It’s hard to ignore the fact that although the South Loop is “burgeoning,” according to every developer in the area, there’s hardly anything to do in the damn neighborhood. Do South Loopers just sit at home alone or with their families and dogs, reclining in an Eames chair in their $1.5 million penthouse? Or do they head out to the surrounding neighborhoods when they want a little taste of Chicago’s nightlife?
Columbia College, located at 600 S Michigan Ave, brings a young, hip, cultured population to the area. Colleges usually mean hip boutiques, coffee shops and bars, right? So why is it that A Student’s Guide to Nightlife, written by students at Columbia, doesn’t contain any nightlife options for these South Loop dwellers? The guide provides the reader with four choices: Clark and Belmont, Lincoln Park, Wicker Park and the Loop. Pockets of the South Loop have bars, but the pickings are slim.
What about shopping? We’ve all heard about the Southgate Market, located at Roosevelt and Canal, and slated to open later this year. Whole Foods is supposed to anchor the mall, which will provide retail options such as Office Depot and DSW. The Sun-Times reported yesterday that the latter two stores will open in mid-November, but Whole Foods is singing a different tune. A spokeswoman for the anchor store said the company “needs more time to discover what South Loop residents want in specialty items,” so the store won’t open until at least May.
Commenters on Chicagoist were outraged at the news, virtually demanding that Whole Foods open, pronto. There is, of course, a Jewel-Osco at 1224 S Wabash Ave, but it’s a good thing that high-rise developers are starting to offer free parking spaces, because for now, those in search of organic produce will have to hop in their cars and head north.