Deja Vu - Chicago Reader Style

Way back in the beginning of December '08, we at Sloopin took issue with the Chicago Readers cynical, sarcastic and skeptical take on Chicago's Olympic bid. With that said, today we had a moment of Deja Vu!

As we went through the latest article the same tone was taken. Everything is negative in regard to the Olympics...nothing positive could possibly come from them...or at least that's the way it sounded to us. Anyway, if you're interested in monitoring the comments on today's article here it is; I'm sure we're going to provoke some backlash from the cynics.

Sloopin's comment:

What a surprise...the Reader takes a cynical approach again. You don't trust Chicago's politicians and government; we get it, yada yada yada.

The things that you seem to overlook are many of the positives the Olympics can bring. Like it or not, Chicago remains a city that is often overlooked globally despite its world class characteristics. The Olympics provide a platform that allows the city to showcase itself globally to billions of people (honestly, you can’t put a price on that promotion…ask Barcelona). Not only will this help tourism, it most importantly will help attract regional, domestic and global businesses that will continue to fuel our economy which in turn will provide more money for the issues you raise (potholes, CTA issues, schools, police). Let’s also not forget that the Olympics are a time for the country to shine as well. With that said, I would expect federal funding to increase and fast track a lot of infrastructure improvement projects throughout the city and the region. That’s a huge ‘long-term’ benefit that normally would take decades to come to fruition.

Yes, your skepticism is warranted in some regard, however, in my opinion the positives outweigh the negatives of the bid (but your readers won’t have a chance to evaluate on their own since you don’t state them anywhere in this article). Look, Chicago isn’t perfect, we know. As I like to remind people, no one is holding a gun to your head saying ‘you must live in Chicago’. If you don’t like it, move to the suburbs or maybe your Utopian ‘city’ in Montana where potholes and public transportation don’t exist and the only thing they’re murdering is cattle.

Festivals are Just Around the Corner

In honor of this rainy but unusually mild February day, we at Sloopin are getting anxious for the Spring and Summer. As you're well aware, this is the time when Chicagoans and Sloopers arise from the depths of winter hibernation and enjoy all there is to enjoy about the city.

One of our favorite things about the South Loop is it's proximity to Grant Park. With that comes an enormous amount of events in our front yard ranging from large scale productions like Lollapalooza to intimate smaller gatherings like Chicago's 'Movies in the Park' series. Stay tuned to Sloopin as we will do our best to update you on news, schedules and general information about the events.

Our first look is at something we unfortunately didn't get a chance to attend last year, Columbia College's Manifest Urban Arts Festival. There is a wide variety of activities and shows during the festival and in 2009 it looks like it will be primarily put on by the students, faculty and people associated with the College. The event will be taking part all over the Columbia campus which extends throughout the South Loop.
Mark your calendars because May 15th isn't that far away.

Church of Scientology Coming to Printer's Row?

Anytime we hear anything about the Church of Scientology there is usually some form of controversy surrounding the story. With that said, the controversy that is the Church of Scientology seems to be creeping into the Sloop as the church continues to lobby for a zoning change in Printer's Row. The plan would allow the church to build a structure at 650 S. Clark.

Although we're not going to offer our official opinion on the religion, we highly encourage you to check out the Wikipedia entry for more info. If that doesn't entice you, maybe Tom will:

What Do Miami, Las Vegas and the South Loop have in Common?

If you said, “real estate internet blogs and message boards trying to compare them”, you win.

Someone on yochicago’s message board recently brought up the question, so we tried to defend the Sloop. Although the housing boom can be credited for the large amount of development in these three places, in our opinion that’s where the comparisons should stop:

I understand peoples desire to compare Miami and Las Vegas to the South Loop, but it's really not a fair comparison. Compare Miami to Phoenix or Houston.

