History

For Chicago, the USA and for that matter the world. It was a great day, beautiful weather, and the outcome we could only dream for. The best part about it was that it happened in our front yard:

Mayor Daley Talks about the Benefits for Chicago with Obama Presidency

Here is a Sun-Times article talking about Mayor Daley and the benefits he sees of a Obama Presidency. He talks about Chicago and the general country, but also talks about Obama coming from an urban environment and what that means for cities. Also, as stated many many times on Sloopin and other media vehicles, Obama would significantly help Chicago's Olympics bid.

The money quote in my opinion is when Daley talks about infrastructure:

With Obama in the White House and more Democrats in Congress, Daley just might get his wish for a modern-day version of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal.

"He's traveled all over the country. He's seen the roads and bridges. He's seen public transportation. He's seen infrastructure. And what he has seen now [is that] America has to re-invest. We rebuilt Germany and Japan. Why can't we invest in infrastructure? Infrastructure is the key. He understands that and he'll have an agenda on that because he's been talking about it for a couple of years now," Daley said.

Although he's talking about the entire country, one potential benefactor could be the CTA. This might be a little optimistic though...

New Record for Sloopin

Thanks to everyone who has been reading Sloopin.

We set a new record for the blog yesterday, 150 impression (aka page views) on 11/3.

Thanks and tell your friends!

Crazy Tight Security

Last night I decided to check out Grant Park and see what the scene looked like. As I walked east on Roosevelt, I ran into a Israeli news team taping a segment. At that point the historic nature of the election began to set in, the world is watching.

I've been going to Lollapalooza for a couple years now and am familiar with the location and security that accompanies that. I've seen people jump the fence with ease to sneak into Hutchinson field. That's not going to happen for the Obama rally. Besides being heavily guarded by police officers, there are three or more sets of fences that I noticed.

Anyway, the other odd thing that struck me was that every light pole was numbered. I assume this is for security, but none the less it was interesting:



Should be an interesting night in the South Loop...

I'm going to be posting observations live from the event...

More Information About Tuesday's Obama Rally

See You Tuesday in Grant Park!

A New Piece of Land for the Olympic Stadium

Recently I spoke to a resident in Hyde Park who does not want the temporary Olympic stadium to be built in Jackson Park. She likes her neighborhood the way it is and doesn't want the inconvenience of the Olympics to hamper her area. Fine.

I never thought the idea was good in the first place. I mean the city is touting a compact Olympic games, so why have one of the most important venues so far away? The cities explanation was to share some of the development perks with other areas of the city (and parts of Hyde Park could definitely use some of the perks associated with huge civil development projects).

Anyway, I was trying to think of alternative places that could house such a massive structure and one stood out to me. I'm not sure what this area is called but it's bounded by Roosevelt on the North, Clark on the east, the Chicago river on the west and 18th street on the south. It's a HUGE vacant piece of property that as of now looks like an empty field of grass.

I've read that this is privately owned, but maybe there is a way for the city to sieze it or something (eminent domain anyone?). Anyway here is a map of the area I'm talking about:



Does anyone know anything about this land? I think Tony Rezko might have something to do with it, but not sure. I've also read that some foreign investor might own it.

Sloopin's Definition

Sloop – noun – (sloo–p)

Sloopin – verb - (sloo-pin)

noun:

1. An area bounded by Congress on the north, Lake Michigan on the east, 55 on the south and 90/94 on the west: I’m going down to the sloop for dinner tonight.

verb:

2. To do some activity in the south loop or in the near south side area: Tuesday is going to be sick, I’m sloopin with Obama all night!

Chicago's Skyline Halted

No big surprise given all the current economic issues, but many of Chicago's proposed skyscrapers have either halted or not even been started. The Chicago Tribune reports:

"In the wake of the global credit crisis, Chicago's once-superheated skyline—radically transformed during the last 10 years by one of the greatest building booms in the city's history—is on the verge of being frozen in place."

The Sloopin Map

Just in case anyone wonders what constitutes sloopin, here is a general map of what we consider the "sloopin" area:

It mainly focuses on the blue area (South Loop and Printer's Row) but for good measure we also consider the red area (Near South Side) and green area (?) part of sloopin.

With these parameters set, we essentially try to keep readers up to date on anything that's going on in the area. Occasionally we'll have posts on things outside of our jurisdiction, but in some way all postings should have some relation to the sloopin areas.

Map for Tuesday

As I mentioned earlier, things are going to change, but according to the tribune here is a map of the area in detail:

When I was walking around today, they already have the no parking signs up for Tuesday on Wabash and Michigan.

Consensus: McCain Bad, Obama Good

At least that's the consensus for the Chicago 2016 bid.  Here is another opinion piece (this time in the Around the Rings website) about the election and how it could effect the 2016 bid process.

Security Guards, Rioting and the Obama Rally

So I just got an email from my condo management company and it sounds like we've hired two security guards to "protect" our building on Tuesday.  Although the notion of needing protection doesn't seem warranted, I guess there is a possibility that Obama might lose and as a result angry supporters loot and burn Chicago (if that happens, I will be probably be joining these hooligans.  

Doubt this will actually happen but who knows...

With that said and in the spirit of celebration, look at this video from the recent world series celebrations, hopefully this isn't me on Tuesday:

Getting Ready for the Big Event on Tuesday

It seems like details are hard to come by and ever changing, but preparation for Obama's Tuesday night election celebration have begun on the south side of Grant Park.  The Sun Times has about 50 pictures of the location, here is one of them:

As of now, I do have a ticket and am planning on going.  I'm not exactly sure what to expect, but I'm still excited.  I'll keep you posted on anything else I hear...