Let’s Re-Think Our Neighborhoods : What We Prioritize & How We Can Build Better Housing
It’s a summer night, and rather than go to a Cubs or White Sox game, you decide to go out to dinner with your significant other and a few other friends. You choose to meet at the new trendy restaurant in the new Lincoln Yards development or the 78 development in the South Loop. When you arrive, you notice a vibrant neighborhood. A mix of residential units above, and commercial units on street level. It is lively, full of energy and city noise. But not the kind of passing cars and loud vehicles but rather of conversations of patrons at the bars & restaurants, children playing outside, and local musicians putting on a free concert in this pedestrian plaza.
You meet your friends at the restaurant. You enjoy an amazing meal, and in doing so, support a new local business. After, you walk to the bar next door for a drink, and then maybe even grab some ice cream on your way back home. You realize how incredible this area is for the general public and immediately make it a point to come back.
What I just described is completely doable. They are actually referred to as pedestrian zones. These are mixed use spaces (commercial & residential) that do not allow motor vehicles in a designated area. These areas would become increasingly attractive to residents who don’t wish to rely on a car and businesses who wish to be located near a highly trafficked pedestrian corridor. Think of Times Square or the San Antonio Riverwalk as an example, but on a lesser scale.
How about a local example? Chicago already shuts down several streets around Wrigley Field before & after the Cubs games. Imagine an area that size, that has zero cars ever? There’s parking lots on the exterior edge, as well as vast public transportation to access the pedestrian plaza. The best part is that these pedestrian plazas can be repeated multiple times throughout Chicago & other cities across the United States. Especially if you do it in areas that are easily accessed by subways, buses, or the Metra. It could help revitalize neighborhoods that were once thriving that have come on hard times lately. It would provide additional economic opportunities. But most importantly, it would create additional, desirable housing.
And as these neighborhoods begin to take shape, surrounding areas would feel the benefits too. Property values would increase, and surrounding areas would also become more attractable to residents. New businesses would open up. New restaurants, coffee shops, dry cleaners, local bookstores that would become staples of the neighborhood for years to come.
Currently, construction is finishing up for 3914 N Lincoln Ave in North Center. This building stretches part of a city block and provides 3 commercial spaces, 68 residential units. Most importantly, it is built 1 block from 2 separate bus stops servicing all directions, and 3 blocks from an existing subway station. This is the development we need more of. It increases density, and is smartly looking at transportation alternatives other than a private automobile. They are even offering free Divvy bike memberships to residents who don’t bring a car!
Rendering of 3914 N. Lincoln Ave
Street-level blueprint of 2914 N Lincoln Ave
Now imagine if we had built 10-12 of these, along with a few mid rise buildings in a 3-4 block area. Immediately, we’d have almost 1,000 new residents living in the area. All of whom want to live in a walkable neighborhood. Surrounded by local restaurants, coffee shops, grocery stores, and other businesses. But most importantly, we’d have completely removed cars from the interior of this area. Think of Fulton Market on a summer evening.
We’re not talking about radical solutions. The city has already completed a few projects that are a huge success, and others are in development. In Andersonville, the city is getting ready to turn a stretch of Catalpa Ave into a pedestrian plaza between Clark St. and Ashland Avenue. Just south of McCormick Place, there is a Bronzeville Lakefront development on the site of the old Michael Reese hospital. The 606 is a converted old rail line into a bike and walking trail that connects neighborhoods west of Humboldt Park to the far east side of Wicker Park.
And these solutions aren’t unique to Chicago. Starting in the 1960s, Copenhagen faced the same problem. But they were brave enough to try something new, rather than just saying it will never work. And guess what? It worked. Revenue for businesses around pedestrian plaza increased, and they haven’t gone back.
We can absolutely repeat this in multiple neighborhoods throughout the city, as well as cities across the United States. And we absolutely should. Prioritizing pedestrian plazas, and promoting mixed-use developments in areas that offer residential and commercial space, provide a direct economic benefit to the local economy. It will continue to attract residents and tourists, as well as new businesses and provide additional economic & job opportunities.
And most importantly, it helps us bring sensible solutions to the housing shortage that our country faces.