Riverside Info » About Riverside
LaGrange Downtown named 'Best Downtown' by Chicago Mag
(13 posts)-
Posted Monday Aug 10, 2009 19:33 #
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Perhaps, we could learn from this?
Posted Monday Aug 10, 2009 22:31 # -
My friend just closed on a house (a small 3 BD 1 BA)in DT LaGrange last week.
She is SHOCKED by her taxes.
I think she said $8500/yr.
Why are they so high?Posted Monday Aug 10, 2009 23:29 # -
Why are they so high?
Might the answer to this question, or at least a significant part of the answer, be a three letter acronym that has been discussed in this space?
Perhaps, we could learn from this?
Also remember that Lagrange Rd is a big pipe that can bring big traffic.
Posted Tuesday Aug 11, 2009 02:12 # -
Oak Park has a huge retail market and their taxes are also sky-high. This proves the maxim that TIFs increase property taxes because someone has to pay for the schools, park districts and other taxing bodies from which TIF diverts tax revenue.
Our CBD is not Mannheim-LaGrange road so, no, there is nothing to learn from this.
City people think anything crowded is good. I personally find downtown LaGrange nearly as ugly as downtown Oak Park. Not that our downtown is any aesthetic gem.
Posted Tuesday Aug 11, 2009 07:31 # -
We just came back from a backpacking camping trip in Door County and I noticed the shops there. They were all one-of-a-kind quirky affairs like 'Custard's Last Stand'. These kind of establishments are akin to what works here, Chew Chew and Grumpy's. And, yes, I noted the goats grazing on Al Johnson's roof, which I have suggested could work in Riverside, too, my tongue not too fixed in my cheek.
BTW, that is the ultimate 'green' roof. The 'green-ness', which is all the rage now in the 21st century, is emblematic to Riverside. If any place can host such a similar place w/ a grass roof, it is Riverside. Riverside can fill this 'green niche' without undue strain and falsity as might occur in other municipalities. There is a closeness of vision between Olmsted and the current 'green' ethos.
Quick comment on Olmsted's design of Riverside and a part of Door County that is probably overlooked by many visitors: As I walked the gently curving trails in Newport State Park, I felt a direct kinship to the streets of Riverside. Newport is a fine example of an undisturbed forest, and I directly saw in those meandering paths what Olmsted was trying to extract, clone, and simulate in Riverside and his other spaces.
And darn if simple walks in such spaces did not help a mind burdened with the cares of today's world. FLO was right.
The last comment is relevant to the thread since THIS DESIGN is the key attractor for people to visit and live in Riverside. Lagrange has big Lagrange rd. Riverside is the one-of-a-kind 'village in the forest'.
EDIT: so among other things, we need to emphasize / make clearer this look or identity through a ...plan / vision statement etc. (see next post below).In fact, apropos to all this, I just saw in my email from riversidenewsflash that Riverside has just been designated a "Preserve America Community".
The Village of Riverside has received the prestigious designation of Preserve America Community. The Preserve America program recognizes and designates communities which protect and celebrate their heritage, use their historic assets for economic development and community revitalization, and encourage people to experience and appreciate local historic resources through education and heritage tourism programs. Please visit the Village website to read the complete press release. Please also visit the Preserve America website for additional information on the program.
Posted Tuesday Aug 11, 2009 07:56 # -
Kim,
I'd be happy to switch tax bills with your friend. I pay more for my 3 bedroom, 1.5 bath house in Riverside.
I don't think that Oak Park taxes prove that TIFs raise property taxes. Oak Park has a long history of excessive spending (see the radiant heated sidewalks in the Marion Street District) and a larger high school with a larger low-income and low-achieving population than Riverside.
I don't think we can be--or want to be--LaGrange. However, the success of the LaGrange downtown is the result of...wait for it...a plan.
Posted Tuesday Aug 11, 2009 08:45 # -
JohnM - Well said.
We also have a portion of our population that doesn't want outsiders coming into Riverside (e.g. the doomed bike path); I hope that's a small minority of residents.
Posted Tuesday Aug 11, 2009 09:01 # -
Thank you thank you thank you mrt and JohnM. Great points and insights just above.
On teeny tiny suggested adjustment: the Latin phrase actually translates to "homes in a forest," as memory serves, iso "village..." The confusion arises from the use the word that's at the root of both villa or villas, and village. It's not the world's greatest distinction, but i mention for accuracy's sake.
Back to the central points you made so well: we are a destinaton with much to show, and we need a plan. Thanks again. best, crPosted Tuesday Aug 11, 2009 09:15 # -
Wowee MRT, I did not receive that flash yet, but Mrs Obama herself has designated us in this group of 26 and the only one in Illinois. There is grant money here to help pay for preservation and develop historic tourism to improve economic development, amongst the other benefits.
This is consonant with THE PLAN to leverage our historic assets for the benefit of local businesses and all. Historic tourism of the natural and built environment is an obvious opportunity for us. Our proximity and historic connection to the well-maintained Chicago Portage Historic Site is another example - apart from Olmsted and the Wright/Oak Park connection - of the kind of synergy we could develop. I think the people who fear outsiders fear crime. I sympathize with this entirely. Historical tourism and bike paths have no correlation to increased crime so far as I know. I agree with trustee Sacchi we do not want to cut down trees and pave over green spaces in order to share our trees and green spaces with bicyclists. There must be another way. There is a bike path through town, albeit unmarked as yet I think. Someone who posts here had the good idea of a crossing behind the swim club with waymarkers to downtown. This would also help protect young people who cross there unadvisedly. There is IDOT money being released for as yet unspecified purposes. OK, just talking about things that have been on my mind.
Posted Tuesday Aug 11, 2009 09:37 #
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