Riverside Info Topic: Riverside as a Historic Destination???

Riverside Info Topic: Riverside as a Historic Destination??? http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Discussion Forum for Riverside Illinois en Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:40:03 +0000 mrt on "Riverside as a Historic Destination???" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/riverside-as-a-historic-destination#post-9134 Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:55:24 +0000 mrt 9134@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ If Riverside is really 'like walking in a VanGogh landscape' (if even only a little bit), this is a reason to visit - as one visits the Art Institute, for example. But as the OP said, there needs to be 'reason', an occasion, to come here. This might be code for there needs to be better promotion or exposure of Riverside. here are some links related to the OP 's question... <a href="http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/illinois-route-66-heritage-project-wwwillinoisroute66org" rel="nofollow">http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/illinois-route-66-heritage-project-wwwillinoisroute66org</a> <a href="http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/150-greatest-places-in-il-riverside-3" rel="nofollow">http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/150-greatest-places-in-il-riverside-3</a> <a href="http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/more-tourism-central-park-in-cook-county" rel="nofollow">http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/more-tourism-central-park-in-cook-county</a> <a href="http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/lincoln-slept-here" rel="nofollow">http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/lincoln-slept-here</a> <a href="http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/riverside-keyword-search-doesnt-show-riverside-in-il-tourism-site" rel="nofollow">http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/riverside-keyword-search-doesnt-show-riverside-in-il-tourism-site</a> the next link is related also, but also related to where we are now that that RCA won (the 'smallville vision' (minimum) won at the polls); during the tif debate there were some workshops held, and one workshop surveyed a variety of visions of Riverside: for example, a minimalist vision or approach where you do the bare minimum, in terms of money outlay, to rehabilitate the cbd, to a max vision where you kind of clear cut the CBD and start afresh and let your imagination go from underground parking to multilevel parking to...) <a href="http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/min-min-much-much" rel="nofollow">http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/min-min-much-much</a> . . darn you, spatny: you said 'Castles' :) ... a couple of images from Sighisoara, Transylvania, birthplace of Dracula... <img src="http://www.seahorse-design.com/wordpress/images/sighisoara2.jpg" alt="" /> <img src="http://thingsyoushoulddo.com/wp2/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/dracula-tour.jpg" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.visitoakpark.com/Photos/riverside.jpg" alt="" /> <a href="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://harrycwalsh.com/riversidephoto.jpg&imgrefurl=http://harrycwalsh.com/riverside_real_estate.htm&usg=__4MvZficuskazoz69n0oQzQAVCGA=&h=200&w=338&sz=7&hl=en&start=17&um=1&tbnid=tSD6c-8kga0g2M:&tbnh=70&tbnw=119&prev=/images%3Fq%3DRIVERSIDE,il%2B%2Btown%2Bhall%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1" rel="nofollow">http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://harrycwalsh.com/riversidephoto.jpg&imgrefurl=http://harrycwalsh.com/riverside_real_estate.htm&usg=__4MvZficuskazoz69n0oQzQAVCGA=&h=200&w=338&sz=7&hl=en&start=17&um=1&tbnid=tSD6c-8kga0g2M:&tbnh=70&tbnw=119&prev=/images%3Fq%3DRIVERSIDE,il%2B%2Btown%2Bhall%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DG%26um%3D1</a> <img src="http://www.riversidelibrary.org/images/rplfall.jpg" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.riverside-illinois.com/images/head/head-senior_02.jpg" alt="" /> spatny on "Riverside as a Historic Destination???" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/riverside-as-a-historic-destination#post-9133 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 19:53:17 +0000 spatny 9133@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ As Spiro Agnew said: "Castles? Seen one and you've seen 'em all." Then he took a frozen turkey as a bribe. Maybe it would be worth while for someone to get out of the traffic and walk through town and along the river and realize as thy watch the deer or the beaver at work that they are only nine miles from the Sears Tower. Sometimes lying on the grass without an ipod and just watching the clouds travel across the sky, or the robbins, or the girls is enough. Riverside isn't something you "look at", it's something you experience. Newblood on "Riverside as a Historic Destination???" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/riverside-as-a-historic-destination#post-9124 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:33:01 +0000 Newblood 9124@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Mr.T all you said is well and good but once again, why would anyone put Riverside on their list of places to visit? You have sold me that it might be a good place to live. You have narrowed it down that design students might have an interest. But have not sold me that it is a place to visit. It is my understanding that Olmsteds records were burned so how do you know this is what he intended? And Kim J. I have been to the museum. Aside from looking up my house - which most visitors from out of town won't do, what would interest a visitor to stop by on a Saturday? Catherine comes the closest to hitting on something. She mentions a concrete attraction that might intice an out of town visitor. What does Riverside have that would move someone to get in the car, on a plane, train, bike or walk over here to see it? Catherine on "Riverside as a Historic Destination???" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/riverside-as-a-historic-destination#post-9122 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 10:55:14 +0000 Catherine 9122@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ The Chicago Architecture Foundation a couple of years ago had a rather expensive but entirely sold out visit to Riverside. William LeBaron Jenney was the focus in that trip. I've been walking around this town for many years now and I still find it a great experience. I don't think anyone would feel ripped off coming here. It's not like we charge admission, but even if we did... mrt on "Riverside as a Historic Destination???" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/riverside-as-a-historic-destination#post-9121 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:56:44 +0000 mrt 9121@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ newblood said-- <blockquote> How do we even know what was planted and specified by Olmsted? </blockquote> Yes, the local history museum will help with this answer. Also, do newcomers to Riverside still recv a booklet describing Olmsted's plantings and design ideas? I recall receiving it as some kind of 'Welcome Package' when I moved here 21 yrs ago. I do not recall who gave it to us - FLOS? Chamber of Commerce? the Village? Another thing I forgot to add in the above post: when I came here , I did not know anything about Olmsted, Nat'l Landmark and all the historical stuff. I accidently found Riverside (altho I was in nearby OP! - this is how much of a secret this place is). I immediately saw and felt what I attempted to roughly describe above, THEN later I heard about all that Olmsted , fancy plan, Landmark stuff. Interesting that to one person Riverside (still) is a masterpiece of landscape design and to another it is just another upper middle class chicago suburb with a river, sort of a semi-River- Forest-south. Both people presumably are permanent residents of Riverside (I am but am not sure about the OP). Looking into the past shows examples of each viewpoint: see how Riverside laid out the Weisencraft annexation some 20 yrs after Olmsted designed this town - the new streets were laid out in a rectilinear fashion for one thing, the lots sizes seem different and do not 'feel' or look stitched into the rest of the town -, the monstrously huge multifamily buildings in the same area (pine, west, forest area), and the razing of the Babson estate despite an offer of $1 from Babson to use it as a park, the losing of the stone gutters, and most recently, the VC are examples of the MEH, Riverside, or $$$-first Riverside sensibility, but the Frederick Law Olmsted Society founded in the late '60s, the 1930 library, and its addition some 60 some years later, with its in-scale design and charming cotswold building materials are examples of sensing, and then extrapolating, the Olmsted vibe. Out of 8 to 10 million people in greater Chicago, there will be a share of the Meh-what's-so-big-about-Riverside, but there will be also be a significant share who will be interested in a pretty good attempt to marry nature and urban elements by an agreed upon master of this art. The latter will also draw from outside of the the greater chicago pool of people. mrt on "Riverside as a Historic Destination???" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/riverside-as-a-historic-destination#post-9120 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:23:25 +0000 mrt 9120@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ The Landmark status is more than just in name only, and much more than a map, which newblood correctly says can be seen on a website. it seems to me that much is still left despite the many changes from Olmsted's original vision. to me there seems to be enough left that it inspires the sense of tranquility that Olmsted imagined his design would inspire. This feeling, of course, is subjective, and relative to an individual. I am speaking for myself first off. I think that Riverside is extraordinary. I have even gone so far as saying that a walk in this town, ANYwhere in the town, would inspire a sense of well being and would make the person walking feel that the person is walking in a Van Gogh painting. That would not be shortchanging the person. The person will probably want to figure out how to buy a house here ("and, george, it is so close to chicago and the expressways"). <a href="http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/in-your-opinion-what-makes-riverside-special/page/2#post-2564" rel="nofollow">http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/in-your-opinion-what-makes-riverside-special/page/2#post-2564</a> Subjectively, how do you feel when you come in to Riverside from busy Harlem avenue on Longcommon, from the bridge to Barrypoint road, or from Forest av off of insane 1st av? To me, it invariably inspires a slowdown sense of 'the country' with the gently meandering roads, and front green space. If anyone is a Twilight Zone fan, Riverside is like Willoughby, where 'a man can slow down and live his life full measure'. More description of this cachet is mentioned in the following link, even in the context of attracting out of towners...