If you want to compare the South Loop, compare it to Soho, Chelsea or Harlem in New York. These areas had similar booms to the South Loop. Although they may not be in as good as shape as the upper east/west sides of New York or comparably the Gold Coast in Chicago, they're desirable neighborhoods in large, dynamic cities. As long as Chicago and New York remain viable global cities, these neighborhoods will be well positioned for the long term (unlike Miami and Vegas).

Not a Good Time to Be a Landlord

According to Crain's Chicago rent in the downtown market has fallen to it's lowest levels in 7 years. The article goes on to call out the South Loop specifically saying:

The new South Loop projects “have hit the market at the worst time, if you want to live in the South Loop, you have lots of options. That has really slowed down the leasing.”

This isn't a big surprise especially since there are also a lot of condo owners who would rather try to rent their properties instead of selling them.

Economy Crashes...but Chicago Wins

We recently came across the feature article in the March issue of The Atlantic titled, "How the Crash Will Reshape America". Although it's not a quick read, we highly recommend it as it takes a step back and looks at the long term effects of the current economic crash. The gist of the article is the emergence of what they call 'mega-regions':

Worldwide, people are crowding into a discrete number of mega-regions, systems of multiple cities and their surrounding suburban rings like the Boston–New York–Washington Corridor. In North America, these mega-regions include SunBelt centers like the Char-Lanta Corridor, Northern and Southern California, the Texas Triangle of Houston–San Antonio–Dallas, and Southern Florida’s Tampa-Orlando-Miami area; the Pacific Northwest’s Cascadia, stretching from Portland through Seattle to Vancouver; and both Greater Chicago and Tor-Buff-Chester in the old Rust Belt.

Internationally, these mega-regions include Greater London, Greater Tokyo, Europe’s Am-Brus-Twerp, China’s Shanghai-Beijing Corridor, and India’s Bangalore-Mumbai area.

Economic output is ever-more concentrated in these places as well. The world’s 40 largest mega-regions, which are home to some 18 percent of the world’s population, produce two-thirds of global economic output and nearly 9 in 10 new patented innovations.

As you would imagine (and probably already know), Chicago is the largest and most important metropolitan area in the Midwest region. While other Midwest manufacturing cities suffer (ie Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis, Buffalo) due to their inability to evolve with the changing times, Chicago has blossomed into a dynamic, global city with a variety of industries and professions. Although Chicago isn't immune to the current recession, the article argues that it is (among other 'mega-regions') better prepared for the future.

The article also has an interesting take on the limits of suburban life and growth:

Suburbanization—and the sprawling growth it propelled—made sense for a time. The cities of the early and mid-20th century were dirty, sooty, smelly, and crowded, and commuting from the first, close-in suburbs was fast and easy. And as manufacturing became more technologically stable and product lines matured during the postwar boom, suburban growth dovetailed nicely with the pattern of industrial growth.

But that was then; the economy is different now. It no longer revolves around simply making and moving things. Instead, it depends on generating and transporting ideas. The places that thrive today are those with the highest velocity of ideas, the highest density of talented and creative people, the highest rate of metabolism. Velocity and density are not words that many people use when describing the suburbs. The economy is driven by key urban areas; a different geography is required.

For those of us who like maps, they have a great interactive map that looks at patent activity, income and population growth throughout the country starting from 1860:
So we share this with you not because it specifically cites anything in regards to the Sloop, but provides an interesting take on macro trends potentially coming out of the current crash.

It's going to be a cold and snowy weekend...turn up the heat and enjoy some good and interesting reading!

Local Scandals and the 2016 Bid

Whenever something controversial happens in Chicago these days, people are quick to question the effects it will have on the cities Olympic bid. Whether it's Blagojevich's recent exploits, the CTA's budget issues or a man dying at the Chicago Marathon two years ago cynics are quick to pounce on these issues.

The Chicago Tribune has a great opinion piece today putting these local 'controversies' in context as compared to other Olympic scandals:

If the International Olympic Committee can see fit to have the Summer Games take place in Germany while Adolf Hitler is dictator, it's hard to believe the latest Illinois gubernatorial dust-up registers on its radar screen.

