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Lots of activity in Riverside today

(57 posts)
  1. ChrisHajer
    Member

    Catherine said:

    I am glad to hear about the new coffee shop, but I will be stunned if it turns out not to be Grumpy's. I mean, amazing coincidence, no?

    I am fairly certain that there will be a morning coffee shop in the train station, and it won't be Grumpy's. As for Grumpy's, I think the best way to hear the chatter is to hang out there for an hour one morning with a cup of coffee and just listen.

    There are a lot of donated items that Grumpy's is auctioning (via silent auction) to help finance a move within Riverside, and if the move doesn't happen, the funds all go to local charity Jen's Kids.

    Posted Tuesday Dec 9, 2008 10:19 #
  2. idic5
    Member

  3. ChrisHajer
    Member

    That's not Riverside :-)

    Also, did you see, across Ogden from that, The River Mews development billboard? I can't figure out how they're going to fit residences in there, unless they're sideways.

    Posted Monday Jan 5, 2009 21:39 #
  4. ChrisHajer
    Member

    And how about Grumpy's moving to the old Fresh Express location (not open yet)? And Scott, still working on his new Chew Chew location, even at this late hour?

    Posted Monday Jan 5, 2009 21:40 #
  5. Catherine
    Member

    Chew Chew and Grumpy's is fantastic. There is going to be real energy in that area now. I think it will create critical mass, someone will rent the other space, and the businesses will start cross-fertilizing. I hope the recession will not affect them too adversely.

    Posted Tuesday Jan 6, 2009 08:36 #
  6. idic5
    Member

    Chris, since you are the originator of this thread, how about we say that this thread pertains to things going on in and 'round 'greater Riverside', where, say, one can walk to or take a quick bike ride to? Like, you know, a methadone clinic on nearby Grove av in Berwyn. :)

    I ride my bike to walgreens down barrypt and then to ogden, then get on the bike path.

    On that new Mews residential development right there, that is interesting - the cat's meow during these tuff times. I bet it was conceived when res dev was still bullish, and they are now dropping the other show - I mean, shoe.

    Does anyone know if the res development that sits next to the Hoffman Tower is 100 owned? I did not think it was anywhere near fully owned, sort of like the Delaplaine xing and VC.

    Someone should talk to the Culvers people to put a big black and white old Riverside picture - say, the 1869 Olmsted map of Riverside - in that Culvers. I believe they sometimes put pictures up telling about the local setting. So a stop for people to a modern fast food place (personally, I like culvers better than mickeyDs), can expose those people to a place, 'just 'round the river bend', that exudes charm and that is distinct from the hubbub of Ogden - Riverside. It will lead to a place, in other words, that those Culver-ites may have never known about.

    This is one reason that it is in the best (economic) interests of Riverside to be sensitive to, and to keep and enhance, the distinctive historical place that it does have: when new people come to see it, whether by bike, or via a Culvers detour, we want them to be STRUCK with Riverside's distinctive look and feel - greenery, trees, and in short, a balance of the landscape and the built elements. Of course, a sensitively restored Arcade wd be the right thing for a new passerby from Ogden to see.

    Posted Tuesday Jan 6, 2009 12:00 #
  7. Catherine
    Member

    As far as I know from someone in local real estate, the River Walk condos are in trouble. So, I think it is insane for someone to build new, unless they are pricing them in a super way.

    I peeked in at Grumpy's and Chew Chew today. I see the bar and a staircase going up. Grumpy's will have plenty of wall space for their cool photos.

    There's no point to visitors unless they are spending money here. Of course, the Arcade is not there for them to do that. If only they had just left it alone in the first place!

    Posted Tuesday Jan 6, 2009 14:15 #
  8. idic5
    Member

    There is a value, at first possibly intangible, of increasing an awareness of Riverside to more people. Then a more tangible value can come. People can tell others, too, of this bit of Brigadoon.

    I speak from experience: I grew up in Oak Park and spent the rest of my twenties next door in Berwyn, but I did not even know of Riverside and never went there. When my wife and I were looking for a place to call home, we were looking further west, such as Glen Ellyn and Wheaton (good values of affordable and good schools), but as soon as we chanced by Riverside, with its charming atmosphere, gas lamps, pretty windy streets, close-in location, and good schools, we KNEW this was the place to settle down.

    So the secret of Riverside's long term success and viability is to keep its distinctive identity and to look and feel different than everywhere else. So keep planting those trees and encouraging and supporting distinctive businesses such as chew chew , grumpys, and that irish shop across the way.

    Posted Tuesday Jan 6, 2009 16:42 #
  9. Catherine
    Member

    Hm, true. I had a brick contractor out to give a bid last summer. He was a most fascinating fellow from Chicago. He and his wife were liberal arts PhDs from the UofC, and he had taken over the family brick business. He had never been to nor heard of Riverside. Having beheld it, and after I advised him of the school quality, he said when they had children, they would move here. But part of what keeps Riverside as it is the fact that it is a sleeper, and that people find out about it by word of mouth. Perhaps six of one etc.

    Posted Tuesday Jan 6, 2009 18:26 #
  10. ChrisHajer
    Member

    Heard: the Chew Chew was due for a health department inspection on Friday.

    Saw: the paper coming off the windows, the windows being cleaned, workers removing scaffolding and tools from inside the Chew Chew.

    Real soon now...

    Posted Sunday Jan 25, 2009 21:30 #

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