- Joined
- Aug 10, 2013
- Messages
- 20,178
- Reaction score
- 21,525
- Location
- Cambridge, MA
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Slightly Liberal
Simpleχity;1064582000 said:The other three final contestants were the University of Hawaii, New York's Columbia University, and the University of Illinois at Chicago. The Chicago Park District, which owns the two properties under consideration, says it will donate the chosen land parcel for this purpose. Both parcels are either on or very close to Chicago's lakefront in the Hyde Park neighborhood where the Obama home is located.
I know they almost botched the sales pitch, but it's always been hard for me to imagine anywhere other than the University of Chicago winning the bid. That's been the candidate that by far makes the most sense, given the significance of Hyde Park and UChicago to Obama's personal and political life.
Not to mention just the geography and circumstance of the area itself, apart from being where Obama actually lives: a racially integrated community area on the South Side of Chicago, home to Harold Washington while he was mayor, boasting one of the top universities in the world, where both Obamas formerly worked. It's pretty heavily intertwined with the narrative he's built for himself. I remember I was in Hyde Park on Election Night in 2008--it's hard to separate the man from that place.
The other three possibilities all lacked the resonance of the Hyde Park choice. So I guess this pick seems pretty obvious.