Video: What's So Great About the Fulton River District?

Have you ever asked yourself, "Self, what's so great about the Fulton River District?"  I haven't either.  But that doesn't mean there aren't great things there.

For tens of thousands of people, it's a way to get from their offices in the Loop to their homes in the suburbs.  But the Fulton River District Association wants people to know there's a lot more going on on the western bank of the Chicago River.

Here's a video the Association put together.  While the Haymarket Riot is certainly an historic event, I'm not sure celebrating a riot is the proper way to promote a neighborhood.  You decide for yourself:

Encouraging News from the Near West Side

We received a note from the people at the Fulton River District Association about what's going on on the other side of the Chicago River.  Of course, it's the Association's business to promote the area, but even beyond that it appears that things are moving along nicely just west of the Loop.

Some highlights:

• The Echelon at K Station is 65% leased.
• River Point is 66% leased.
• Construction continues on Metra Market.
• Alta at K Station plans to start leasing next March.

When we moved to Chicago just six years ago, the Fulton River District wasn't a place we would have considered living.  But an entire neighborhood has sprung up and the area is well on its way to becoming  a vibrant urban district as surface parking lots become condo towers and old warehouses are turned into lofts.

Another parking lot bites the dust (we hope)

If there's one thing that doesn't belong in downtown Chicago it's surface parking lots.  They contribute virtually nothing to the economic, social, and visual vitality of the area.  And fortunately, there may be one fewer soon.

According to the Fulton River District e-mail bulletin, the parking lot at 108 North Jefferson could soon make way for a multi-use building.


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That's the lot a block behind the Citigroup Center, northwest of the ABN AMRO Technology Center.


As more and more people move into the area, we can hope that fewer and fewer surface parking lots will survive and the area can become a thriving home to thousand of new Chicagoans.