At Tuesday’s council meeting, there was quite a bit of discussion about the Northmoor Road improvement project. If the city is going to use IDOT funds for this project, they have to follow IDOT’s rules, and in this case it would mean widening the street to five lanes between Allen and Sheridan roads. The road doesn’t need five lanes.
So, the City Council is trying to persuade IDOT to see things the city’s way and approve fewer lanes for this project, yet not jeopardize our share of federal funds in the process. This is all laudable.
I couldn’t help but notice the irony, though, when Councilwoman Barbara Van Auken started waxing eloquent about why we need to say “no” to IDOT. We need to stand up and say “no,” she said, because these five-lane highways harm “mature neighborhoods.” And if they don’t believe it harms “mature neighborhoods,” then they can come down here and a take a little tour, she continued. We need to tell IDOT that we’re not going to let them mar one more “mature neighborhood,” even if it means losing that federal money, she concluded. She made a very strong statement, and I agree wholeheartedly with it.
I just wish she’d been that bold toward Bradley University when they decided to decimate a “mature neighborhood” for the sake of a parking garage in her own district.
*My thanks to PeoriaIllinoisan from whom I shamelessly stole this picture.
With all due respect to Joni Mitchell:
They paved paradise, put up a parking deck.
Would the neighborhood rather have a parking deck or have all the cars park in front of their house and have the people walk around their neighborhood at night? Does anybody really want to spend a couple million to put up a parking deck?
Clayton, none of the surrounding neighborhoods (Uplands, Arbors, Moss Bradley) have ever complained about the parking situation when events were held at the Field House. NEVER.
It has always been accepted as a necessary reality of living in an urban center next to a university.
And… I might add, that garage isn’t going to make a much of difference in the parking situation. Very little of that garage is going to actually be used my the average shmoe going to see a sporting event. The garage will be filled with faculty, staff, athletes, and VIPs, not the average ticket holder.
It was the biggest complaint I heard when I lived around there (maybe second after the drunk college kid complaints). They hated the Central/Manual game at the Fieldhouse. It was fun to watch the people try to shoo away people trying to park in front of their house.
Excellent post C.J. — course holding views like this (and articulating them) might have been part of the reason that you didn’t get appointed to another commission! 🙂
Clayton, sure some people bitched about it but at the neighborhood meetings, sense would return.
“It was fun to watch the people try to shoo away people trying to park in front of their house.”
I always find it amusing too when people think the curb in front of their house is theirs. It isn’t.
As I said.. the garage is not going to eliminate the on street parking. I would contend that it won’t mitigate it much either. The garage isn’t about solving broader parking problems, it is about pampering athletes and faculty, it is about fundraising (gotta pamper the VIPs too), all in Bradley’s quest to be a more competitive university. We all know the world needs more athletes. Gotta keep the coliseum full so that the plebeians are happy and apathetic.
Does a better Bradley basketball team help the community?
During most of the 1980’s, I lived directly across Main St from the Fieldhouse. Several of those houses have paved “back yards”, including the one I lived in. During BU games, either the owner of the house, or the guy who lived on the first floor, would drag a sign out to where the driveway opened onto Main Street, and wait. If a game started at 8, they would have filled the lot by 7:15, charging $5 a car. I believe they could get 15 cars in the lot and driveway. Nobody ever complained about the price and since most of the neighbors did the same thing, none of them complained either. High school games and concerts were a harder sell and most of those people tried to sneak their car in, and would be anything but pleased to return to find their car had been towed.
Clayton asked:
Considering over eighty owner-occupied homes changed to rentals after the Bradley deal went through, I’d say they’d rather have the cars in front of their house.
Cj,
where are the 80 homes? Uplands, M/B, and Arbor?
just curious about the breakdown.
Paul, I have no idea where the 80 figure came from that I said in my comment. I wrote that from memory, but now I can’t find any substantiating evidence, so it may have just been my imagination.
I did, however, find where the president of the Arbor district told the city council back in March that 13 homeowners in the 800 block of Cooper alone had been converted to rentals, so it’s not implausible. But since I can’t back it up, I’ll withdraw the comment.
I remember the 13 homeowners from the Arbor District as well, but was just curious about the impact since the tearing down has begun, let me know if you can track down the source.
thanks