
The secret world below Chicago - MiriamWeiner
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20171128-chicagos-underground-city-thats-becoming-a-design-star
======
sithadmin
Houston has an underground tunnel system that's larger than Chicago's:
[https://www.downtownhouston.org/district/downtown-
tunnels/](https://www.downtownhouston.org/district/downtown-tunnels/)

Having lived in both cities, Houston's is actually more accessible and useful
as well. Also a point of differentiation is that its main touted advantage is
avoiding the disgusting heat and humidity that settles on the city for most of
the year, rather than avoiding the cold.

~~~
jamiesonbecker
Houston skyscrapers used to lower their air pressure to pull free A/C from
their neighbors. (citation needed, can't track one down quickly). But, it's a
huge system, approximately _seven_ miles long[4].

0\.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_tunnel_system](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston_tunnel_system)

1\. Pictures:
[https://www.google.com/search?q=houston+tunnels+system](https://www.google.com/search?q=houston+tunnels+system)

2\. NY Times article:
[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/us/21tunnel.html?_r=1&adxn...](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/us/21tunnel.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1201964533-giDOI7EQDa42VtvtwDFuEg)

Startups have launched in the Houston tunnels:

3\. [http://www.chron.com/business/article/Downtown-tunnel-
system...](http://www.chron.com/business/article/Downtown-tunnel-system-still-
drawing-entrepreneurs-1736690.php#page-2)

Eye-popping costs of up to $15,000 per linear foot to build, and yet it's all
funded by the building developers themselves:

4\.
[https://web.archive.org/web/20081231041758/http://www.discov...](https://web.archive.org/web/20081231041758/http://www.discoverhoustontours.com/Welcome%20to%20the%20Downtown%20Houston%20Tunnel%20System%20020722.htm)

(Out of all large cities in America, Houston is unique in that it has no
zoning; skyscrapers are clustered together mostly because they're lonely, and
not at all because there are inherent advantages in being near other like-
minded buildings. The weirdest photographs to come from no zoning laws, which
I think is actually extremely cool: [http://www.chron.com/news/houston-
texas/houston/article/Weir...](http://www.chron.com/news/houston-
texas/houston/article/Weirdest-images-from-Houston-s-lack-of-zoning-
laws-9171688.php#photo-10795066) )

~~~
hexane360
"Nearly 180 years since the city was founded, nobody is really sure whether
Houston's lack of zoning laws is a point of pride or not."

------
FLGMwt
The stained glass hallway is the most depressing part of my commute in the
winter. It's always a mess and very poorly lit.

Also, the pedway in Chicago is more of a collection of disconnected
minipedways. You definitely can't cross the lop without going outside. It's
not nearly as seamless as the skyway in Minneapolis which has the additional
bonus of natural light (even if it's usually overcast in the winter).

~~~
mikeokner
Actually Minneapolis gets so cold that it's usually pretty sunny in the winter
because the air has less moisture and higher density.

~~~
dmoy
Similar reason why it doesn't snow as much - too cold for the air to hold as
much moisture compared to places where are warmer (but still below freezing).

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mynegation
Toronto PATH is my favourite thing in the city

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PATH_(Toronto)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PATH_\(Toronto\))

~~~
eps
Nice, 30 km.

Calgary's version is "only" 16 km, though all of it is above ground -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/+15](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/+15)

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mschuster91
I wonder if something like this could be built when expanding or
reconstructing major parts of a city... not just to have a way for people to
move without being exposed to the elements, cars, trucks and bikers, but also
to serve as a conduit for fresh/waste water, electricity, gas and
communications.

Benefit would be that it would no longer be neccessary to cut open streets
when something breaks or needs to be expanded/upgraded, as well as that
everything is protected from the elements and it's incredibly cheap to install
new lines should the need arise. The power required for lighting and
ventilation could come from swapping the asphalt with armed solar panels...

And by only installing it when the respective area is being dug up anyway it
would not create that much cost for digging.

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Zarathust
This is my favorite part of Montreal. When it's -20C outside, having access to
everything without going outside is good city planning

[http://montrealvisitorsguide.com/reso-underground-city-la-
vi...](http://montrealvisitorsguide.com/reso-underground-city-la-ville-
souterraine/)

~~~
mortenjorck
The Réso is awesome. Next time I'm in Montreal, I want to stay at the Hyatt at
the Complexe Desjardins: It's possible to get all the way from your hotel room
to the Place D'armes Metro station a few blocks south _or_ the Place Des Arts
Metro station a few blocks north, all without going outside, not to mention a
mall, a performing arts center, and countless restaurants.

~~~
Zarathust
You can also go to the Bell Center to see the Canadiens too. It's just a bit
trickier to get around.

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slowmovintarget
My first thought was of Jim Butcher's "Undertown".

This is interesting too, though it seems like Minneapolis' Skyway is a bit
more usable.