The Nazis had risen to power in 1931, when the event was awarded to Germany, and subsequent years leading to 1936 saw Hitler illegally—and publicly—declare the Treaty of Versailles void, books burned, anti-Jewish laws codified, Dachau opened, and, just for good measure, the Rhineland invaded by his troops and reclaimed.

The article goes on to cite additional examples where major global controversies accompanied the Olympics in Moscow, Motreal, Seoul and most recently Beijing.

Although we don't want you to think we're minimizing the importance of our local scandals, in all honesty they're probably not big enough (from a global standpoint) to influence the Olympic bidding process. I wonder how many IOC members even know who Blagojevich is?

CTA Bus Tracker Amazes

The CTA gets a lot of bad press and some of it's warranted, but in our opinion it's usually not. So when they do something right, we feel it's our job to applaud. The CTA Bus Tracker deserves this recognition and praise.

One of our oldest gripes with public transportation is the unreliability of their so called 'schedules'. In the past trains were the most reliable since they operate on tracks solely devoted for their purpose. Bus schedules obviously depend on traffic and as most Chicagoans know...good luck figuring that conundrum out.

However, the new bus tracker system helps to alleviate this problem. The system has been rolled out slowly, starting with a couple test routes, but seems to be well received by all parties involved. Recently, many routes that service the South Loop have been added to the system and upon our tests, it's truly a great and useful technology.

Below is the web based version which shows you a variety of features (ranging from the route of each bus, where it is on the route, when it will get to your desired stop, and so on):
So great, that's helpful if you're on a computer at home or at work, but what if you're out and about enjoying the Chi. Don't fret because there is a mobile version which isn't quite as simple or user friendly, but after some practice just as convenient.

Although we've only been using the bus tracker for a couple of weeks, it's honestly improved our commuting experience. You probably don't hear that from CTA commuters very often!

However, one question remains, why can't they do the same thing for the El trains? It seems like it should be easy if they've been able to roll this technology out to hundreds of buses, right?

Regardless, congrats to the CTA for a useful and consumer centric improvement to the system!

Franklin Tap - Deal of the Day at Groupon

We just got word that the popular coupon website, Groupon (getyourgroupon.com), is featuring Franklin Tap (320 S. Franklin) as its deal for Wednesday, February 18^th. The deal is a $50 gift certificate for $20. We doubt you can use the gift certificate for golden tee, but think about it this way…you could use the $30 you save to play.

If you’re not familiar with Groupon, it’s based on a fantastic idea…the idea of collective buying power. Since launching in November of last year, Groupon has saved Chicagoan’s over $100K. Moral of the story…they must be doing something right!

Manny’s Deli, one of Sloopin’s favorite places, is one of the many businesses that has taken advantage of Groupon’s popularity:

Manny's Coffee Shop & Deli, a Chicago institution, recently agreed to offer a $15 gift certificate for only $5 through Groupon if at least 35 people signed up for the discount. The offer far exceeded expectations, bringing Manny's a total of 500 customers. "On the date of our feature, Manny's was the talk of the East Bank Club!" says Manny's owner Ken Raskin. "It was a pleasure working with Groupon, and we'll definitely work with them again. The only complaints came from those who didn't visit the site in time to buy their Groupon!"

Vacant Properties Litter Chicago

Not a phenomenon solely in the South Loop, but this article references Linens-n-Thing leaving southgate market in the South Loop:

Several retailers closed stores last year in Chicago, including Circuit City and Linens 'N Things.

The bedding and home-furnishing retailer closed its flagship Michigan Avenue store and one at Southgate Market shopping mall in the South Loop.

The retailer brought in "a lot of people" to the shopping center at Roosevelt and Canal, said Robert Medina, manager of Visionworks at Southgate. Medina said he's seen fewer people come to the shopping center since the store left a few months ago.

"People are always asking what happened to Linens 'N Things," Medina said. "Business has been smooth, but we are seeing less traffic coming in," he said.

