Recently, Paul kgyy posted:

I live in a condo that overlooks the former Meigs field (broke my
heart when they closed it).

The city has installed a perimeter bike path around the field so I
rode around it last fall. The field is mostly grass and weeds, with a
few small trees. There is a concert stage, but it's a temporary
setup. In the case of Meigs, I would make the following comments.

1. Noise - aircraft noise was no worse than the cigarette boats
cruising down the lakefront at 50mph, or the Motorcycles on Lake Shore
Drive. And aircraft noise is quickly gone and is primarily noticeable
on takeoff. Music from downtown festivals in Grant Park is far more
intrusive, and sometimes runs for hours on end.
2. Local aircraft - Meigs wasn't a good place to tie down on a long
term basis. Tiedown charges were around $300 per month, and the
proximity to the lake created messes from seagulls. I kept the Arrow
at Midway, which was much less expensive (at least initially). I
don't know where the other aircraft went - I assume Midway, Palwaukee,
DuPage, Lansing, Gary, -- lots of reliever airports. No t-hangars
were available, nor were there any repair facilities that I know of.
It was a very limited airport. No ILS despite frequent fog from the
lake.
3. Alternate use - none, really. A couple of rock concerts used the
field because it was a place they could make all the noise they wanted
without generating complaints (ironic, to me) and it was empty space.
4. I'd guess most of the jet traffic went to Midway, which has become
noticeably busier, but the demise of ATA has helped Midway keep up.

My final conclusion is that it was an underdeveloped airport that
should (and could) have been enhanced to make it something special,
but the opposite path was taken.

Chicago, despite being a good place to live and work, is not a city of
vision, but few cities are.

Thanks for your response, Paul. From the above, it would seem that the GA
population didn't suffer much. I had presumed that Meigs would have been
more similar to one of our airports (Burke Lakefront in Cleveland, OH).
However, Burke does have an ILS, and quite a few GA planes & helicopters
are based there year-round. I would say that, today, the airport is
under-utilized and may seem vulnerable because of that. However, its loss
would be felt by the GA community since the remaining options can't easily
absorb the resident aircraft.

Neil