~~~
berbec
I was reading the article waiting for them to interview Maeve.

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larrymyers
The Chicago Architecture Foundation does a nice guided tour of the pedway:
[https://www.architecture.org/experience-
caf/tours/detail/chi...](https://www.architecture.org/experience-
caf/tours/detail/chicago-pedway/)

I've done it before and it's a great way to see Chicago in the winter when
it's silly cold outside.

------
kolbe
Here's a map:

[https://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/cdot/pe...](https://www.cityofchicago.org/content/dam/city/depts/cdot/pedestrian/Pedway/PedwayMap2013.pdf)

It's cool if you can make use of it, but it doesn't span very far. Where you
see the numbers 47 and 3, those are the main rail stations for commuter lines,
so they do almost nothing to help those people. But if you're lucky enough to
have one of the 10% of jobs that work near them, it's really nice to take
advantage of.

~~~
8_hours_ago
That map mentions:

 _Normal operating hours of the Pedway are 7am to 5pm, Monday - Friday, unless
otherwise noted._

Does most of it follow that schedule? That seems like a very limited time. If
you wanted to use it during your commute you'd be limited to work between 8am
and 4pm.

~~~
ams6110
When I worked in downtown Chicago standard work day was 9-4. So your train
gets in somewhere around 8:30 and you then have a 10-20 minute walk to work.
Then the reverse to catch your 5:00-ish train home.

Not sure if that was widespread but by 6pm the Loop proper was basically a
ghost town.

~~~
8_hours_ago
A 7 hour work day was standard?

~~~
tatersolid
Worked in downtown Chicago for 2 decades. A 7-hour day is _not_ Standard. GP
must have worked at some sort of hippie commune across the river.

Most common official working hours are 8-4, since there are so many banks and
exchanges that want to be on the same work schedule as NYC markets.

Also it gets dark at 4:30 in December/Jan and millions of perestrians, cars,
dark, and icy streets aren’t a very safe combo.

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vanadium
The Pedway is one of the best open secrets here in Chicago, especially during
heavy blizzard conditions and generally escaping the elements. Used to walk it
daily when I worked downtown.

~~~
csixty4
I didn't even know what it was when I worked in River North. I just knew I
could duck into one of the buildings along the way and get into a heated
tunnel that took me part way to Ogilvy. Now, I wish I had explored it more
when I lived in Chicago.

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elsurudo
Also related, the abandoned underground shopping mall in Barcelona:
[http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/avenue-of-light-the-lost-
un...](http://www.ultraswank.net/stores/avenue-of-light-the-lost-underground-
shopping-mal-of-barcelona/)

Some amazing pictures... really conveys the mood.

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calebm
I went out to lunch with someone who knew their way around it, and I was
surprised how far you could walk underground. It's kind of cool, too, because
it feels like a secret, because it feels half-baked (e.g. one of the parts
went through the loading area of Union Station).

~~~
weberc2
Union station or Millenium station? I'm familiar with the latter, but that's
just because the loading area is long and has two pedway entrances. There is
another way around aside from that.

~~~
60654
I'm guessing Millennium Station, since the pedway doesn't cross the river...

~~~
weberc2
Good point, and nice username.

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kotyy
Oklahoma City's got one of these, too. Not quite as large or nice, though.

[http://downtownokc.com/underground/](http://downtownokc.com/underground/)

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microcolonel
Kinda like a private roadway. It's almost as though people who own things
generally want people to be able to get to them. ;- )

~~~
hexane360
It's a good thing you can bring cars and trucks in, and that it's connected to
pretty much every business downtown, overlapping other prominent networks
without seams. Otherwise it wouldn't really be all that useful as a roadway.

