Why is everything closed?
I try to stay away from downtown as much as possible. With the exception of heading down to Columbia to teach, and occassionally getting some shopping done, you can count me out. It’s just too…. feh.
This weekend, my dad and little sister decided to come down and have a “city day” while my mom and little brother were in Minneapolis. After we got the shaft on parking at the Lincoln Park Zoo (damn you beach people!), we headed down to go check out the Sears Tower Skydeck. We parked over by Harold Washington and hooved it west. It was eerily quiet, and weird, and a lot of stuff was closed. hmmmm. That’s strange. We got to the tower, but there was an hour wait for the Skydeck. Since we had already spent 45 minutes trying to find parking up by the zoo, and walking from our parking lot, we had worked up quite an appetite. We decided to grab some food, and then head back over to see if the line had shortened.
Who would have known that finding somewhere to eat in the Loop on a Saturday afternoon would be such an issue? Potbelly’s: closed. Quizno’s: closed. Taco Fresco: closed. Everything was open Monday – Friday, and closed on the weekends. What is the deal with that? I can’t believe the third largest city in the country has a downtown sector that completely closes down on the weekend.
word up, girl.
walking through the loop at about 9 PM is one of the dullest things I have ever done …
Try Detroit at night. Chicago has plenty of areas with stuff going on (obviously), but there’s no reason for the business districts to cater to the few that are around on the weekends. I’ve been in that same spot before and it would be nice if more places were open.
When is this new?? The loop has always been a ghost town west of state st. on the weekends.
The recent downtown/south loop condo boom was supposed to energize that area on the weekends. Guess that hasn’t quite happened yet.
Chicago’s loop on Sunday is like a ghost town.
That’s pretty normal for a business district in *any* city… aside from the Sears Tower, there’s nothing touristy in that area. There’s stuff open over by the Art Institute and tons of stuff up on Michigan Ave.
In that area, it’s all business… no residential and no real tourist attractions. So it’s not economical for places to stay open for as little foot traffic as they get.
A few ideas:
– Yeah, it’s a business district and Dave!’s right. The various neighborhoods all around the Loop are still pretty active on weekends and at night, though (Greektown represent, yo).
– Zed, I’m sorry but I think you’re mistaken. The Loop after hours used to be a real “wretched hive of scum and villainy” before Da Mayr got to work on it. At the risk of sounding nostalgic for “the bad old days” (sorry, Paper Lace), you really don’t see anywhere near as many strip clubs or hookers in the Loop as you used to… though that might not be what Lauren was looking for with her family. Diff’rent strokes.