(08-16-2022 10:07 AM)Schaefer Beer Wrote:  

(08-16-2022 08:15 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  When I was at NIU, there were shops downtown to draw people in. There were nice clothing stores for women and men. While clothing stores now seem to be a thing of the past, I do remember going shopping downtown. There was also a drug store and a variety store (in addition to several bars). And it was a very short walk from campus. We liked walking into town on Saturday afternoons.

Since you went to NIU in the 70's , is that clothing store the place you bought your polyester plaid slacks?

I forgot the name of he clothing store, but it was on the southeast corner of Lincoln Hwy. and First St. They had some very nice clothing there. Then there was the clothing store in downtown Sycamore that had been there over 120 years. All just a memory now.

(08-16-2022 10:24 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(08-16-2022 10:07 AM)Schaefer Beer Wrote:  

(08-16-2022 08:15 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  When I was at NIU, there were shops downtown to draw people in. There were nice clothing stores for women and men. While clothing stores now seem to be a thing of the past, I do remember going shopping downtown. There was also a drug store and a variety store (in addition to several bars). And it was a very short walk from campus. We liked walking into town on Saturday afternoons.

Since you went to NIU in the 70's , is that clothing store the place you bought your polyester plaid slacks?

I forgot the name of he clothing store, but it was on the southeast corner of Lincoln Hwy. and First St. They had some very nice clothing there. Then there was the clothing store in downtown Sycamore that had been there over 120 years. All just a memory now.

Lansirs was at Lincoln Highway and First Street. Finn's was over the Junction.

Henderson's was in downtown Sycamore.

(08-16-2022 07:57 PM)GeorgeBorkFan Wrote:  

(08-16-2022 10:24 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(08-16-2022 10:07 AM)Schaefer Beer Wrote:  

(08-16-2022 08:15 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  When I was at NIU, there were shops downtown to draw people in. There were nice clothing stores for women and men. While clothing stores now seem to be a thing of the past, I do remember going shopping downtown. There was also a drug store and a variety store (in addition to several bars). And it was a very short walk from campus. We liked walking into town on Saturday afternoons.

Since you went to NIU in the 70's , is that clothing store the place you bought your polyester plaid slacks?

I forgot the name of he clothing store, but it was on the southeast corner of Lincoln Hwy. and First St. They had some very nice clothing there. Then there was the clothing store in downtown Sycamore that had been there over 120 years. All just a memory now.

Lansirs was at Lincoln Highway and First Street. Finn's was over the Junction.

Henderson's was in downtown Sycamore.

Yep, that’s it. Thanks. I bought clothes at each of those fine stores. Clothing stores like those are definitely a thing of the past.

Lansirs was pimp. Hendersons was one of the last classic small-town department stores, sad to see those disappear.

(08-17-2022 08:22 AM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  Lansirs was pimp. Hendersons was one of the last classic small-town department stores, sad to see those disappear.

I don't even know what a small town department store is, and I'm mid 30s

(08-17-2022 09:38 AM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(08-17-2022 08:22 AM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  Lansirs was pimp. Hendersons was one of the last classic small-town department stores, sad to see those disappear.

I don't even know what a small town department store is, and I'm mid 30s

Unfortunately, these charming examples of pure Americana were put out of business by the big box stores and online vendors. Many of these businesses were family owned by members of the community. Before closing down for good, many of these businesses appealed to their customers to buy there and save their business. I received several such e-mails from small businesses. They urged their customers to shop locally instead of the big box stores. However, with the import of all the crap from China, the big box stores won out, and we now live in a world of buying Chinese crap from the likes of Walmart, Target, etc. I refuse to shop at these big box stores, and it is becoming more and more difficult to find quality goods.

Lincoln Highway with video.

The new three-lane Lincoln Hwy designed to make downtown more pedestrian friendly is now fully open to traffic. Work continues to finish returning the brick pavers. New storm catch basins have not arrived due to supply chain delays but are scheduled to be installed next month.

(08-22-2022 03:15 PM)HUSKIEFOOTBALLFAN Wrote:  https://twitter.com/cityofdekalb_IL/stat...3018577921

The new three-lane Lincoln Hwy designed to make downtown more pedestrian friendly is now fully open to traffic.

