Trashing Michigan Avenue is garbage. Locals, tourists still bask in its wonder
Reading Carol Felsenthal's recent op-ed about bravely traversing Michigan Avenue made it seem as though the world was ending.
Crime? Closed stores? Pigeons pooping on people? Why, a pigeon would NEVER have considered doing that on Richie Daley's watch! Pigeons respected people back then.
I walk down Michigan Avenue every week. And I see excited tourists looking at the architecture. People shopping at stores they don't normally get to visit, except online. People having fun.
I guess that in the 1970s. everything was perfect. There was no crime. Stores never closed and homelessness didn't exist yet.
Amazing how times have changed. Except, they haven't, really. You can look at everything, including Michigan Avenue, in a dark light. Or you can take it all in and realize there's good in every situation.
Look to the bright side. It's OK.
Mark Weiher, Chicago
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Cultivating support for Englewood farm stand
I read with interest the reporting on food deserts in the city and the six Save A Lot stores that haven't opened in these underserved neighborhoods.
Last week, I went to 59th and Honore streets in Englewood, where Growing Home Organic farm stand is located. It is precisely there because the community doesn't have too many places to buy produce. Growing Home is there to hire the hard to employ, provide a community, and to help people learn a trade.
The day I visited, I bought mustard greens, kale, carrots, spinach, mixed greens, arugula, dill, snap peas and cilantro. I had to leave beets, turnips, radishes, onions, as one can only eat so much during the week.
Tomatoes will be available and other produce as well, like squashes as soon as the warmth of summer makes them available for sale.
Growing Home's farm stand is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursdays. Come and support this neighborhood wonder.
Janice Gintzler, Crestwood
Flight of fancy?
When I saw the picture of the proposed Satellite Concourse 1 for O'Hare Airport in the Sun Times, all I could think of was how much it would cost to heat and cool such a vast area. Have we forgotten how Helmut Jahn was praised for the design of the Thompson Center? And then the reality sunk in. I remember reading about people bringing umbrellas to work to shelter their computers from the bright sun.
Before we get dazzled by "a floating walkway suspended from above by columns," and all the other promises of "dappled daylight", "like moving through an orchard", and "a pleasant and evenly illuminated space", we need to know what the heating and cooling costs will be. That should be the first thing addressed in our ever-warming climate.
I think our mayor needs to step back before he responds to a new proposal for the city: consult with knowledgeable people, weigh the costs versus the results, and sleep on it for a month or more. That's what he should have done before becoming a "cheerleader" for new homes for the Bears and the Sox.
Eva S. Kelly, Beverly
Fair trade
In a recent fundraising message, convicted felon-elect Donald Trump declared himself a political prisoner. Let's accept that and offer to swap him for an actual political prisoner, the very innocent man Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter detained by Russia. I am sure that Trump's friend Vladimir Putin will accept with alacrity.
Michael Gorman, River North
Mother Nature’s role in Cubs slump
Due to climate change, the Cubs annual "June Swoon" arrived a month early this year.
Charles Hoffman, Andersonville