He said other retailers at Southgate are not panicking just yet. But Medina knows that another giant retailer, Office Depot, has announced plans to shut down a few locations, including the one at Southgate.

Federal Funding for the Olympics

Jack G recently directed us to this old but relevant article from the New York Times circa 1999. The article talks about federal spending associated with the Olympics. Obviously this is relevant for us to consider as Chicago's bid for the 2016 games progresses.

From what we've read, the federal government is on tap to pay for the security if the games come to Chicago. This no doubt will be a lot of money given the size of Chicago and awareness of security post 9-11. The story states that the most recent American games in Salt Lake City, the first after 9-11, cost the federal government upwards of $200 million. Compare that with the '96 Atlanta games ($92 million for security) and the '84 Los Angeles games ($68 million) and it's easy to assume that the cost of security for Chicago could potentially be twice as much as the Salt Lake City games.

However, the biggest federal expense might come from new infrastructure projects that are sped up due to the Olympics. Olympic loyalists argue that this would happen eventually, but given the stage the Olympics provide enables these projects to be greenlighted quicker.

Our guess is that long term CTA, Metra and highway projects that are on the table but currently 'unfunded' could fall into this category. We hope so, because right now the current Olympic transportation plan for Chicago is pretty unimpressive.

Café Bionda’s Valentines Day Menu Delivers

Ahhhh….The Hallmark Holiday…a special day, with special meanings created by corporations to make some money. Although we’re not generally down with this concept, we still seem to celebrate it annually. We try to avoid the traps of chocolate and silly stuffed animals and rather focus on the benefits of the holiday…

And by benefits we mean a great dinner. This year we decided to try out the much raved about Café Bionda, located at 1924 S. State street (not to be confused with it’s sister restaurant up in wicker park). As imagined it was packed with various couples and parties enjoying the ‘holiday’.

Upon walking in we were greeted warmly and settled in for a quick pre-dinner ‘valentine’ martini. Like most flavored martinis, half the appeal is the presentation and this one was no exception. Although I’m not a fan of sweet drinks, this was actually pretty good. I personally opted for the house cab which hit the spot.

The seating was cramp, but thankfully that didn’t backfire for us as the people sitting next to us were nice and actually offered some recommendations on appetizers. The atmosphere overall was lively with traditional fixtures, but contemporary art sporadically placed throughout the restaurant.

It was relatively late, so we focused on our main courses which were both on the special Valentines Day menu. The decision: Parmesan Encrusted Chilean Sea Bass and Jumbo Stuffed Tortellini. The sea bass was definitely the highlight as it did a great job of blending flavor with the tenderness typically found with the fish. Although the tortellini was solid, we weren’t as impressed with this dish.

The service was prompt and seemed well educated about the menu. We did suspect that there was some mix-up in the kitchen since the people next to us received their entrees much quicker then we did, but overall it didn’t take away from the experience. With that said, no doubt we will be hitting up Café Bionda again…probably before the next Hallmark Holiday.

Don't trust us...checkout Cafe Bionda reviews on yelp and metromix.

Transportation Plan and the Olympics

Since our main gripe about the 2016 Olympic bid book was about the transportation plan, we didn't want to lose sight of this article in the Chicago Tribune. It looks like they asked experts and bid officials about the specifics of the plan. Of most interest was the part about 'unfunded projects' that potentially could be sped up if Chicago wins the Olympics:

Opportunities for more transportation improvements exist, but officials were not permitted to include them in the Chicago 2016 proposal to the International Olympic Committee released Friday because the projects currently are not funded.

There's no guarantee holding an Olympics will yield buckets of federal money. But the promise of millions of dollars for Chicago-area mass transit emerging in the economic stimulus package, plus a reauthorization of multiyear transportation funding for the nation in the fall, could hardly come together at a better time for a city competing to host an international event.

Add to that synergy a new president who's from Illinois, and urban planners are picturing some projects springing into the construction phase after having been stuck on the drawing board for years.