What exactly about this makes it more pedestrian friendly? Is it because they repainted the crosswalks? They don't even have dedicated bike lanes.

I don't recall, were there two lanes each direction before and now there's only 1?

The John Huber Parkway runs north-south down NIU's west side and dead-ends at Route 38. The land to the south to I-88 is farmland, with a couple of rural roads running east-west.

I have seen many 4-lane causeways at grade level that are built as bypasses, and they work well to reduce pass-through truck traffic in downtowns. Another interchange at the south end of that causeway at I-88, with a traffic light at R38, and you have another limited-access route somewhat like Annie Glidden Road. It also opens up the NIU far west end, where the proposed Center for Community Sustainability is planned, as well as additional frontage road development for DeKalb along I-88, as we see now.

So you'd have Peace Road, Glidden and this new interchange. Plenty of bypass, since it's not the trucks stopping at local business that's the problem (or that can be removed). A limited-access causeway also regulates development and crossroads along its length.

I am not disparaging farmland, but it's cheaper to aquire than running something through a developed area. Cooperation would be needed between DeKalb city and county, the state and federal governments. NIU would have input, but it's not an NIU road.

This downtown project, IMO, is window-dressing to reduce truck traffic and revitalize the appearance of downtown. It's also self-contained within DeKalb. Not bad motives, but not solving any larger problems. Let's hope it does what it can do.

(08-22-2022 03:36 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-22-2022 03:15 PM)HUSKIEFOOTBALLFAN Wrote:  https://twitter.com/cityofdekalb_IL/stat...3018577921

The new three-lane Lincoln Hwy designed to make downtown more pedestrian friendly is now fully open to traffic.

What exactly about this makes it more pedestrian friendly? Is it because they repainted the crosswalks? They don't even have dedicated bike lanes.

I don't recall, were there two lanes each direction before and now there's only 1?

Much wider sidewalks for outdoor dining etc..

(08-22-2022 04:53 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(08-22-2022 03:36 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-22-2022 03:15 PM)HUSKIEFOOTBALLFAN Wrote:  https://twitter.com/cityofdekalb_IL/stat...3018577921

The new three-lane Lincoln Hwy designed to make downtown more pedestrian friendly is now fully open to traffic.

What exactly about this makes it more pedestrian friendly? Is it because they repainted the crosswalks? They don't even have dedicated bike lanes.

I don't recall, were there two lanes each direction before and now there's only 1?

Much wider sidewalks for outdoor dining etc..

It looks like a lot of wasted space. They have trees lining the middle of the sidewalks. They should have removed the trees to make a dedicated bike lane parallel to the roadway. One dedicated bike lane on the north or south side of the road would have been sufficient. That would make it more pedestrian-friendly.

I like the look of it. Let’s hope it will attract more businesses and they can take advantage of the improvements.

(08-22-2022 07:13 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  I like the look of it. Let’s hope it will attract more businesses and they can take advantage of the improvements.

Much more room to loiter outside of the Grotto...

(08-22-2022 06:44 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-22-2022 04:53 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(08-22-2022 03:36 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-22-2022 03:15 PM)HUSKIEFOOTBALLFAN Wrote:  https://twitter.com/cityofdekalb_IL/stat...3018577921

The new three-lane Lincoln Hwy designed to make downtown more pedestrian friendly is now fully open to traffic.

What exactly about this makes it more pedestrian friendly? Is it because they repainted the crosswalks? They don't even have dedicated bike lanes.

I don't recall, were there two lanes each direction before and now there's only 1?

Much wider sidewalks for outdoor dining etc..

It looks like a lot of wasted space. They have trees lining the middle of the sidewalks. They should have removed the trees to make a dedicated bike lane parallel to the roadway. One dedicated bike lane on the north or south side of the road would have been sufficient. That would make it more pedestrian-friendly.

Who the hell complains about too many trees???

That entire project looks great.

(08-22-2022 09:22 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(08-22-2022 06:44 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-22-2022 04:53 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(08-22-2022 03:36 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-22-2022 03:15 PM)HUSKIEFOOTBALLFAN Wrote:  https://twitter.com/cityofdekalb_IL/stat...3018577921

The new three-lane Lincoln Hwy designed to make downtown more pedestrian friendly is now fully open to traffic.

What exactly about this makes it more pedestrian friendly? Is it because they repainted the crosswalks? They don't even have dedicated bike lanes.

