Michigan Avenue - Niche Media - Michigan Avenue magazine is a luxury lifestyle magazine centered around Chicago’s finest people, events, fashion, health & beauty, fine dining & more!
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/123336
ON THE TOWN RIGHT: Gabe Klein is passionate about alternative transportation. BELOW: Klein discovered The Publican while developing the new Morgan CTA station. 80 "We want to build on the strengths of Chicago. In many ways, it's the transportation hub of America." —GABE KLEIN It's going to be an almost three-mile The Publican's extensive elevated trail—it will be the longest menu boasts more than elevated trail in the world. It'll link 55 beers. seven different neighborhoods, from Humboldt Park to Bucktown. It'll give people more access to park space, and be someplace where people can ride their bike, Rollerblade, run, walk, and just hang out. It's been on the books since '98, and we should have the trail built and open to the public in August of 2014. What are other green efforts you're making? We've really covered the whole gamut, from using 45 percent recycled content on some of our paving, to better quality steel ADA ramps to make sure everybody's got equal access, all the way to Bike Share and the beautiful new transit stations. I love this job: It's fascinating because you get to touch the public every day in so many different ways. MA PHOTOGRAPHY BY NATHAN KIRKMAN continued from page 78 In the warmer months, more. I love the West Loop. This neighborhood is fun and funky. I love the industrial aspect—that it's a meat market from 4 AM until 2 PM , and then there's nightlife. It's very mixed-use, so you have a lot of live, work, and play going on. I know you got a ride today, but how do you typically get here? When I come here after work, I often walk from 30 North LaSalle Street, where our offices are. [Food is served] Also, the presentation here is pretty awesome. Sure, it's $8 for cheese, but you get some nice accoutrements with it; you get some cherries, some apples, some interesting nut pastry that approximates macadamia. You also have a lot on your plate at the City of Chicago. What's your vision for the city's transportation? We want to create a safe, healthy, connected city. We want to build on the strengths that Chicago already has. In many ways, it's the transportation hub of America. We also want people to live in the city. We're looking at, holistically, how a street feels. Do people feel safe? As a Chicago resident, do you feel safe? I feel safer than when I first got here—and you can note that I'm chewing on cheese. We were missing a lot of lane markers; there were many crosswalks that just weren't there, so you didn't know exactly where you were supposed to be. Then there are larger things: resurfacing the streets so there are fewer potholes or divots in the road—whether you're driving your car, riding on a bus, or a pedestrian—and putting in miles of bike lanes all over the city. We'll be seeing more cyclists with the launch of the Bike Share program. It'll be 4,000 bikes, 400 stations, and 32 square miles in the initial scope, up to the 49th Ward and down to Hyde Park. A lot of people view bikes as fun on the weekends, but they'll be like, "Wow!" It's actually the fastest, easiest, possibly safest, cheapest way to get around. It's modular, it's mobile, and it's going to be probably the least expensive form of transportation in the city besides walking. Exactly. And you're an avid biker. Yeah, I just bought another frame at a bike swap. I haven't told my wife about it, but by the time this comes out she'll have seen it. I've actually been too embarrassed to tell her—I'm supposed to be selling a bike, and instead I went out and bought a new frame. [Laughs] Have you always loved cycling? When I was a kid, my dad owned bike stores. I started riding mountain bikes a lot when I was in college, and then in the late '90s I got back into road biking. I love the idea of just riding for practical purposes. Where do you typically ride? On the weekends, I'll go out and do 25, 50 miles. I've ridden all over the city on my Masi bike. I go out on Lake Shore Trail down to South Shore, and then I'll just take off into the neighborhoods down 83rd to the velodrome to watch people ride. I also wanted to ask about the Bloomingdale, which sounds like such an exciting project. MICHIGANAVEMAG.COM 078-080_MA_Flavor_OntheTown_MayJune13.indd 80 4/16/13 10:33 AM