The Word is Out: Chicago Attracts the Young and Educated March 24, 2007
Posted by Steve in : The City, Chicago, Breaking News , add a comment
The Chicago Trib ran an article this month looking at the changing demographics of Chicago and the surge of post-college 20Somethings who are flocking to this great city of Chicago. People are finally beginning to see what an awesome place Chicago is to live and be missional!
The article starts off, “ As thousands of Chicagoans leave the city each year, a countervailing force is moving in: twentysomethings, whose growing presence in and near the city’s center is attracting companies to start or expand operations downtown. Kenneth Johnson, a demographer and sociology professor at Loyola University Chicago who has studied the trend, estimates Chicago’s twentysomething population at 450,000, surpassed only by New York and Los Angeles, which also are experiencing influxes of new college grads. The young newcomers, Johnson said, hail from the suburbs as well as cities such as Philadelphia, Detroit and Cleveland.
“Companies are finding that the key asset is no longer the highway interchange, coal vein or port,” said Richard Florida, a professor of urban policy at George Mason University. “Now, it’s this educated, skilled, innovative talent. Companies are moving to be near the kind of people that Chicago is attracting in droves.” (more…)
Future Design February 27, 2007
Posted by Steve in : Adaptive Reuse, Church Construction , add a commentIn the city of Chicago, it is very hard to own your own building but after 18 years, Park COmmunity Church is renovating a warehouse into the coolest church in the land. As we glean ideas from other architectural creations, I came across this Helios futuristic gas station in California and thought I would share it with you. Also check out photo2 and photo3. I call it “Exxon meets the Jetsons”.

