When Betsy Otto went to work for Openlands Project in 1990, one of the first things she was asked to do was testify at a Chicago City Council meeting about a dispute over the building of high rises along the lakefront. Protecting the Lake Michigan shoreline is routine stuff for urban conservation organizations like Openlands, but for Otto the arguments and the forum were new. Her coworkers helped her prepare testimony about the number of people who benefit from an open lakefront and its historical importance to the economic development of Chicago. She recalls that when it came her turn, she read the document word for word, then headed with relief to her seat.
Advocates for open land believe that in a world brimming with things created by human beings–office buildings, houses, cars–we need some empty places. It’s that simple. But explaining why emptiness is important requires a willingness to defend the value of blank space, of nothingness. This isn’t exactly the best way to win support from elected officials: becoming the Big Kahuna of Nothingness won’t win votes. So environmentalists couch their arguments in easily understood numbers. “This is how many species of wildlife live there. This is how many people can be expected to use the land if it’s protected as a park.” Though pragmatic, this approach does little to advance the essential point: that the open space in an urban area is not always an emptiness waiting to be filled. People need empty land where they can be alone and reconnect with nature.
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After the Friends of the Chicago River and local residents objected to the proposed development, Norwood Builders modified its plan to address some of their concerns. The concessions were appreciated, but they weren’t enough to win over the opponents. In November they testified again at a meeting of the Chicago Plan Commission.
It is possible the commission will decide the developer’s answers aren’t good enough and nix the project. But this seems unlikely. Norwood has the money to invest in hydrologists who can come up with solutions.
It was drizzling snow as I hiked through Saint Lucas Cemetery the other day, past the graves to the wild land at the back by the river. The place is pleasing in the way open land typically is in Chicago. It has a few big oaks, including some swamp white oaks, which seem particularly fond of the far northwest side of the city. I don’t know why, but I don’t see them much elsewhere. The understory is a jungle of common plants like teasel, Queen Anne’s lace, and tall goldenrod. A lot of deer droppings lay in the path.
