On Belmont now we don't have enough of them. One of the few steps the neighborhood can take in the face of these new buildings is to insist they include ground-floor retail space, though such space is generally not suited to or affordable for the antique stores. In my opinion, a neighborhood stops being a neighborhood when people live in their buildings and not in the neighborhood. Sadly, I think the city is changing to a place where people only go to a big store and then drive into the garage in their building. No one's driving at Belmont and Sheffield today, at least no one smart.
Traffic is a mess at the busy intersection, and pedestrians clearly have the advantage.
The cold weather has kept their numbers down, though, on what is usually one of Lakeview's busiest streets for foot traffic. Gideon Banner and Dave Sebastian are eating lunch in Clarke's, a diner near the corner, before they check out the street. The two are in town from Boston as part of the Blue Man Group to perform for a special event at the Field Museum. I want to go to Uncle Fun. It sits almost across the street from Schuba's, one of the best places in the city to hear music, from country and rock to jazz and spoken word.