of the Hancock. If I were to walk down Michigan those 4 blocks I would bet I would see atleast 5 people on just the one side of the street begging. It does nothing for the city except make it look like crap. How can we allow people to sleep and beg on one of the world's most famous streets? What do you think visitors think of our city when they see this? When every block they are walking by someone sitting or laying on the sidewalk? Why is NYC, a city much larger then Chicago willing to atleast make sure this does not happen in there downtown area but Chicago seems like they can care less. The downtown area is the heart of this city. It is the place where tourist flock and spend money. It is also the place where business men and women from around the world come to conduct business. We do not need this in this area. Residence of downtown should not have to walk past people begging for money or sleeping on the sidewalk on the way to there door every single day. I'm am really thinking about writing letters to my alderman about this problem. From where I sit I really do see this as a big problem. Anyone who can't really needs to spend a little more time downtown.>

Chicago: we're still sexy; are we still soxy?

Chicago: we're still sexy. But are we still soxy? Summer and the fall classic have given way to the holidays and winter. As we return to "normal", has the White Sox World Championship really changed the landscape in Chicago? Are we a true two team city today? How would we know? If you walk outside, do you see as many people in Sox paraphenalia as Cub paraphenalia? How about the press? Do the papers cover next season for the Sox and Cubs the same? Do the t.v. and radio stations? Do stores give both teams equal amount of merchandise? Yesterday I had the unfortunate experience of being dragged by wife, kicking and screaming, to Woodfield, a mall, as you know, well north of Madison Street. While shopping, I saw all kinds of people wearing Sox gear, every bit as much (if not more) than Cub products. Stores pushed both teams' merchandise in equal amounts. Lots of Sox products that had nothing to do with the world championship. If I had somehow managed to have slept through the last 4 months and awoke to take that miserable trip to Woodfield (and if you had magically removed all Sox World Championship materials from the store), I get the feeling I would have scratched my head and said, "Hey, what's going on here? Has Chicago become a real two team city?" My sense is that something real has happened (although a couple of months may not be the best measuring stick). So what do you think....has the Sox championship really changed Chicago baseball as profoundly as it appears to have done? More than anything else, has it thrown out any sense of being defensive cheering for and supporting the Sox without feeling like the second team in the Second City?>

7 arrested in Sears Tower plot

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Seven people are in custody after a sweep by law enforcement authorities in connection with an alleged plot against targets that may have included the Sears Tower, officials told CNN on Thursday. Officials said no weapons or bomb-making materials had been found in the searches in the Miami area by FBI and state and local law enforcement officials. The city is under no imminent threat, according to the FBI. Law enforcement sources told CNN that the arrests disrupted what may have been the early stages of a domestic terrorist plot to attack the Sears Tower in Chicago, Illinois, the FBI building in Miami, and possibly other targets. The 110-story Sears Tower is the world's third-tallest building and the tallest in North America. Sources told CNN that the arrests culminated a yearlong, undercover operation. Documents related to the investigation have been sealed. One of the arrests was made before Thursday, officials said. The FBI said one search warrant was executed in a warehouse near a housing project in Liberty City, a predominantly black and low-income area of Miami. Cedric Thomas, a co-owner of Thomas Produce Market, told the Miami Herald that the area around his store was teeming with federal agents. ''There is a ton of guys in uniforms moving around, blocking the streets. I'm not sure what they are doing,'' Thomas told the newspaper. "We are conducting a number of arrests and searches, and we'll have more about that when the operation is completed, probably tomorrow morning," FBI Director Robert Mueller told CNN's Larry King in an interview broadcast Thursday night. "Because it's an ongoing operation, we really can't get into details," Mueller said. "But whenever we undertake an operation like this, we would not do it without the approval of a judge. We've got search warrants and arrest warrants and the like. ...." In a statement, the U.S. attorney's office in Miami said federal, state and local agencies made the arrests in connection with a domestic "terrorist-related matter." Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will hold a news conference Friday regarding the raids. CNN's Kevin Bohn and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report. Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.>

