6 minutes ago, tray said:

The Sox estimate about 20 percent of their fans use mass transit to attend their games.

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/metra-station-to-open-near-sox-park/1921801/

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/metra-to-open-35th-street-station-in-time-for-sox-opener/

Thanks for ignoring the rest tray. Would expect nothing less.

Hear that? Core of the fans are suburban. True southsiders like tray aren't real fans.

Edited 19 hours ago19 hr by nitetrain8601

"From 'great open sewer' to swimming spot: How the Chicago River was saved," CNN

https://www.mwrd.org/news/great-open-sewer-swimming-spot-how-chicago-river-was-saved-cnn

https://www.cnn.com/2026/10/03/weather/video/chicago-river-swimming-spot-vrtc

14 hours ago, JoeC said:

Let’s not get this thread locked.

It’s one of the few pure sources of fun here, at least for some of us

That is the last thing I want, this thread is my fav.

17 hours ago, ron883 said:

Chicago is a world class city. It's the fucking best. The mixture of nightlife/entertain options, food, public transportation, architecture, great neighborhoods, etc. it's tough to compete with New York, but Chicago is wayyy more affordable. Chicago is the best. Being on a big freshwater lake and having basically no natural disasters puts it in a good place going forward. I think this is a place you'll see a lot of people moving to in the future.

Now, if we can figure out the pension situation without jacking up taxes even more... That's the big problem.

World-class museums, too. It's been ranked best big city in the US for 10 straight years. Winters still suck, but they're not nearly as bad as they were in the 70s and 80s....not even close.

Now imagine having two top-rated ballparks in the same city. Like it or not (I don't), Wrigley is a bucket list-destination for many people. It would be great for the city if we could add a Petco/Oracle/PNC-level ballpark for the Sox on top of that. I know me saying this will make someone throw a huge hissy fit, but I'm still going to say it.

Change.org

Sign the Petition

Stop the 24/7 Amtrak Maintenance Facility in Residential Bridgeport

Maybe look for another location to relocate the railroad yard.

How about Cameron, Illinois?

The Chicago River on 18th street is a swimming spot?

GMAFB

15 hours ago, nitetrain8601 said:

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/metra-station-to-open-near-sox-park/1921801/

https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/metra-to-open-35th-street-station-in-time-for-sox-opener/

Thanks for ignoring the rest tray. Would expect nothing less.

Hear that? Core of the fans are suburban. True southsiders like tray aren't real fans.

HOW DARE YOU BRING FACTS INTO THIS THREAD INSTEAD OF IRRATIONAL ANGER AND RAGE!

Long article by the Tribune:

Who knew about Amtrak’s Bridgeport plans, and when did they know?

Archive link

1 hour ago, Mouthsider said:

Long article by the Tribune:

Who knew about Amtrak’s Bridgeport plans, and when did they know?

Archive link

Yeah, this is the game right here. The locals want their payoff.

2 hours ago, Mouthsider said:

Long article by the Tribune:

Who knew about Amtrak’s Bridgeport plans, and when did they know?

Archive link

"And the governor’s office suggested a state-owned easement in the Bridgeport property could complicate Amtrak’s efforts to move ahead without state support."

I guess a privately-financed Bears stadium possibly getting killed in IL isn't enough, let's try to scuttle a privately-financed Sox stadium too!

If the goal is to get the best possible emissions and noise reductions from Amtrak at this new facility, that's great. But, killing such a massive private/federal investment to improve rail service using land that's been a railyard for 100 years due to NIMBY objections would be the most Chicago thing ever.

Also interesting that Ald. Lee was aware months ago that Amtrak had intensions to use the area, but just assumed funding would be slowed by the current Admin. That's a hell of a way to approach things. Damn you Feds for actually giving us the requested money for this project! I thought you were going to sit on this request.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by 77 Hitmen

4 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

"And the governor’s office suggested a state-owned easement in the Bridgeport property could complicate Amtrak’s efforts to move ahead without state support."

I guess a privately-financed Bears stadium possibly killed in IL isn't enough, let's try to scuttle a privately-financed Sox stadium too!

If the goal is to get the best possible emissions and noise reductions from Amtrak at this new facility, that's great. But, killing such a massive private/federal investment to improve rail service using land that's been a railyard for 100 years due to NIMBY objections would be the most Chicago thing ever.

Also interesting that Ald. Lee was aware months ago that Amtrak had intensions to use the area, but just assumed funding would be slowed by the current Admin. That's a hell of a way to approach things. Damn you Feds for actually giving us the requested money for this project! I thought you were going to sit on this request.

I will also point out the wailing about the Sox not being up front about their stadium plans as if they were hiding something is kind of dishonest. Their original plans were for the 78. The State and City said no. After that their plans switched. Why is that some kind of gotcha moment?

