For all the care Forest City takes in naming its apartment buildings and townhomes, they put much less thought into the naming of its boroughs. There will soon be 10 mini-neighborhoods within the Stapleton umbrella. They are all very simplistic names. Some were named by their closest landmark, such as Central Park North and West, Westerly Creek, and Bluff Lake, and others were named directionally, South End and Eastbridge (literally East of the MLK Bridge). Then, of course, there is the East 29th Ave. neighborhood, which should really just be changed to Classic Stapleton. All of these names lack any sort of imagination, which makes sense when you recognize that the name Stapleton is simply the name of the airport which previously occupied the land.
Then, Forest City began building on the other side of I-70, and started with the Conservatory Green neighborhood. The name makes sense when you consider the neighborhood was built right next to a shopping area. Shouldn’t it have been named “Mallside?” Any rate, the neighborhood has turned out to be a big success, in spite of the odd name. The new neighborhoods seem to be named with an even lower standard. Willow Park East and Wicker Park seem to have no context at all, almost as if Forest City is working too hard to think of an out-of-the-box name. Of course, wicker can be made out of willow, so in that aspect, the two hoods will always be interwoven. However, when I envision someone telling me they are from Wicker Park or Willow Park East, I imagine they will be telling me with their heads down or under their breath, as neither name exudes any pride. But time will tell. At one point, Eastbridge residents were the bastards of Stapleton. And look at them now, with their soon-to-be fancy town center. Someday, Wicker Park and Willow Park East residents may be able to say where they are from with pride. Someday.
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