The United Center shopping district never sounded that great to me. I like the idea of having more than oceans of parking around the arena, believe me, but in practice, when you're talking about a Bulls/Hawks game in the dead of winter with a 7 p.m. start, do you really want to do more than get in and get out at a reasonable hour with minimum outdoor time? Consider that both teams moved their start times from 7:30 to 7 (I know the Hawks did for this year, I think the Bulls did this six or seven years ago) so that families could get to the games on time and not make such late nights of it. And unlike Wrigleyville, it's pretty far removed from things, so how would such a thing sustain itself on offdays? Or do we just concede that Unitedcenterville is to be dormant in the summer like Wrigleyville is in the winter? At any rate, the Rose injury shouldn't preclude this sort of large-scale development if they really think it's worth doing. The Hawks would be in on it, too, and they're chugging along just fine.
I do want a Pink Line stop at Madison/Paulina, though. Just don't spend $25 million on it like the one at Cermak/Michigan.
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Molly Lambert wrote:
The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.