Of course their plans changed, were they just supposed to be sitting around sad? Did they expect them to come crawling back on 35th, and that is the problem?

There is also the fact that when they started all of this, the guy who is going to now be paying for the new stadium wasn't in the picture. He was still chasing the Twins at that time. How were they supposed to tell everyone their plans to build a privately funded stadium on the site when it wasn't their plan, and the guy financing it wasn't in the picture?

Who gets away with writing this crap? It reads like an unedited press release from an Alderman.

6 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

If the goal is to get the best possible emissions and noise reductions from Amtrak at this new facility, that's great.

7 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

Also interesting that Ald. Lee was aware months ago that Amtrak had intensions to use the area, but just assumed funding would be slowed by the current Admin. That's a hell of a way to approach things.

My own takeaway from this is that Alderman Lee (and others in the loop) likely did not initially care about Amtrak developing a rail maintenance facility in Bridgeport, but rather braced for outcry regarding the White Sox moving. However, it seems the local residents’ feelings are the largely opposite; they detest an industrial development in Bridgeport but don’t feel as strongly about the White Sox moving to 14th St.

It looks like Lee played her cards wrong. If she was proactive in this process, she could have nipped Amtrak building on the Canal St. Yards in the bud early, maybe opting for them to acquire a different site. Instead, she chose to wait, but time is just not on her side.

Anyways, all this article really shows is that there’s likely nothing that can be done to interrupt Ishbia’s process. Politicians were communicated with well ahead of this summer, and it seems none protested at that time. The only slight hiccup is that alleged state-controlled easement, but if push comes to shove I’d wager Amtrak would use eminent domain powers to claim it.

14 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Their original plans were for the 78. The State and City said no. After that their plans switched. Why is that some kind of gotcha moment?

If you are referring to the “bait and switch” comment, that originated from Pritzker, which the authors explain:

Amtrak, Pritzker’s office said, “planned and executed a bait and switch on state, federal and local officials as well as community members.”

In January, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth and others in the Illinois Congressional delegation wrote to the U.S. Department of Transportation in support of Amtrak’s plans for Canal Street with Canal Edge, including “a new mechanical and inspection facility, service and cleaning yard, new storage tracks, a new car wash” and maintenance machinery.

Only after the letter was sent, aides for the senators said, did information about the impact on the White Sox and what they described as Amtrak’s lack of communication with local officials emerge.

Afterwards, the authors provide Canal Edge’s perspective:

Canal Edge, however, said it did inform both senators in December 2025 meetings that it was under contract to purchase the 14th Street Yard. A future development there could potentially be anchored by a Sox ballpark, they said, with the caveat that Reinsdorf still retained control of Sox-related decisions.

10 minutes ago, Mouthsider said:

My own takeaway from this is that Alderman Lee (and others in the loop) likely did not initially care about Amtrak developing a rail maintenance facility in Bridgeport, but rather braced for outcry regarding the White Sox moving. However, it seems the local residents’ feelings are the largely opposite; they detest an industrial development in Bridgeport but don’t feel as strongly about the White Sox moving to 14th St.

It looks like Lee played her cards wrong. If she was proactive in this process, she could have nipped Amtrak building on the Canal St. Yards in the bud early, maybe opting for them to acquire a different site. Instead, she chose to wait, but time is just not on her side.

Anyways, all this article really shows is that there’s likely nothing that can be done to interrupt Ishbia’s process. Politicians were communicated with well ahead of this summer, and it seems none protested at that time. The only slight hiccup is that alleged state-controlled easement, but if push comes to shove I’d wager Amtrak would use eminent domain powers to claim it.

This is 100% for sure. They could potentially negotiate some sort of land swap or other work around, but the state will not win in attempt to stop Amtrak from taking this property.

19 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

Who gets away with writing this crap? It reads like an unedited press release from an Alderman.

This isn’t an opinion piece; one author is primarily a business and labor journalist, and the other formerly wrote for Crain’s. It’s just a timeline of events/communication between the significant parties involved in the proposed Railyards development.

This thread already has a frequent poster of lengthy opinion pieces. I’m not attempting to add any more.

Edited 49 minutes ago49 min by Mouthsider

3 minutes ago, Mouthsider said:

This isn’t an opinion piece; one author is primarily a business and labor journalist, and the other formerly wrote for Crain’s. It’s just a timeline of events/communication between the significant parties involved in the proposed Railyards development.

Pretending nothing changed in the last few years isn't intellectual honest. There was no "stadium deal" here until the established land swap can get agreed to. The original plan changed when the state and city said and Ishbia was brought in.