(who would not want to see 'Concorde, Ma in the middle of gritty cook county , Illlinoiz'?) <a href="http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/some-olmsted-and-riverside-links#post-3668" rel="nofollow">http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/some-olmsted-and-riverside-links#post-3668</a> I do not get this feeling in other places, even ones with 'river front properties'. It is because of olmsted's design. He made it like a mobius strip where the space gently curves in on itself, and so that there is not a 'better side of the tracks' as there is in other places. There is the sense that 'the country' or the rural is always there. In other layouts, one WALKS TO 'the park' (nature); here anywhere you are you feel that sense of the country. For example, wHile I live in the cbd, downtown, I also am thisclose to the river and the greenspace surrounding it. In typical towns, the cbd's, from a nature point of view, is usually less interesting, less scenic-- less nature, more of place to suffer while you get your goods, then back to your tranquil abode. <a href="http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/discussion-from-workshop-2-sat-feb-10/page/3#post-2579" rel="nofollow">http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/discussion-from-workshop-2-sat-feb-10/page/3#post-2579</a> So anyone who is interested observing this design, as a student of design, or just as a person living in the 21st century, who might wonder whether 'the world is too much with us' <a href="http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_2/wordsworth.html">as Wordsworth said</a>, would get LOADS of BENEFIT experiencing Riverside, just in strolling around. Again, I am speaking on first blush just from my own experience. When I accidently came through Riverside while looking for other places to settle down, I immediately was AWEstruck by the generous amts of greenspace that seemed omnipresent, the gas lamps that made it look like 'the town that time forgot', and the gently winding roads that forced you to slow down and watch the flowers. I saw then , as I clearly see now 21 years later, that Riverside is unique among places, and is therefore very special and could be a destination for any like minded person. I also happened once on my old neighbors from Oak Park where I grew up. They were coming to the chew chew (when it was at the Arcade) for their weekly escape, they told me. These are some first impressions for your question, newblood. A large part of the TIF debate , which birthed this very online forum, was a discussion on what the real Riverside is. The townspeople overwhelmingly voted that the real Riverside is closer to a seamless fabric - again, LIKE a Van Gogh painting, than a town with typical congested downtown that is not like the rest of the townspace. Another name, NB: I believe I have called Riverside the feng shui capital of the world - something like that. No, anyone who knows about what feng shui is about, would not feel shortchanged for visiting here. I bet they would feel awestruck as I was. The following link has some more discussion on the specialness of Riverside as well as some great VanGogh paintings - that, to me, sum up my feelings (picture is worth a thousand words). I captioned the paintings, cross referencing lines from Olmsted's Riverside description - also copied below. btw, I have seen many times artists drawing in the downtown. So visitors can get an immediate sense of what it means to be in a planned , unified, design. Remember, that gentle bend in the road - It's all there. <a href="http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/where-we-stand?replies=23#post-2594" rel="nofollow">http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/where-we-stand?replies=23#post-2594</a> it also includes this quote from Olmsted, which is as valid today as much as it was in 1869. <blockquote>"Riverside is a semi-rural suburb, not far from the City of Chicago, designed to foster and express the harmonious association and cooperation of citizens in the community, and the civic relationship and interdependence between families, and to suggest and imply leisure, contemplativeness, and happy tranquility, with miles of pleasant access to the scenery of the streets and open spaces, to sunshine and fresh air, and to convenient commercial activity to support our daily lives. The character of this community is expressed in a unified landscape experience through a consistent, continuous planting approach, and a sense of enclosure and of safety with curvilinear streets." </blockquote> Trustee elect Saachi said in the link, too, the following...my emphasis on 'unified' <blockquote>The unified concept of Olmsted's design is the key to understanding what he was doing </blockquote> In sum, Riverside is more than some kind of lifeless 'historical museum', or a JPEG picture on a website; it still lives and breathes what the genius of Olmsted conceived. KimJ on "Riverside as a Historic Destination???" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/riverside-as-a-historic-destination#post-9119 Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:43:45 +0000 KimJ 9119@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ Sounds like someone needs to visit their local history museum. Saturdays 10 - 2 Newblood on "Riverside as a Historic Destination???" http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/topic/riverside-as-a-historic-destination#post-9118 Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:22:54 +0000 Newblood 9118@http://www.riversideinfo.org/forum/ This is not a criticism of Mr. Gorman or any of the new board members. <a href="http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/riverside/news/x50620583/New-village-president-has-many-issues-on-his-plate" rel="nofollow">http://www.mysuburbanlife.com/riverside/news/x50620583/New-village-president-has-many-issues-on-his-plate</a> Why would people want to come here? What is there to see? I keep hearing about the Olmsted Plan of Riverside. Why does someone need to come here? You look at the map on any website and you are done. What is the point? How much of the original trees, pavement, layout is left? How do we even know what was planted and specified by Olmsted? Sure it is a nice town and has river frontage but what really would interest people in coming here? Aside from a National Landmark status what would make someone come here and after they got here would they feel ripped off?