More about "letting go" than about Field's

This isn't a thread about Marshall Field's being aquired by Federated and converted to Macy's; that one has been batted around sufficiently that we know all about it. No, this really isn't even about Marshall Field's, except how it serves as a metaphor for an instiution that if not past its time is on the cusp of it. It's about "letting go" and realizing that time changes and each era has its own landmarks....and hall marks. I remember the death of a great newspaper, many years ago. It was the Chicago Daily News and in its time (when the Tribune was far more conservative and limited than it is today), arguably Chicago's best paper, a paper where Mike Royko was just one of a series of great writers, well written, witty, sophisticated. But the Daily News died and I can't blame the Field family that owned it for shutting it down. The News was a PM paper and it got caught up with the fact that too many people were driving to work and were not going to read it on the way home on the bus, train, el. Sadly one era ended, but another was just beginning. The Chicago Theatre today stands as a legitamite (albeit excessively large) theatre, a place for live performances, albeit not as many as we would wish. But its true glory days was as a movie palace, a time when you dressed to go downtown and the theatre's architectue and screen were larger than life, co-starring with the movie itself. It was sad to see it go, but could you even imagine it operating in an age of multi-plexes? And what type of movies do we create today like "The Godfather" that were themselves legitimately larger than life? Along the way, Chicago has lost restaurants like Fritzel's and Hencricis (to go along with the current loss of Berghoff's), great clubs like Chez Paris and Mr. Kelly's, a beloved amusement park in Riverview...all victims of changing times and changing ways. The Marshall Field's that federated aquired and is converting to Macy's is not the Field's of Marshall Field himself. It is not even the Field's of the 20th century, an independent company calling the shots for its own insitution. It's not the Field's that, in our memory, actually gave "the woman what she wants". It's not the Field's with promotinal fairs and store wide events that added an excitement and buzz to the city. Nor is it the Marshall Field's where State Street was the sole store, rather than a part of a generic, faceless string of stores with names like Springhill or Fox Valley or Orland Square. And mostly it is not the Marshall Field's of a time when retailing was local, when national chains were minimal, when stores like C&B and the Gap and Nike and Sharper Image could grab their niche in a special area of retailing and outstrip the department stores. If Field's isn't a dinosaur today, it is turning into one. As are Macy's. And Bloomingdale's. And Sears. THeir era is over. If Marshall Field's were the real[b] Marshall Field's, Federated would not take the name off of the door. The Macy's takeover was just one more step in the winding down proces of a great institution. Perhaps in its own way, no bigger than Field's being bought by Dayton Hudson....and basically being turned into a Dayton Hudson. And perhaps irrelevant as the winding down would be going on with or without Federated. If we mourn (and this traditonally based city that loves all things Chicago mourn we surely do), it is for the Field's of the past, the Field's of memory, the Field's of lore. It is not for the current store and the current chain which were mere shaddows of their former selves even before Federated entered the picture. Times change. Things we love leave the scene and new things that will become the traditons of future generations replace them. That's reality.>

Do feel Chicago is the Second City?

Do consider Chicago as the second city? Historically, where did this title originate? And, as a Chicagoan do feel this is a finer city than its Northeastern cousin, NYC or vice versa? GYRO...The Freebie Freak>

