Uh...grocery store, please?

This weekend I am taking a life insurance class...I am take my pre-licensing requirement so that I too could hang my shingle out and sell insurance to all you good folks. I am pursuing this option as a backup plan to my "find an employed spouse" goal (please refer to previous entry.) Anyway...regardless of why I am taking the class, the class is located in what us Chicagoans call the "South Loop." As a point of reference, The Loop is pretty much the financial district and the major employment center of the City. Chicago, as one of the smartestly (is that a word?) planned cities in the Country, is set up on a grid system. It's actually one of the easiest cities to navigate once you get the hang of the grid (my friend Jamie has memorized it...she's also in Mensa.) Anyway...moving on. So, State street runs right down the middle of the grid, so anything to the east side of State (or for those of us that are directionally challenged, mother)...that would be the lake side. The west side is the other side (obviously.) Now...anything north of Madison has a "north" address and anything south of Madison is south. For example Monroe is 100 South (it's one block south of Madison.) The street I live on is 500 North (5 blocks north of Madison). Okay...so now that you have the hang of it, my class is located at 2100 South Michigan. The Shedd Aquarium and Grant Park are approximately located at 1000 South Michigan...so roughly a mile further south of that area is the destination of my class. I know, I know, some of you might be thinking "wait, the south side of Chicago is scary, it's where all the crime occurs! What is she doing taking a class down there?" Well, you would be correct, the bulk of the crime does happen on the south side...but you have to go pretty far south and I am still in a decent part of the south Loop. No worries (but I have to admit, I was a little nervous myself when I was taking the cab there this morning.)

The south Loop, for those of us unemployed people looking to purchase property, is still a relatively economical place to live within the City. Developers are also orienting the new development to people in my age bracket (ages 21 to 25, right?) There are a number of LEED certified residential developments in this area and you can still purchase a 900 square foot one bedroom apartment for less than $200K (I think the lowest I saw was $198,900.) But, my biggest issue with the area, is the lack of a grocery store! I mean, there are probably 100's of residential units for sale and for lease and where do these people purchase food? Do they grow their own on communal farms? Are they all super skinny and special order liquid diets on the Internet? (If so, maybe I should move there.) There are a few pubs and a Dunkin' Donuts not too far away, but seriously....I am not lugging groceries all the way from the Target located at 1200 south Roosevelt! Furthermore, I didn't even hardly see any convenience stores! Where does a girl go to get a candy bar when the need for chocolate hits her?

Developers of grocery stores will say a critical mass is necessary before a grocery store will locate itself somewhere...agreed. I believe I even remember from my one urban planning class that I think it's like 6,000 people or something before there's a critical mass. And judging from the success of the Urban Market in downtown Dallas (for those of you not familiar with the Dallas, the Urban Market is really only surviving as a lunch place, not so much as a grocery store)...the more peeps the better when it comes to a grocery store's survival. However....in my mind, I believe the two have to go hand in hand. If a realtor said to me, "Hey, maybe you should think about buying in the south Loop." I would say "For sure! However, let's reconsider when I don't have to lug my 50 pounds of groceries the length of a marathon back to my house" (Ok, I am exaggerating.) But ya know, if there were a grocery store close to these new residents of the south Loop, the prices of their homes would probably shoot up by $10,000. Huh, maybe I should purchase now, get really big muscles from all the grocery lugging, and then sell and make a bundle. Ah-ha! I knew I didn't need a job.

Keep on keeping on, Nora