They've made the neighborhood millions of dollars?

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It's been a symbiotic relationship: their surroundings made money for the Cubs, too. The neighborhood did perfectly fine with the team under Tribune ownership, and they didn't seem to have to evict an entire block of residents out of their homes.

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Plus, a lot of them end up behind bars.

Mark Thomas is a sharp motherfucker. If he's running, you should vote for him.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

The Tribune Co also did not want to do anything more than the bare minimum to the stadium as far as upgrades goes.

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You don't know what you are talking about. In the 1970's/early 80's the neighborhood was terrible. There was Latin Kings/Latin Eagles gang graffitti on buildings all around that neighborhood and it was not a great place to go for a walk at night. Then the Cubs had the great season in 1984 and it all changed. in the 1970's you could buy a 2 flat in that neighborhood for less than $40,000. The Cubs turned that neighborhood into a desireable place to live and operate businesses in. Some of those resturants/bars are of higher quality and make the Wrigleyville experience an enhanced one, to be sure. But without the ballclub, it's nothing special.

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Go Cubs!!!!

A neighborhood changed from bad to good in 40 years? What an amazingly unique thing to happen!

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

What the hell are you talking about? I said it changed in the 80's dipshit. It has become better still since then. But it all began with the ballclub's tremendous success in 1984.

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Go Cubs!!!!

How did Lincoln Park manage to change without a ballpark?

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

That happens to neighborhoods all the time. One season of Cubs baseball is likely just coincidental.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I'm sure that Wrigleyville will look like Dubai after Theo's fifth championship.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

I have heard many analysts point to the Cubs making the playoffs in 1984 as the genesis for the nation's burgeoning real estate market in the 90s.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

question is, would the neighborhood maintain if the Cubs moved.

_________________
Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

The cubs are the catalyst for everything here. While Sluggers, Murphys and Cubby all stepped to clean up the area, none of them even open their doors without the Cubs here.

Took a real estate auction class with Lukas (cubby bear owner), only 8 people in the class, had a 1 hour lunch break and we started talking and I heard the guys life story, Basically him and his brother graduated from SIU and opened Sluggers for $170K. Borrowed money from family, etc and were convinced it would be a good deal because Jim Murphy, who had bought Rays bleachers, was going to clean up the area with Cops there all the time. I think my first game without the parents taking me was 1978/79 and we didnt really notice anything as it was on and off the train, but it just wasnt that crowded.

While I think the area could now live without the Cubs, there would be a major adjustment period as no way 10 CLUBS, not bars, remain open and the rent would then need to come down as the area already has more vacancy than I have seen in 20 years here.

Of course Sweet Baby Rays didnt want to give me some extra sauce and now closed! Or temporarily closed? One Sunday at 4 PM they just closed the doors and havent reopened since. No sign on the door, no nothing. Tables and chairs, still sitting outside.

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"That's what the internet is for. Slandering others anonymously." Banky
“Been that way since one monkey looked at the sun and told the other monkey ‘He said for you to give me your fuckin’ share.’”

there should be a re-occuring thread every Friday called Bigfan's story of the week.

A historical story just like the one above. I'm quite serious.

_________________
Ба́бушка гада́ла, да на́двое сказа́ла—то ли до́ждик, то ли снег, то ли бу́дет, то ли нет.

The Cubs made Lake View nice, ergo, it is their right to tear down the nice stuff. This is awesome. Fuck everyone who's not the Cubs.

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I never knew Sluggers was a Loukas joint. But didn't George buy Cubby Bear and The Sports Corner well before Jimmy Murphy bought Ray's? Regardless, it always looks easy in retrospect. Back in the 70s when those guys started buying up that property most people thought they were slumlords and/or fools.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Matthew, Tulsi, and Don

of property rights

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I always laugh to myself when I see the community gathered and half is yuppies while the other half is second generation hillbillies living with their aging parents.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.