Writing Samples:
"Build it AndWill
They Come?"
N'Digo Magapaper
July 2005
The Future is In Your Face
Book
"Sweatshops or No Sweat"
N'Digo Magapaper
October 2004
"It Won't Be Easy To Be Green"
The Council To Save The Planet Blog
"Crossing The Digital Divide"
N'Digo Magapaper
November, 2004
Shirley, This'll Piss
Someone off
(Blog Commentary)
Conrad Lawrence
(CV/Work Resume)
Creative Narrative
Resume
N'Digo Magapaper
July 2005
The Future is In Your Face
Book
"Sweatshops or No Sweat"
N'Digo Magapaper
October 2004
"It Won't Be Easy To Be Green"
The Council To Save The Planet Blog
"Crossing The Digital Divide"
N'Digo Magapaper
November, 2004
Shirley, This'll Piss
Someone off
(Blog Commentary)
Conrad Lawrence
(CV/Work Resume)
Creative Narrative
Resume
Build It And Will They Come?
N'Digo Magapaper -
July 2005
As Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. sees it there is nothing wrong with
the Chicago-area Southland that an airport wouldn't cure. With that vision in mind, the representative from this state's 2nd U.S. Congressional District is on a quest to build a private/public partnership that would result in the development of what is being billed as Chicago's third airport, in suburban Peotone.
It would also, Jackson believes, result in the economic development of the city's South Side and south suburbs. An airport should be built on the sprawling farmland site, the congressman believes "because it gives the South Side a basis from which to influence the economy, to achieve balance, and economic growth."
The Peotone airport will draw in business, Jackson argues, that will create a vibrant service economy on the Southwest Side to replace the industrial economy that has been failing since the closing of Inland Steel and other manufacturing industries.
What Will Really Serve the South Side?
But what does Chicago's South Side really need from an airport - easy access for passengers to flights, or economic development? Proponents for the Gary and Peotone Airports say it needs both. They don't, however, necessarily agree on this one: Why build a new airport in Peotone when an old one in Gary already exists?
One airport may not fill all the needs of the South Side, and labeling any airport "Chicago's Third Airport" may not have the same weight as it used to, according to both Paul Karas, executive director of the Gary/Chicago Airport and Christine Cochrane of the Illinois Department of Transportation's (IDOT) Office of Planning & Programming, C3A (Chicago's Third Airport).
Both believe that the southern portion of metropolitan Chicago has different market needs and that a Gary/Chicago and Peotone Airport would serve different purposes.
Karas sees his Northwest Indiana airport as a convenient vehicle for residents of Chicago's Southeast ---- side to take flight without making a long, laborious trip to faraway O'Hare. He also sees the airport as a means of attracting more people to Gary.
Cochrane, like Rep. Jackson, treats the Peotone airport as something akin to a public works project that will help develop Chicago's Southwest side and the southern suburbs in Illinois.
In 1984, the FAA declared that Chicago would need 10 more airports the size of O'Hare Airport. Because of air traffic restrictions, that is not going to happen. But, for passengers who live on the South Side, easy access to an airport remains an issue.
O'Hare's Modernization Project will not meet those needs. The World's Busiest Airport is an island in the Northwest Suburbs, far from the South Side. The revenue it generates for the city comes mainly from a surcharge placed on all passengers that pass through O'Hare. Sixty percent of these passengers passing through are making connecting flights. They never venture into the city. They contribute nothing to the economics of the private sector, notes Rick Bryant of Representative Jackson's office.
Roderick Drew of the O'Hare Modernization Program disagrees. "O'Hare is the economic engine that drives this economy," he argues. Presently, Chicago's International Airport generates $38 billion for the city. This benefits; he says, all sides of town - north, south, east, and west.
"The Mayor believes that the flight delay problem can be fixed by fixing O'Hare," Drew says, adding, "The mayor has no objection to Peotone, as long as it doesn't cost the city money. The mayor's official position is that Gary/Chicago is Chicago's Third Airport."
Midway is landlocked from any further expansion by the surrounding city. As of June 8th, Mayor Daley declared that the Midway Airport Terminal Development Program was completed. The airport now services 18.5 million passengers, which is twice as much as it serviced before the project. Figures say the airport will not reach maximum passenger capacity until after it services 36 million passengers. The economic benefits are 90,000 jobs, and $7 billion in local activities. These are present figures, and with no more room to expand, no more economic development can be expected from Midway.
That leaves the question of what can best serve the future of the South Side as an issue between Gary/Chicago Airport and the new 'Inaugural Airport" or "Abe Lincoln Airport" in Peotone - the name of the airport seems to vary depending on whom you speak with.
This rivalry between the two airport sites dates back to the original FAA study 20 years ago, which declared Chicago needed a third airport. Since then, there has been a sense of competition between the underdeveloped airport in Indiana and an undeveloped one in the Southlands of Chicago.
Paul Karas, of the Gary/Chicago Airport, fears that eventually it will come to competition for federal funds. Congressman Jackson argues that that would be a mistake. "There is a danger of relying on Federal Funds. It makes the airport vulnerable to the 2004 Presidential Election."
Jackson is looking to use private money. When this is pointed out to Karas, he gets up from his desk, crosses the room and taps on a picture on his wall. It's a picture of Terminal Four at New York's John F Kennedy Airport. "I know that terminal. I was there. That terminal was privately built by LCOR, (a national real estate development, investment, operations, and asset management company) the same developers for the Peotone airport. The cost overruns was more than the proposed budget to build Terminal Four."
According to Karas, JFK had to go back to the market and sell more bonds to cover the overruns. Taking JFK Airport's development history into account, Karas is skeptical, and he is more than willing to share his views on the additional costs to adding highway and public transportation in order to make Peotone an accessible airport. In the same manner, Rick Bryant of Rep. Jackson's office, and Christine Cochrane of IDOT are ready to supply information concerning the multi-billion dollar cost required to move railroad tracks, wildlife preserves, and residents to expand the Gary/Chicago Airport.
For those involved on either side of the Peotone versus Gary/Chicago fence, this is a race.
The Council to Save The Planet
andWhimsical Surreality
