Yes, the midnight debates tend to get a decent turnout.
Maybe there are more things to keep the undergraduates busy on campus lately. Various RSO’s that are a segue to the ‘hot jobs’, internships, etc. might be sucking up a lot of time.
Also, just looking at the enrollment data in 1999 vs. 2019 (fall quarter for both), the top five majors have really changed over the years! Not so much Econ and Bio which dominate the #1 and #2 positions handily, but in 1999 English was the third most popular major, followed by Psych and Poly Sci. Those have since been replaced in popularity by CS and Math; Psychology is now at #9, and English at #11. So there has been a shift toward STEM. Neuro takes the #7 spot now, compared to History at that placement 20 years ago. The one to watch, in addition to CS, is Molecular Engineering. In 2016, fewer than one half of one percent of first majors were declared to be ME. That percentage has tripled in only three years. Still small, but likely continuing to grow and displace English, History, and Psychology even more.
Perhaps as more students opt for STEM at UChicago, the number of nights out decrease.
“If HP did have the usual college town selection of fun, funky, good quality places then fewer students would choose working over eating. Right now, the eating just isn’t tempting enough.”
This is a version of the “build the Starbucks and the Millenials will follow” fallacy. It has a name but can’t recall what it is LOL. That’s what i call it.
Good eats follow the demand, not the other way around.
Jim Nondorf lives very close to some amazing restaurants had hasn’t a clue about them (believe me, we know this). And he takes his staff out all the time.
Edit to add: Not saying hp won’t continue to become a better place to eat in the future. We’ve seen a lot of positive change there over the years and there is no reason to expect that to abate.
The last thing HP needs is another Starbucks. Talk about just checking a box.
And there’s no need for any build it and they’ll come theory. With the number of students and faculty alone at UChicago, the people who would eat good food are already there. Just waiting to be fed.
It is interesting that none of this has organically sprung up yet but it does present some good opportunities for would-be proprietors.
^ Couldn’t agree more on the Starbucks. I think I counted 4 in HP? (Target, Hospital, 53rd/Lake Park and Lakpark, and 55th/Kimbark) at one point. I might have missed one.
Yes, you would think there is a captive audience. But HP isn’t as dense as Lincoln Park, nor is it surrounded by dense neighborhoods just ready to support the latest foodie establishment (in fact, a good amount of the south side is depopulating). Pick up HP and move it four miles to the north and it would be a different story.
As more move south of the Loop, the restaurants should follow. The OPC might help as well. Restaurants tend to follow the money. It would also probably help if activists on the south side didn’t try to slow down development or chase it away altogether. Had George Lucas been able to build his project on the lakefront south of the Museum Campus, we might be having a different conversation today about food in Hyde Park.
UChicago is very different from an Ann Arbor (or even an Urbana Champaign). in those communities, a large R1 university is the biggest thing around. Faculty won’t have many alternatives outside the immediate city. So it’s not surprising to hear of great eating in Ann Arbor. UChicago is much smaller than a UMich or UIUC, and a good number of the now-expanded student body actually leave for the summer. Also, it’s relatively easy to get out and over to other parts of the city. Many actually enjoy doing that just to take a break from the intense academic environment. Not sure that would change much even if the eats did continue to improve in the 'hood.
It’d be great if HP could have the “panache” of a Georgetown - maybe someday it will (UChicago is a lot better school; however, there’s more to “G-Town the neighborhood” than just the university). Right now, it should shoot for the “panache” of an Evanston. The latter has definite advantages, being three times larger, located near some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the state (and in the country), and being relatively farther from some of the places students like to go for Korean, Greek, etc (though not far at all from some fantastic Indian food). But Hyde Park has made good improvements even in the past 5-10 years so if it remains on the same trajectory the quality of the food will improve. I happen to think there are fine restaurants there now, but that’s just me
