By Ed Lowe
Senior Writer
The unprecedented growth of Chicago's near North Side can be reckoned by counting the number of construction cranes rising above the skyline. Fastest growth is in the area bounded, roughly, by the Chicago River and North Avenue on the south and north and by the Kennedy Expressway and the lake on the west and east.
Inside wanted to know the actual extent of this growth and the efforts being made to supply the necessary infrastructure to service the thousands of people who will be moving into the neighborhood. In order to get some background, we interviewed long-time 42nd Ward Alderman, Burton Natarus. Natarus' concerns focus primarily on public transportation and the ability of people to move around the city and to keep the area's ambiance friendly.
According to Benet Haller, the spokesperson for the City's Department of Planning and Development, between 2001 and 2003, an additional 3,400 apartment and condominium units were added to the tax rolls in the area south of Chicago Ave. and north of the Chicago River. It is clear that there is some overlap in the areas that are used statistically by different organizations, but in this relatively limited area of the Streeterville and River North Communities, 3,400 units represents the addition of about 7,000 people — the equivalent of another medium sized town in the heart of the city. Haller pointed out that his figures included the 809 units in the building of One Superior Place.
Additional housing stock was certainly added in the area between Chicago Ave. and North Ave. which is included in the 42nd Ward. Other new construction added to housing south of the Chicago River in the River East, near West side and South Loop communities. The center of Chicago is growing by leaps and bounds and while
some business has left for the suburbs, the arrival of people to live in areas that had once been considered a ghost town after 6 p.m. has changed the entire ambiance of the central city.
"Nowhere else in the country, at 9:00 on a Saturday night can you find 4,000 people strolling down a main street simply window shopping. It's a mark of how comfortable people feel in the city," Natarus said. How does this area get adequate maintenance? "The 42nd Ward is the only one in the city that has street sweepers working on foot to keep the streets and sidewalks clean."
About the garbage increase that construction brings, Natarus said, "Even with additional construction, you have to remember that high rises contract for their own garbage removal and the addition of new buildings doesn't overburden the city's services."
Traffic congestion is a major problem and anyone trying to drive through the neighborhood knows that the streets occasionally approach gridlock. "What we are working on is a comprehensive system for regulating traffic and we need to make traffic conform to the law. We need a unified system of truck deliveries to keep trucks off the streets in the heaviest traffic periods. We're conducting a poll of businesses to find out the heaviest use times and hope to be able to keep trucks out of the busiest streets during the times when the passenger car traffic is also heaviest."
In New York, for example, truck delivery times are strictly regulated as is double parking and the blocking of intersections and sidewalks. Heavy fines are imposed on violators and some are towed for repeated infractions.
Natarus continued with some potentially helpful programs for easing traffic and for making downtown more user friendly. "I'd like to see the expanded use of lower Wacker Dr. as part of a Central Area Circulator. I'd like to see CTA trains using commercial railroad tracks in the downtown area. We can't reasonably limit the use of automobiles until we have a comprehensive rail/bus system. The city is criss-crossed with commercial (freight) rail tracks. There's no reason why these same tracks can't be used to transport people. For example, we could easily develop a fast rail system between O'Hare, Midway and Gary Airports. The track and the right-of-way is already in place along the line of the Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railroad. With some upgrading, it could carry passengers from one place to another without adding to auto traffic."
Natarus also discussed the use of existing rail lines as an alternative to expanded expressway construction. New Expressways are expensive. They involve condemnation of existing housing and expensive construction over a long period of time. In the alternative, rail lines extend to parts of the city and suburbs that are underserved by public transit and could have easier access to the city through the use of those freight tracks that are in place.
When we asked Natarus whether the area's police presence would be expanded to accommodate the increased population, Natarus was a bit hesitant. "The problem with having additional police in the 42nd Ward is that other districts in the city have a lot more violent crime. We have to fight to hold on to the police we have. They handle "minor" complaints ranging from excess noise and traffic problems to prostitution and other relatively non-violent crimes."
In our next edition, Inside will continue to explore the changes that are taking place within the near north side of the city. The City is meeting the demand for additional services and is preparing for the needs of the increased population estimated at 7,000 people who have moved in during the past couple of years. Construction continues, and the influx of new residents will follow, but the City seems to be meeting their needs.
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