Why we love old buildings

I received this email from a friend who lives near the apartment building being demolished at 6425 of N. Rockwell and thought it was a nice tribute:

I'm sure you have both been down the road to see the building...

It's been quite a sight watching them tear it down - very sad thinking of all the people who have lived there through the 80 something years, all the voices that have echoed through the halls, the birthdays and funerals, all the footsteps that have gone up and down the stairs, all the smells of all the different cooking...

I think since I have lived here there were Irish, Jewish, Romanians, Filipinos, Gypsies, African Americans, Mexicans, Indians and Pakistanis - everyone coming to give the American Dream a go!

Now it sits in ruin -just a ghost. I guess that's what they call progress! (Gulp!)

And now what? Do you remember when they paved over Downtown Chicago and State Street was a mall?

God only knows whose bright idea that was- I truly believe this will be as bad as paving over downtown - the people will quit coming because there will no longer be the lure of the marketplace, the air of being with people enjoying themselves, the liveliness and feeling of being a part of something, all the street fairs and fests that they had there - it will all be gone, hidden behind more concrete...

I guess I'm a child of the 70's because I just keep
thinking of that Joni Mitchell song about putting up a Parking Lot -

The neighborhood becomes a lesser place...