Re-reverse the flow?

This interesting plan to help save Lake Michigan comes from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In Chicago we like to boast of our grand undertakings, and the reversal of the flow of the Chicago River was certainly the grandest of the grand. Unfortunately we tend to obfuscate the other side of the story. This is another side.

Almost as enlightening is the comments section where our neighbors to the north profess their never ending love and admiration for us.

The Last Four Miles, a point of clarification

As I said yesterday, I support wholeheartedly the Friends of the Parks' proposal to complete the open lakefront both on the north and south sides.

But as someone rightfully points out in the responses to Bill Savage's piece printed on Blair Kamin's blog, while the FoP's proposal certainly does not include the extension of Lake Shore Drive up to Evanston, in the real world of politics, the extension could easily be tagged onto the project in order to get the approval of certain public officials who shall remain nameless.

If that is the case, I would vehemently oppose the effort.

I would also oppose any effort to extend L.S.D. south to Indiana.

Whew, glad I got that off my chest!

The Last Four Miles II

A spirited debate on the Friends of the Parks' proposal to build landfill parks to complete Chicago's open public access to the lake on the far north and south sides can be found at Blair Kamin's blog here.

You can find my take here:

Completing the Chicago lakefront park system is a wonderful idea.

It would benefit everyone in the city in my opinion, except of course the people who currently enjoy private access to the lake in the areas that would be affected.

The latter point is made entirely clear by Bill Savage and John Redell, two residents of high-rises along the lake in Rogers Park and Edgewater respectively.

Both men make very impassioned cases why the proposal is bad for the city. In reality however, most of their claims can be easily refuted. Consider the referenda held in Rogers Park and Edgewater that both men site, resulting in virtual unanimous opposition to the plan. They fail to mention that only residents along the lakefront in those communities were polled, not the entire communities. I'm not sure why anyone even bothered to go to the trouble of taking such a poll, it doesn't take a genius to predict the outcome of that one.

Elsewhere, the environmental impact of the landfill has been noted by Mr. Redell in his web site stopthelandfill.org. Certainly some of his claims are true, the dredging and landfill will no doubt increase silt and cause some disruption of the lakefront ecosystem. However I think it stands to reason that the long term benefits to wildlife, for example providing new arboreal cover to migrating and resident avian populations would more than compensate for any temporary disruption.

Some claims such as Mr. Savage's that we need to preserve Rogers Park's uniqueness are just plain silly.

But the most telling remark comes from Mr. Savage who says that the plan is in fact a good idea on the south side, just not on the north. In other words, "not in my own back yard".

The bottom line is that while not entirely willing to admit it, both Mr. Savage and Mr. Redell care about this issue for entirely selfish reasons, they do not want their own little corner of the world disrupted.

WHICH IS ENTIRELY THEIR RIGHT!!!

If I were in their position, I would probably feel the same way. Which is why I believe that the residents of the areas effected should be heard and their opinions taken seriously on any issue considering their neighborhood. As I wrote a couple of months ago about the neighbors of the proposed Children's Museum in Daley Bicentennial Plaza, no plan however beneficial to the entire city should proceed without at least considering the people most directly affected (as has been the case at DBP).

That said, the whole issue probably is moot as the cost for such a venture would no doubt be very prohibitive, at least any time in the near future. What's more the mayor has not gotten aboard this train and as we all know, nothing gets done in this town without Ritchie on board.

But if he does oh boy, look out Messers Savage and Redell, you may as well close up shop and hop aboard the fait accompli express!

The Last Four Miles

Chicagoans are rightfully proud of our unique lakefront with 18 miles of unlimited public access. Yet the entire lakefront is not open to the public.

Friends of the Parks is trying to change that.

Not everyone agrees, not surprisingly the people who will lose their private access to the lake.

I suspect the nearly half-billion dollar price tag will be the ultimate test.

From the morning commute...

The Lakefront at Fullerton Avenue, 8:45am Thursday March 5, 2009.
The snow and ice should all be gone by tomorrow.