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 (Continued)
"We want a fair share of the American dream to go to the south Suburbs," he explains.
The congressman says that his statistics show that on the South Side, there are 6O people for every job, while in the Chicagoland area surrounding O'Hare airport, there are three jobs for every person. Since US Steel left, the biggest job anchor on the South Side is the Ford Motor Plant. The next biggest employer is The Museum of Science and Industry on 57th Street.
To drive home Jackson's point, Rick Bryant produces one of those laminated maps of Chicago that tourists purchase. The southern border of the map is Congress Parkway. The South Side doesn't exist. To back up his point that the service industry hires a lot, Jackson said that the Hyatt downtown alone hires more people than businesses in his Congressional District. He'd like to see an airport draw some hotels to the Southland.
What is the assurance that Jackson's "build it and they will come" approach will actually draw in the business needed to create economic development? To answer this, Jackson produces a series of maps of Chicago, color-coded by the amount of economic activity taking place around the city. The highest amount of activity is shown in red. In the 1960 map, downtown Chicago is the reddest part of town. By 1980, the amounts of red around downtown Chicago and O'Hare are almost equal. By 1990, the red surrounding O'Hare exceeds the red in the downtown area.
Funding for the South Suburban Airport Commission to seed the initial startup of this airport is coming from investors from the Northwest suburbs, Elk Grove Village, and Bensenville. "They believe it's in their interest that the O'Hare Modernization Program doesn't take place, and that the South Suburban Airport is built," says IDOT's Cochrane.
The state is behind the Peotone airport because it's in Illinois. The Gary/Chicago airport is in Indiana. Cochrane says, "We know there is a severe need for additional carrier capacity in the Chicago region, and we've believed that for 20 years, and we have done all of our studies, we are the sponsor. We need to help solve the aviation problem in the Chicago metropolitan region."
It's quite a commitment. In 2002, the state spent $13.2 million to purchase land for the airport. Governor Blagojevich has earmarked another $5 million in the 2004 fiscal year budget.
"We have our own market out here," says Cochrane, who also lives near where the Peotone airport will be built. "Will is growing incredibly rapid. We are the fastest growing county in the United States. Right now we have a market of 2.5 million people." She expects that the market will grow to 3 million by the time the airport opens. The two and a half million people Cochrane speaks about live within a 45-minute drive from the proposed airport.
From an access to flights standpoint, Gary/Chicago, Midway, and Peotone will create a line from East to West across the Chicago metropolitan South Side. People in the Southeast of Chicago will be closest to the Gary/Chicago Airport. All that is needed is to increase the number of flights to give prospective travelers more flight choices. People in the South Central and near Southwest Side of Chicago may find Jig access to Midway the most convenient. The new Peotone airport will better serve people in the Southwest areas.
Chicago's 3rd Airport...4th Airport?
Congressman Jackson, Paul Karas, and Christine Cochrane all agree that it may not make sense to label one airport as "Chicago's Third Airport." The economy of the last decade is driving the industry toward low cost, discount air carriers. The new technology in air traffic 11 a management will allow for the addition of an airport in Peotone, as well as expansion of Gary/Chicago without conflicting with the traffic that exists flying in and out of Midway and O'Hare airports.
O'Hare will always be the behemoth collecting revenue for the massive number of connecting flights, and the only Chicago port for international flights. Still, who knows? The South Side's Third Airport may, in reality, be the Fourth.
The Council to Save The Planet
andWhimsical Surreality
