I live in the South Loop, er, River South

They’re at it again, messing with the South Loop. Developers may have failed in their all-out effort to brand the neighborhood as SoLo in the 1990s, but this time they’re trying for “River South”, and they’re even bringing in some big guns, P.R. firm Cushman / Amberg Communications, to help out. Developer D2 Realty Service Inc. is the driving force behind the mooted name change according to a story in today’s Crain’s Chicago Business. The new name would apply to the area bounded roughly by Congress Parkway and Clark, Canal and 18th streets. D2 apparently plans to build a 300-unit high-rise on Clark just north of Roosevelt. The story features an amusing interview with a guy who works at Big Stick Productions, the firm that produces a map of Chicago neighborhoods. He says that he’s been waylaid by geographically-challenged developers and real estate agents in the past, including one group who wanted to rename Old Town Triangle “Lincoln Gold”. Oh and some guy once apparently offered the company a grand total of $75 to add “West Bucktown” to the map.

But hey, some of these names end up sticking – look at River North.

Yo wants to hear your thoughts (and suggestions?) about insta-neighborhood names.

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