Looks Like Fun!

On Saturday, we walked up and down Delmar, checking out the shops in the Loop. With the students all gone for the summer, it was relatively quiet. There were quite a few empty storefronts there and a few going out of business signs too, all supposedly victims of Joe Edward’s latest project, the trolley. The trolley tracks are laid, but there is still a lot of finishing work left to do, mainly the trolley stops. Also, Anne told me that they will have to close Delmar soon to install a turntable for the trolleys. I guess that all of this new construction and the accompanying loss of parking have hurt the trade of many of the establishments in the Loop, but once the work is all done, it is going to be quite the destination in town. Last weekend, I saw firsthand the efficacy of the warning signs to bicyclists about the trolley tracks, when a woman right in front of me went down, not unlike the way pictured in the graphic, when her front wheel got caught in a trolley track. Still, I think that the trolleys are a great idea and will eventually really boost the Loop’s economy. I also think that the business that are closing are more victim to the overall gentrification of the Loop, than to just the trolleys. The Loop has always been a little seedy, now it is striving to move more upscale and Joe Edwards is driving that train, so you better get out of his way. Clang! Clang! Clang!