I don't recall, were there two lanes each direction before and now there's only 1?

Much wider sidewalks for outdoor dining etc..

It looks like a lot of wasted space. They have trees lining the middle of the sidewalks. They should have removed the trees to make a dedicated bike lane parallel to the roadway. One dedicated bike lane on the north or south side of the road would have been sufficient. That would make it more pedestrian-friendly.

Who the hell complains about too many trees???

That entire project looks great.

Trees are great until the salt spray kills them, or until they have to be removed because their roots disrupt the sidewalks.

(08-22-2022 04:24 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  The John Huber Parkway runs north-south down NIU's west side and dead-ends at Route 38. The land to the south to I-88 is farmland, with a couple of rural roads running east-west.

I have seen many 4-lane causeways at grade level that are built as bypasses, and they work well to reduce pass-through truck traffic in downtowns. Another interchange at the south end of that causeway at I-88, with a traffic light at R38, and you have another limited-access route somewhat like Annie Glidden Road. It also opens up the NIU far west end, where the proposed Center for Community Sustainability is planned, as well as additional frontage road development for DeKalb along I-88, as we see now.

So you'd have Peace Road, Glidden and this new interchange. Plenty of bypass, since it's not the trucks stopping at local business that's the problem (or that can be removed). A limited-access causeway also regulates development and crossroads along its length.

I am not disparaging farmland, but it's cheaper to aquire than running something through a developed area. Cooperation would be needed between DeKalb city and county, the state and federal governments. NIU would have input, but it's not an NIU road.

Who pays? The tollway does not pay to build interchanges. That cost is borne by the locals (municipality, county, or IDOT depending on the jurisdiction of the cross road). That would be many, many millions, plus millions for a through road. Who maintains?

In this state, we can't afford to maintain what we have, much less build new.

Thoroughly agree, which is why I didn't mention cost. I'm aware of who usually pays what, and who doesn't know that Illinois finance is in a hole? Was just opining about comments made earlier about needing a bypass to be effective, and where it would logically go.

I'm all for dressing up downtown DeKalb and ... said earlier ... I hope it works. To add ... some also said earlier ... hope they work west to connect the NIU campus for additional pedestrian flow. IMO there's more potential there. Then again, maybe that's a next step after seeing how this works. They already worked with NIU on signage.

(08-17-2022 02:14 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(08-17-2022 09:38 AM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(08-17-2022 08:22 AM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  Lansirs was pimp. Hendersons was one of the last classic small-town department stores, sad to see those disappear.

I don't even know what a small town department store is, and I'm mid 30s

Unfortunately, these charming examples of pure Americana were put out of business by the big box stores and online vendors. Many of these businesses were family owned by members of the community. Before closing down for good, many of these businesses appealed to their customers to buy there and save their business. I received several such e-mails from small businesses. They urged their customers to shop locally instead of the big box stores. However, with the import of all the crap from China, the big box stores won out, and we now live in a world of buying Chinese crap from the likes of Walmart, Target, etc. I refuse to shop at these big box stores, and it is becoming more and more difficult to find quality goods.

Well said sir.

(08-22-2022 09:39 PM)GeorgeBorkFan Wrote:  

(08-22-2022 09:22 PM)Big Red Wrote:  

(08-22-2022 06:44 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(08-22-2022 04:53 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  

(08-22-2022 03:36 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  What exactly about this makes it more pedestrian friendly? Is it because they repainted the crosswalks? They don't even have dedicated bike lanes.

I don't recall, were there two lanes each direction before and now there's only 1?

Much wider sidewalks for outdoor dining etc..

It looks like a lot of wasted space. They have trees lining the middle of the sidewalks. They should have removed the trees to make a dedicated bike lane parallel to the roadway. One dedicated bike lane on the north or south side of the road would have been sufficient. That would make it more pedestrian-friendly.

Who the hell complains about too many trees???

That entire project looks great.

Trees are great until the salt spray kills them, or until they have to be removed because their roots disrupt the sidewalks.

Ha!

Those trees have been there for decades.

Have you not been in any downtown in the suburbs or...well...anywhere?

Trees are often a part of the downtown city-scape. This is nothing new. You act like DeKalb is the first town to have trees along the streets.

Lol. Trees = good.