Hispanics and housing, Chicago

POTENTIAL TRANSLATES INTO REALITY COMPRE UNA CASA-Buy a house CREDITO-Credit FINANCIAMENTO-Financing PARA LA VENTA-For Sale By Dennis Rodkin Special to the Tribune Published October 10, 2004 In the last couple of years, Carmelo Buttita has had quite a few people come through his model homes who speak only Spanish, or prefer to speak Spanish. And he's tired of it. But Buttita, sales manager at the Marcus Estates subdivision, is no chauvinist. He isn't insisting that Spanish speakers learn English. Instead, he says, "we need to learn Spanish -- all of us: real estate agents, lenders. The way the number of Hispanic buyers is growing, we need to educate ourselves to talk to them." You shouldn't expect to do business if you don't speak the language, notes Buttita. Apparently the housing and mortgage industries are coming around to that viewpoint, recognizing the growing strength and importance of the largest language minority in the nation. The numbers tell the story. Chicago-area Hispanics more than doubled their rate of homeownership in the 1990s, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, a rise that eclipsed the growth rate of any other minority population in any of the nation's major cities. By 2000, 49 percent of the region's Hispanics were homeowners -- more than any big-city minority group other than African-Americans in Washington, D.C. (who also had a homeownership rate of 49 percent) -- but still far lower than the 75 percent rate of homeownership among non-Hispanic whites nationally. And many sources in Chicago-area real estate believe the number of Hispanic buyers continues to grow. In 2002, Hispanics bought 12.7 percent of all the housing units sold in the city, according to data gathered by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals through the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. "From Latinos, what you hear is, `Oh, it's our sueno, our dream, to have our own house,'" says Harry Pachon, president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute at the University of Southern California. Pachon's organization released a study in August that estimated at least 1.5 million U.S. Latino households will buy houses for the first time by 2010. The growing rate of ownership runs alongside the fact that the number of Hispanics is growing. Tracey Taylor, the head of the Chicago Association of Realtors' Cultural Diversity Committee, notes that the number of Chicago-area Hispanics grew from 545,000 in 1990 to 750,000 in 2000 and may by now have passed 1 million. (By some counts, the homeownership rate -- or the share of the Hispanic population that owns homes -- slipped slightly after 2000. But Pachon says a closer look at the data shows that the numbers of Hispanic births and immigrants have been so high the percentage goes down even as the population, and the number of home buyers, rises.) Some 65 percent of Chicago-area Hispanics are aged 18 to 49, "the prime years for buying houses," notes Marco Rodriguez, who with his wife, Amy Ceisel, publishes Nuestra Casa, a group of free real estate listing magazines targeting local Hispanics. With better education and incomes than the generation before them, they are better equipped to buy, Rodriguez says. http://www.chicagotribune.com/class...drealestate-hed I think this article is good news. There is one error in the report that I know of. The Tribune claims that the Chicago area has 750,000 Hispanics in 2000 when actually the city alone has 753,644 Hispanics in 2000, according to the census. They mixed up the City with the metro area. According to the census the Chicago area had 1.2 million Hispanics in 2000. If the City of Chicago has grown to now 1 million Hispanics in four years, an increase of 250,000, it will only be another few years before Hispanics are the largest group in the city. WOW. Also the growth of Hispanics is amazing. From 1990 to 2000 Chicago, the city, grew by roughly 200,000 Hispanics. From 2000 to 2004 Chicago, the city, grew by another 250,000 Hispanics. That is over double the growth rate of the 1990's. If the total population of the city really is holding steady since 2000, according to the census, that means a hell of a lot of people are moving out or has the Census just done a bad job with total population predictions as they did in the 1990's underestimating the city by 200,000 people. I really believe that having a diverse population is healthy for the city. Is it only coincidence that Chicago starting booming when immigration went through the roof in the 1990's? Look at the most successful cities in the U.S. they are the most diverse and have extremely high immigration numbers. in addition it makes life more interesting. On a side note but I think related to this immigration boom of not just Mexicans but other Hispanics and Asians, the two main immigration groups, is our downtown condo market. A coincidence again? I think not. According to the Appraisal Research Counselor's "Downtown Chicago Residential Benchmark Report," downtown condo sales in the second quarter of 2004 were 1454 sales for just downtown. That is almost 6000 a year for just downtown! We are going to blow away the paltry 28,000 sold in downtown in the past seven years for downtown. All this is happenning at the same time of high immigration growth.>

the ugly ones

Alright, we did favorite, but not least favorite. your top 10 least favorite buildings the city has! 10.) Presidential Towers - decent designs, but too many goddamned towers! 5 of bland towers. one is enough 9.) City Place - looks like something out of the suburbs, yeesh. 8.) Gateway Center III - bland, just a cookie cutter box 7.) Unitrin Building - not a bad design, but when you walk down the river, you see Wrigley, Tribune, Mather Tower, Jewelers Building, IBM Building, Marina Cities, and then you see the Unitrin Building. how the hell did that get there? 6.) McClurg Court Center A and B, throw in the Holiday Inn Chicago City Centre - ugly. McClurg Court is the ugliest complex we have. ugh. 5.) Hyatt Regency Chicago - I love the Illinois Center to death. A great mix of modern, internationalist, and postmodern. then you get to the hyatt which is like hair in a soup. its an eyesore. 4.) Hyatt Regency McCormick Place - one word, 1998. terrible. this thing was built in the 90s?!? 3.) Grand Plaza - god, i hate these. theyre so cheesy, like the park tower, but worse. the colors, the shape, and the SPIRE! 2.) AT&T 10 South Canal - embarassing, one of the worst designs I've seen 1.) Apparel Center - no explanation. thats all i can think of now, ill try to provide a more in dept list in the future.>

Chicago Late Winter (photos)

Rush Avenue Looking North Michigan Avenue Chicago Title North LaSalle Merchandise Mart El Stop Playing Soccer and Dogs on a nice early spring 28F degree day...hey the sun is out Chicago from the west side Division from the Brown Line >

