Now the next step is to turn 63rd & Halsted into an area that isn't that much busier than the Loop. When I learned of KKC coming to that intersection I could imagine this area being about as busy as State/Lake where Harold Washington College is located. Perhaps of course I'm being overly optimistic as the Loop is a vast area and State/Lake is served by several rail lines.
El-Amin said the community college has an enrollment of 7,000 including online students.
“We easily have 5,000 students come into this area on any given day,” said Clyde El-Amin, adding that the campus also offers a solid complement of classes on Saturday and some on Sunday. At the time, El-Amin was president of Kennedy-King College. He now serves in a similar capacity at Olive Harvey College.
“Our students buy food, groceries and clothes,” El-Amin said. “They need services.”
He also noted that the Kennedy-King has a staff of 6,700 personnel – faculty, staff, administration and engineers – working on campus at any given time.
“Businesses like to locate where there is a lot of activity,” he said. “Improving (the) foot traffic improves the climate for retail business.”
This whole article is worth your time. Via Curbed Chicago!
It isn't unimaginable that the traffic on 63rd could rival downtown. Over 20 years ago before they "malled" 63rd Halsted people shopped there. There were clothing stores, banks,movie theater, grocery stores. The malling destroyed the trafic patterns and that was the start of the downfall of that location. The initial plan was to have KKC anchor one side and a combonation of a grocery store/general store anchor the other. What happened to the retail side I don't know.
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