Dear Members:

On behalf of the staff of the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry, I wish you all a happy and safe Fourth of July holiday week.

Overdevelopment Bad, But What?

Let’s begin with the premise that all of us are against overdevelopment.  Or—in the case of Elmhurst and other such land-locked municipalties—over-redevelopment.

Now comes the hard part.  What exactly constitutes overdevelopment?

For some, it is the widening of a residential tree-lined, two-lane avenue into a four-lane roadway with bumper-to-bumper traffic.

For others, it is the razing of a quaint two-bedroom, one-bath ranch home with a one-car detached garage to make way for a three-story McMansion with four bedrooms, five baths and attached multi-car garage.

For some others, it is the demolishment of the single-story commercial building with surface parking to allow for construction of a multi-storied municipal parking garage within a mixed-use structure featuring first-floor retail and upper-story office or residential components.

Is it sacrificing a fading chain grocery store located in the heart of a city’s downtown to increase high-end condominium and townhome residential housing?

Or, is it surrendering a family-run, Detroit Big 3-nameplate auto dealership to advance a family-operated, trend-setting grocery based out of Milwaukee?

Maybe it’s as basic as just…not another.  As in not another teardown.  Not another restaurant.  Not another bank.  Not another salon.  Not another bar.  Not another yogurt shop.  Not another pizza parlor.  Not another sandwich joint.  Not another…well…you name it.

Many a property taxpayer expouses expert opinions on what their city needs, both to attract and get rid of, especially when it happens to concern another taxpayer’s property.

Here in Elmhurst, the landscape is dramatically different than in 1955 when an expectant (with me) Florence Quigley moved her other six children from a west-side Chicago three-flat to a two-story brick home on Washington Street just southwest of the St. Charles Road/York Street intersection.

The noisy freight trains making regular stops at the south end of my block to restock Hammerschmidt & Franzen Lumber Yard and People’s Gas and Coal are but distant memories, succeeded by the cyclists, joggers and dog walkers that traverse the Illinois Prairie Path to both exercise and commune with nature.

My childhood home, purchased new for $25K, last sold for 20 times that amount only to become a teardown/build-up.  Hindsight says I should have bought it from my siblings for $80K after my mother’s passing in the early 1980s, but mortgage interest rates of 18% sent me packing for an apartment.

Elmhurst’s look has changed greatly from August of 1987 when I paid the earnest money to buy a Van Auken ranch home on the morning of citywide flooding.  My in-laws, living near Salt Creek, flooded.  My new home, on high ground, stayed dry.

Redevelopment brings change and change, like death and taxes, is both constant and inevitable.

Shirley Wins Symphony Silver

Congratulations to Shirley Myers of Thomas O. Myers Real Estate as a 2013 Silver Measure Award recipient at the Elmhurst Symphony Association annual dinner in June.

Happy Anniversary

Six members are celebrating Chamber anniversaries in June, as follows: 35 years—Elmhurst Artists’ Guild; and 5 years—Affiliated Agencies, American Mattress, Flight 112 Wine House, LifeSource Chicagoland’s Blood Center, and Richard F. Blass & Associates, Attorneys at Law.

New Members

The Chamber welcomed three new members in June, as follows (in alphabetical order): Farmer’s Insurance Group (DeLaMora), Mariano’s Fresh Market and Red D Photography.

Reactivated Members

The following three businesses reactivated as Chamber members in June:  John B. Peterson Insurance, Minuteman Press and Sam’s Club.

No Longer Members

The Chamber said goodbye to the following 12 members in June:  Christ United Methodist Church, Citibank, ERC Delivery Service, Fratello’s Pizza, Great Guys Cleaning and Concierge, Jewel-Osco (South York Street), Jewel-Osco (Schiller Street), Maple Tree Restaurant, 100 South Chop House and Grill, Pump It Up, Qdoba Mexican Grill and Site Recovery Services.