Missed opportunity

I have always wondered why the United Center was not built downtown. Most cities who have built arenas in recent years have done so in the heart of the city, in order to bring more people downtown or to bolster an already vibrant city center. At the time the United Center was built, in the early to mid-90's, there were abundant parking lots and other underused land in the River North area. This would have been the perfect place to put the arena and create an even more cohesive entertainment district to compliment the Mag Mile. The United Center would have only taken up one or two blocks. They could have put some parking underground and forced many/most people to use the train to get to games. The way the United center is today, removed from everything and surrounded by endless surface lots, is very disappointing. Chicago missed a chance to do something really special with its arena. Does anybody else feel the same way?>

chicago meet tomorrow - you WILL attend

hey all, just a head's up about tomorrow's get together. be there or don't be square. 12:00 noon at the jelly bean in millennium park. dress warm, tomorrow's gonna be our first taste of winter. i can't wait, i LOVE the cold.>

Chicago's MISTAKES!!!

Hi, I'm a lover of Chicago and NYC and a total urbanist living in Washington, DC (also a VERY well planned city) who ultimately wishes to settle in Chicago thus I have been reading up a lot on recent developments. I have been reading this forum for months but only now did I create a membership. Here's my problem with Chicago: I am about 2 hrs from starting an Amtrak journey to NYC, where I'll be kickin' it in a hotel in Times Square. I realize that NYC is 100% committed to transit-oriented development, whereas Chicago is like 70% or so. Why is Chicago holding back? I know that in recent years a lot of DISGUSTING suburban-looking strip centers have popped up in the city, although the City Govt has done a good job of curtailing this form of development with its new zoning laws, but how do we know these zoning laws will be enforced? Sure, a lot of new developments look nice (North Avenue collection, the designs of new shopping centers in the south loop, the redevelopment of Stateway Gardens, etc) but I still think Chicago thinks it's more car dependent than it really is (all those off-street parking requirements). For example, I was driving on the ever-so neglected south side a few months ago and noticed brand new strip malls (still under construction) on 79th st, with front-sided parking and all, right next to the 79th street red line station. What is up with that? Also, Smithfield properties, the same company that created that retarded front-parking strip mall on Milwaukee Ave (right in the middle of a perfect urban boulevard!!!), is creating a shopping center on Armitage and California (see the City of Chicago website for more info) being designed by Booth Hansen. I have not been able to find designs, but I know that it will consist of 3 buildings and 50 parking spaces. This, in the middle of historic Logan Square! I am worried about how that shopping center will look. I guess the point of all of this is that Chicago, one of the leading centers of architecture in the world, the new headquarters of the Congress for the New Urbanism, is still giving in to suburban standards (sometimes). Last time I rode through Brooklyn or Queens, NY I almost NEVER saw anything suburban looking. Why can't Chicago do the same and 100% commit itself to Transit-oriented development like it did before 1950? Already I'm reading about Walmarts, more Best Buys, and more Targets on the way--I think I'm going to puke! BTW, did you read the recent Tribune article where the CTA claimed if it does not get more funding it will downsize itself to a rush-hour ONLY service? What the f*** is happening here? I need more input from people who are currently living in Chicago and seeing this crap with their own two eyes!>

"The New Downtown"

the suntimes has this new section "The new Downtown" link to sun times -new downtown section Daley: More museums, theater, jazz August 25, 2005 BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter Advertisement Downtown Chicago has come alive in the 16 years since Mayor Daley took office. It's become a vibrant and eclectic neighborhood. No longer does everyone stampede out of their offices at 5 p.m. and hustle to trains and buses or expressways to head home. Many of them live downtown in converted office buildings. And even those who don't are drawn to concerts at Millennium Park and to the emerging theater district. They're joined by college students, who breathe around-the-clock life into their new neighborhood. Hundreds of them now live together under one roof in a super-dorm in the South Loop. Asked to highlight his downtown achievements, Daley says: "The mixing of business and retail and also residential -- that they can all co-exist together. And the beauty of downtown." (AP) The mayor has presided over explosive residential growth in the South Loop as well as State Street. There's also the $200 million reconstruction of Wacker Drive that includes plans for a riverwalk, and the Museum Campus on the lakefront. Some plans, though, have stalled. There's still no downtown casino. The theater district is dark at times. A plan to replace fast-food franchises with neighborhood retailers fizzled. And Block 37, in the heart of downtown, remains an embarrassing hole in the ground, even if there is finally a plan to fill it. Still, "compared to other cities," Chicago's downtown is alive and well, Daley says. "The problem is always keeping it alive 24 hours, seven days a week. "Cultural activities are extremely important. Museums, Millennium Park, theaters as well as jazz and blues clubs, which I'd like to have more of in the downtown area." Three years ago, City Hall unveiled a 20-year plan for downtown, calling for $11 billion in transit improvements, including a new busway and subway underneath Clinton Street linked to a futuristic West Loop transportation center. There was also talk of shoreline islands and new parks and even creating a deck of grass and trees at the Kennedy over Hubbard's Cave. But Daley didn't mention that ambitious blueprint when asked what remains to be done in a downtown expected to accommodate 150,000 residents and 272,000 jobs over the next 20 years. Instead, he talked about things that are more mundane, inexpensive and, thus, easier to do. "Retrofitting some of the older buildings into residential buildings," the mayor offered. "New types of businesses coming into the downtown area. More students, artists and families moving into the downtown area." ---------------------------------------------------- From the Picasso to the Bean When the Picasso was unveiled on Aug. 15, 1967, downtown Chicago was largely a place where people worked and shopped, then fled at night. Today, as final work is done on the city's new signature work of art, The Bean, downtown has grown up -- and out -- and become a place to live, too.>

