Why has the area between Van Buren Ave and Tyler Ave in New Chicago never been developed or built on?

Answer 1

I believe the reference would be to Taylor Street, not Tyler Avenue. I don't know what the questioner means by "New Chicago," but the area south of the Loop has indeed begun to be developed. Especially along Michigan Avenue and Wabash Avenue, formerly derelict areas are being gentrified, and the railroad right-of-away air rights over the South Shore Line commuter rails have been reclaimed and built up with middle- and upper-middle class housing. Many high-rises have gone up as well along Michigan Avenue, facing Grant Park and the Museum Campus. Now, the inboard blocks between the Loop and Taylor Street can still be somewhat iffy: the area around Taylor Street, by the Chicago Campus of the University of Illinois (the old Little Italy displaced by the original Chicago Circle Campus) has also been gentrified with shops, restaurants and housing, but there are still stretches of unsavory and unsafe passage through that part of town.