Blighted property: What do you see?

Most days, I drive by an empty building on Scott Boulevard at Church Street, on my way to somewhere. The building floats, like the remains of a sinking ship, in a sea of cracked asphalt. Two other huge and lifeless properties sit on Church Street a stone's throw away, between Patel Plaza and Nalley Nissan. 

Along with you and me, thousands of cars pass these swaths of land, day in and day out. Eventually, we don’t even see them. After all, there’s nothing happening there, so what’s to look at? 

We may not consciously notice them, but these bleak areas still affect us. Beautiful spaces give us something to love; urban decay only reminds us of past failures and sad endings. Imagine how different it would feel to round the curve at the end of Church Street, and view a beautiful area with human activity and lush landscaping. Beauty and vitality in our environment are the very antidotes for stress.  

I often envision these huge spaces turned into a place for micro industries, hubs for artists and makers. I think about places like the Makers Lab at the Harold Washington Library Center in Chicago, where classes and workshops cover the gamut, from composting, to jewelry making, to 3-D printing, with open lab space for makers to work and collaborate. With economic uncertainty everywhere, small business incubators are more important than ever. 

Sometimes, I fantasize about pulling up all of that asphalt, and creating community gardens and orchards, returning the land to it’s former abundance, the structures converted into teaching kitchens and packing houses, and the entire operation alleviating hunger in our area.

“You may say that I’m a dreamer...” Ok, fair enough. I don’t know about the economics, or how these ideas would work. But everything starts with an idea. What do YOU see, beyond the blight?