I unfortunately never got to hear Gail Smith. I saw Patricia Barber their several times. I literally lived right behind it on Magnolia Street in a converted hotel.
Well, I made it back in one piece. I think everyone for posting some advice.
I’d say for the most part, everyone is right about the current situation in Chicago.
You are either in denial that there’s a problem or you’re realistic about it.
I was downtown, right off Chestnut and Rush. Here are my observations.
1. Many restaurants, hotels and shops are closed, and probably permanently. Macy’s is gone, Hyatt on Chicago gone, restaurants on Pearson gone. Ra, my favorite sushi bar...gone. Bistroc Zinc gone. Flowers still adorn the city but not as brilliant and overwhelming as before. The City definitely lacks the class of the Daly’s when you had the decorated cows downtown.
2. I don’t think I’ve ever seen unrented commercial property on Michigan Ave or close to it.
3. Chicago Police NOT ARMED SECURITY are in the stores on Michigan Ave. I wonder who is paying for that, I would think the city considering the expense the shops payed from all the looting last year.
4. You enter the stores one by one. They take your name and phone number.
5. The world’s largest Starbucks 5 floors limits the number of people who can go in at a time. This is good, as when you eventually get in, you’re not rushed and pushing your way thru people, and you can enjoy the store, but it’s a sign of the times, where it’s no more people coming and going as they please.
6. If you’ve read 1984, you will be cognizant to the fact that with increased police surveillance of our lives, we are approaching the inevitable point to where robots will be marking where we are 24/7. No doubt the people spending millions of dollars to have their great view of Lake Michigan will gladly give up this freedom, so they’ll be sure that their neighbor is in check, but the fact is, one day they’re going to wake up and find themselves being the ones under surveillance too. More about this later.
7. The city has less tourists, but a lot more young people, but overall the streets have less people, I suspect because more people are working at home.
I can recall during the Daly and Rahm Emmanuel periods you had loads of tourists downtown. You had those cows decorated infant of the shops. People walking were shoulder to shoulder even during the winter time.
8. No way do you take the blue and red lines. Saturday night around 10 PM, fireworks were going on at Navy Pier, while police and ambulances were running continuously down Michigan Ave. There was a stabbing at the Hotel Allegro about 5 blocks from me.
9. 2 days before I arrived, a local news caster was doing a quick report on Chicago violence when, during live footage, a young gangbanger came up behind her, flashed his guns and pranced away.
(Please see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEnPmPGF4aY )
10. A lot of crazies going up and down the streets. You sense that there’s a thinly cloaked anger among the young people. For example, around 9 am there’s this bard chested light skinned black man, dribbling a basketball down the sidewalk on Michigan, I watched as he’d get as close as he could to the people walking by trying to engage them, and if they looked at him, he’d dribble right in their face, then dart away. You sense that if anyone provokes him, he’s going to throw the ball in their face. The guy constantly dribbled up and down the street. I. thought there’s nothing you can do with this bully with a basketball.
11. I’d say, if you live downtown you are not going to safely venture our walking more than five blocks East or West of Michigan, and I doubt more than a mile either way from Water Tower.
12. If you’re going out at night to any of the blues bars, restaurants etc you better dress down more than dress up. I had jeans on with a tuxedo jacket going into Le Colonial, but later, I put on Doc Marten hiking boots, and a black shirt and a baseball cap and ventured off to Kingston Mines.
13. I used to hate taking a taxi in Chicago. The cabbies were usually abrupt, over charge you etc. Uber is now the only game in town, and it’s really made travel easy. You call for an Uber and they’re right there within 4 minutes or less. I’m sure the cabs like it too, as they’re not getting gouged by the city for fees.
14. As long as democrats are running this city, it’s going to be a toilet. Not as bad as Detroit, but it’s going there.
I can go on and on, and I’ll answer any questions people have.