"We anticipate there will be significant transportation projects that will be accelerated by 10 to 20 years if we were lucky enough to win the games," Arnot said.

We sure hope so!

More Real Estate Stats for Sloopin

Recently we had some correspondence with Lakeshore Analytics about the real estate market in the Sloop. For a .pdf with in depth information about our specific neighborhood check this link out. When we asked them to provide their thoughts on the South Loop's real estate market here is what they said:

1. The neighborhood has very high incomes for Chicago ... over $45,000 per capita, like the fifth highest in Chicago. Neighborhoods with higher incomes have generally more stable households. (Good.)
2. This was one of the hottest neighborhoods in the city for a while, but it didn't experience lurches up or down because of the new construction. The fact that so much was new actually helped smooth things because those sales are all pretty high and developers don't panic-sell the way some existing home owners do. (Good.)
3. Along similar lines, the loan-to-value ratio in the neighborhood averaged 77%, one of the lowest in the city. This is good because people will in general be less susceptible to default if they have more equity. It basically signals a buyer who's got a strong handle on his or her finances. (Good.)
4. The development cycle for a high rise is very long. So when there are signs of trouble somewhere near where I live (northwest side), a developer can call off a condo conversion. You live with your decisions for like a year in the northwest side, but a high rise new construction could take two or three years to complete the development cycle. (This is bad.)
5. The key question marks that I don't have access to are, How many condo's are on the market currently and how many are coming online in 2009? You may have a better idea of that. It could well be there is a long backlog of homes left to be sold and more coming online -- that doesn't necessarily mean lower median prices, but it does portend a difficult time for an existing owner if they want to sell and move. The early evidence is that the number of existing homes sold has been increasing every year -- people are still able to sell their homes -- so I would guess that existing owners have escaped some of the pain so far. (This is mixed.)

Interesting stuff.

For more information on the greater Chicago real estate market check out their website. Also they're providing a $10 discount for Sloopin readers who are interested in purchasing their entire report, The Neighborhood Report 2009 (simply type in "SLOOPIN" when purchasing). Check it out, we found it interesting.

South Loop is Chicago's Vegas?

Interesting video and bit on yochicago.com about the South Loop:

The South Loop gets a lot attention, but from what we've read it's doing no worse then any other area in Chicago. Obviously it's not a good time to sell given the amount of high rise inventory on the market (especially in the neighborhood), but the video brings up some good points as to why the long-term prospects for the South Loop remain strong (proximity to the center of the city, parks, museums and lakes).

Hackney's Mediocre This Time

After a long night of Flacos Tacos and drinking, we decided to hit up a well respected Printer's Row spot, Hackney's, for a late lunch. We've been once before and enjoyed our meal that time, but the star of that visit was the distinctive beer selection.

This time, beer wasn't on the mind so the food took center stage. After everyone decided on their main entrees, we had second thoughts and put in a quick order for the "Original French Fried Onion" appetizer which amounts to a large loaf of beautifully fried onions strings. Judging by the pace that we took down the mountain of onion rings it's safe to say they were enjoyed.

The main courses got mixed reviews. Two of us got the 'Chicken Avocado Club, which was good but noticeable large and messy. The 'Stuffed California Burger' seemed appealing, but unfortunately didn't live up to the hype of the menu. It was noted that the cheese wasn't as prominent as expected.

Breakfast is usually consumed prior to noon, but given the option one of us opted for the omelet with avocado. Again, solid but not excellent. The final person wasn't particularly hungry and decided on the soup of the day, Clam Chowder, which was probably the best received out of the group.

All in all the food was ok, but not something most of the group would seek out again. Regardless, the atmosphere was nice, the service was relatively prompt and it was a nice place to catch up with some good peeps.

Flaco's Taco's Now Open Late

So Sloopin hit up Flaco’s Taco’s in October of ’08 and although we were all a little intoxicated at the time, it was a big hit and somewhere we knew we wanted to go again.

