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I just returned from my first trip to Chicago, and noticed some related things when comparing to other large cities I'm familiar with. Related to honking and s

I just returned from my first trip to Chicago, and noticed some related things when comparing to other large cities I'm familiar with. Related to honking and street noise, another factor I noticed is a high number of curbs where parking is simply not allowed. This streamlines traffic in some ways, as people aren't fighting over spaces or waiting for someone to back in slowly. Although, there was a lot of "hazard parking" where people just stopped where they weren't supposed to. A lot of the honking I witnessed was due to freight/waste vehicles blocking an entire street (2-4 lanes) so they could back into a dock or service area in the middle of a block. Downtown at night seemed eerily quiet, although there were a good number of people. I think several factors applied here, when compared with SF... Chicago has been built to handle the vast crowds from events and conventions that swarm the city. When that isn't happening, there is comparatively more room for people, so it's wide sidewalks aren't as crowded. Also, being built to withstand harsh winters, I imagine there is better thermal insulation that also acts as decent audio insulation (plus a lot is happening under the street level!). I was right outside blues and jazz clubs where you couldn't actually hear that anything was going on inside (this makes me laugh when compared to visiting Nashville for the first time earlier in the year). It also seemed that the contention between drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians is more severe even than SF, where I saw several interactions that seemed more like a macho game of "chicken".

bluedino 8y ago
Eerily quiet at night? What neighborhood did you stay in? Hotels often put earplugs on the nightstand since it’s so loud in some parts.
- rhino369 8y ago
  He probably means the loop. Which in many parts is totally abandoned at night.
zubairshams 8y ago
All the traffic is in River North, the area straight north bordering downtown. River North is where most of the nightlife is.
monksy 8y ago
It's quiet after 7pm because most people don't live in the loop. After 6pm the neighborhoods become a lot busier. Also, a lot of the people in the loop during the workday come from the suburbs.
- wenc 8y ago
  Right. Also, many new visitors mistake the Loop for downtown, but the Loop is really just one part of downtown. Downtown encompasses River North, West Loop and a bunch of adjacent neighborhoods where it's fairly lively. Parts of the Loop can be pretty lively at night too, especially off State St where the theaters are (I just saw Hello Dolly last night). I mention this because there are many midwestern cities (like St Louis) whose downtowns are completely deserted after 5 which gives rise to safety concerns. Chicago's downtown isn't like that at all. It's still comparatively residential. It's somewhat similar to downtown Toronto in that the core business district clears out after 7 and the surrounding areas become more lively.
  - sureaboutthis 8y ago
    That's where a lot of people get it wrong about St. Louis population numbers. Most people don't live in the city there. But, due to geopolitical activities in the late 1800s, the city was separated from the county where most people live. Therefore, population numbers for the city show 300K or less but ignore where most people live--that is, the surrounding county which, if you give the metropolitan area number, is something over 3 million people! The size of Denver metro area.
  - hibikir 8y ago
    St Louis' downtown feels deserted before 5 too, as large chunks of downtown are designed to have nothing to do for pedestrians. Look at your favorite satellite images around Market and 10th: You see nice parks surrounded by buildings that are not designed to have stores. The area is full of government buildings, office buildings and parking lots that will get no use after 5, and few people even walk the streets at lunch time: The west loop of Chicago at 9pm is busier than This area at noon. Busch stadium is nearby, but look at the activity nearby: There's Ballpark village and a couple of other bars to the west, but most of those nearby buildings are still empty, and the area is all a sea of surface parking lots. Architecture and urbanism generate pedestrian activity, and many midwestern towns are not designed for it, but for people to come from the suburbs and park near their office. You can use zoning to build lively neighborhoods, soulless collections of office buildings, or anything else in between. The many municipalities around St Louis, and their planning, also engineer world-leading levels of segregation, both by race and social class. It's no wonder St Louisians ask each other where they went to high school. The way the metro area is designed, it'd be a miracle if it didn't provide a lot of information.
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quickthrower2 8y ago
I'm a big fan of clearways. Do you have those in the states? Not only is it no parking and no stopping, but if you do between certain times, they'll tow you away without warning, park you in a random side street (phone to find out where...) and slap you with a fine.

bluedino 8y ago

Eerily quiet at night? What neighborhood did you stay in? Hotels often put earplugs on the nightstand since it’s so loud in some parts.

rhino369 8y ago
He probably means the loop. Which in many parts is totally abandoned at night.

zubairshams 8y ago

All the traffic is in River North, the area straight north bordering downtown. River North is where most of the nightlife is.

monksy 8y ago

It's quiet after 7pm because most people don't live in the loop. After 6pm the neighborhoods become a lot busier. Also, a lot of the people in the loop during the workday come from the suburbs.

wenc 8y ago
Right. Also, many new visitors mistake the Loop for downtown, but the Loop is really just one part of downtown. Downtown encompasses River North, West Loop and a bunch of adjacent neighborhoods where it's fairly lively. Parts of the Loop can be pretty lively at night too, especially off State St where the theaters are (I just saw Hello Dolly last night). I mention this because there are many midwestern cities (like St Louis) whose downtowns are completely deserted after 5 which gives rise to safety concerns. Chicago's downtown isn't like that at all. It's still comparatively residential. It's somewhat similar to downtown Toronto in that the core business district clears out after 7 and the surrounding areas become more lively.
- sureaboutthis 8y ago
  That's where a lot of people get it wrong about St. Louis population numbers. Most people don't live in the city there. But, due to geopolitical activities in the late 1800s, the city was separated from the county where most people live. Therefore, population numbers for the city show 300K or less but ignore where most people live--that is, the surrounding county which, if you give the metropolitan area number, is something over 3 million people! The size of Denver metro area.
- hibikir 8y ago
  St Louis' downtown feels deserted before 5 too, as large chunks of downtown are designed to have nothing to do for pedestrians. Look at your favorite satellite images around Market and 10th: You see nice parks surrounded by buildings that are not designed to have stores. The area is full of government buildings, office buildings and parking lots that will get no use after 5, and few people even walk the streets at lunch time: The west loop of Chicago at 9pm is busier than This area at noon. Busch stadium is nearby, but look at the activity nearby: There's Ballpark village and a couple of other bars to the west, but most of those nearby buildings are still empty, and the area is all a sea of surface parking lots. Architecture and urbanism generate pedestrian activity, and many midwestern towns are not designed for it, but for people to come from the suburbs and park near their office. You can use zoning to build lively neighborhoods, soulless collections of office buildings, or anything else in between. The many municipalities around St Louis, and their planning, also engineer world-leading levels of segregation, both by race and social class. It's no wonder St Louisians ask each other where they went to high school. The way the metro area is designed, it'd be a miracle if it didn't provide a lot of information.

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quickthrower2 8y ago

I'm a big fan of clearways. Do you have those in the states? Not only is it no parking and no stopping, but if you do between certain times, they'll tow you away without warning, park you in a random side street (phone to find out where...) and slap you with a fine.