Chicago's Riverwalk

I read with great interest the Internet version of the Chicago Sun-Times story on the city's near-term plans for the construction of a riverwlak. I also found a few low rez pics on Collins Engineering website...does anyone have any further information on the proposals shown? Any photos? Thanks.>

qwerty, goonsta, and geoff diamond

You guys are the photographers extraordanaire of this website. I need Chicago pics! Do you guys have any new ones? Especially some of the newer development? >

Ohio?

I know this is going to seem silly to most but I have a question about Ohio's authenticity as a midwestern state. I've never really understood why it is considered the "Midwest". In some parts it is almost southern in culture and in others it appears to have more in common with western Penn than with the rest of the midwest. Am I the only Chicagoan who thinks of Ohio as being not quite midwest?>

Flights at O'Hare May Be Limited

U.S. May Limit Flights at O'Hare, Official Says WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. aviation regulators threatened on Wednesday to cap commercial flights into and out of Chicago's O'Hare airport to reduce unprecedented delays that are causing congestion throughout the country's aviation system. The administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (news - web sites), Marion Blakey, said the agency would take the unusual step unilaterally if airlines could not agree to cut their schedules further voluntarily. Blakey's remarks came at a meeting with representatives of U.S. airlines, including AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and UAL Corp.'s United Airlines to discuss schedule cuts at O'Hare. Chicago is the nation's prime connecting hub and a major center for international travel. Delays at the airport, many of which are caused by bad weather, ripple through the aviation system and cause backups at other airports. With airline traffic returning to pre-Sept. 11, 2001 levels, operations at O'Hare are running about 170 flights a day above last year, when delays were not a problem. There were nearly 59,000 delays at O'Hare this year through June. A flight is considered delayed when it is at least 15 minutes late. Two previous schedule cuts in March and June totaling more than 7 percent of peak-hour flights by United and American, which together control more than 80 percent of traffic at O'Hare, have not worked as intended. Regulators initially had sought more from No. 1 American and No. 2 United than they got and are unhappy with other airlines that eroded the impact of the cuts by filling the openings with their own flights. These include Continental Airlines Inc., Delta Air Lines Inc. and fledgling Independence Air, a unit of FLYi Inc. and a former United regional affiliate that began flying on its own this summer out of Washington's Dulles airport. FLYi is the new name, effective Aug. 4, for Atlantic Coast Airlines Holdings Inc.>

Detroit and the Chicago model

I have been visiting Detroit threads and see a lot of new development going on in that city. It appears that several new neighborhoods are coming up. Personally, I think Detroiters don't have the same obsession nor high standards for architecture that Chicagoans have, but it's also a city that needs whatever it can get (at this point). A lot of new single-family homes are coming up; they look WAY more suburban than Chicago's new ones--in the sense that they are much farther apart from eachother and they seem to have front-loading garages with driveways, whereas Chicago generally sticks to the tried-and-true rearload alley system (which is now officially part of the new Zoning Ordinance). But I have to wonder. Do you think Detroit will look to Chicago and what it's doing in its neighborhoods as a model of its own redevelopment? I only ask this because outside of Chicago, Detroit is my favorite midwestern city and I think it is easily one of the coolest and hippest places in the midwest! What do you guys think Chicago has to offer as a lesson to Detroit?>