Fast forward to some random late, drunk Friday night in Wicker Park and man were we hungry. We flag down a cab, head south on 90/94 back to the Sloop when a great thought enters my mind…“I need a burrito, I need Flaco’s Taco’s”. We quickly call an audible to the cabbie and it’s off to Flaco’s. We pull up and to our chagrin it’s closed. Evidently Flaco's isn’t open at 2:35am. Naturally we’re disappointed, especially since this same thing has happened at least twice since this initial incident.

Needless to say, this past Friday presented another opportunity to hit up Flaco’s. Lucky for us it was open when we strolled up to the restaurant this time. We had a large group and although we didn’t take a formal poll, it seemed like everyone was quite happy with the decision. The highlight for me personally was the $3 beer that was on tap. I can’t remember the name, but damn it hit the spot.

The moral of the story is that it now seems that Flaco’s is open late night, which is good or bad depending on what you think. Sloopin’s take…it’s a good thing.

The Metra and The Olympic Village Stop Question?

Ok, by our calculations it seems like the bid team intentionally left out the fact that there is a 27th street Metra stop right by the proposed Olympic Village. Why would they do this? We thought it provided them a great opportunity to connect the Olympic Village to the rest of the city with Mass Rail Transit.
From our calculations, there really are not many close CTA stops to the proposed Olympic Village (see chart below). The closest Red Line stop is the Chinatown stop which is approximately 1.5 Miles away. The closest Green Line stop is also about 1.5 miles away. So the CTA really won't be accessible to the Olympic Village.
So this leaves the Metra, which literally stops at the proposed Olympic Village. Let's also not forget that the Metra stops at McCormick Place and 18th street (both places that are either at or very close to proposed venues). So again why would they leave these off their maps? Are they hiding something? It's weird because they put random CTA stops on the map, but leave out major Metra stops that could actually affect the bid.

Not sure the reasoning, but the only logical explanation would be security concerns. Do the Athlete's only use buses? I imagine they do when they're going to venues to practice and compete, but when they're done wouldn't it be good if they could jump on a train and enjoy the real CHICAGO culture!

Just a thought on our part...can you think of any other reasons?

First Take on the 'Final' Chicago Bid

Let's be honest, it's impossible to sort through the 500+ pages of bid information quickly. However, as I thumbed through the plan, the venue portion (volume 2) did impress me. The 'Olympic Waterfront' cluster, which is centered around Grant Park, Museum Campus, McCormick Place and the new proposed Olympic Village, would truly be spectacular and showcase some of the most beautiful areas of our city to the entire world.
However, the biggest disappointment has to be the Transportation plan. Our hope, as well as many other people judging by the comments on this article on chicagotribune.com, was that the Olympics could serve as a spring board for the City, State and Federal governments to invest and upgrade our decrepit CTA. Anyone living in Chicago knows upgrades are desperately needed!

We were hoping for some new lines (maybe the circle line project) or something connecting the Olympic Village to the rest of the CTA. Amazingly this doesn't exist. I think it goes without saying that the Olympics would bring funding for the CTA, but right now it looks like it would solely be used to upgrade the existing system; which is needed but not the scale we were hoping for.

However, 2016 is a lonnnnnnnng time away! If Chicago gets the Olympics it wouldn't surprise me if the transportation plan changes (remember Chicago and the US are all about CHANGE these days thanks to Obama). I know it would cost a lot to expand the CTA, but we see this as an opportunity Chicago can't pass up.

More Olympic thoughts to come as we continue to read, listen and digest all that is the 2016 Olympic bidding process...

Happy 2016 Olympic Bid Submission Day!

Well technically it was yesterday, but the public finally gets to see all of the cities plans. It's a ton of information and there is no way we will be able to go through it all, however as we see interesting stuff we will try to post it.

So far I've spent the most time on Tokyo's bid. First thoughts...wow this city looks amazing. I guess I already knew that, but still always impresses me. Here is a cool picture from the proposed Olympic Village for Tokyo's bid. Pretty cool view of the Tokyo harbor if you ask me: