Shaun Jacobsen
Recent Posts
Uptown Residents Brainstorm Ideas for Redeveloping Vacant Land
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It’s an exciting time to be in Uptown. The Broadway streetscape and road diet, which will hopefully be completed within a few months, as well as the reconstruction of the Wilson ‘L’ station have the potential to transform the center of the neighborhood. This potential has not gone unnoticed by the Metropolitan Planning Council. On […]
Illiana Boondoggle Now Guaranteed to Cost Taxpayers At Least $250 Million
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Remember the “innovative” public-private partnership Governor Quinn lauded as a way to build the “21st century” Illiana Expressway, without shifting the entire cost onto the general public? Or remember CMAP’s statement opposing the project, based on its contradictory growth projections, overestimated benefit to the region, and severe financial risk, and the multiple op-eds and articles that followed, all expressing concern about the expressway’s ability to […]
Environmental Groups Charge Illiana Illegally Bypassed CMAP
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The Illiana Expressway encountered a potential roadblock in the form of a lawsuit filed last Thursday. Three environmental groups filed the lawsuit: the Environmental Law & Policy Center, representing Openlands and the Sierra Club. The lawsuit [PDF] alleges that IDOT circumvented the proper approval process to get the tollway past a crucial review. On October […]
A Huge Garage Doesn’t Belong on a Thriving Pedestrian Shopping Street
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A parking lot at 3030 N Broadway in Lakeview, formerly the site of a Dominick’s grocery store, could soon be the home of a new development with a Mariano’s supermarket, an Xport Fitness health club, and four small retail tenants. This stretch of Broadway, designated as a Pedestrian Street by the city, is currently very […]
Benched: How Does National Bike & Walk Benchmark Rank Chicago?
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Yesterday, the Alliance for Biking & Walking released its 2014 Benchmarking Report, which details data and trends about bicycle and walking infrastructure in all U.S. states and in the 52 largest cities. The report enables both public officials and advocates to evaluate how their communities stack up, compared to other communities. It also provides concrete […]
New Law Could Pre-Empt Parking Lots Along Albany Park’s Main Streets
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A proposal to build a suburban-style Walgreens at the busy corner of Lawrence and Kimball avenues in Albany Park, across from the Brown Line’s terminus, has sparked a proposal to introduce Pedestrian Street designations to the lively, diverse neighborhood. 33rd Ward Alderman Deb Mell has expressed her disapproval of the design, requesting a more walkable store […]
Parking Minimums at Work: Uptown Tower Must Build 554 Parking Spots
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At the site of the former Cuneo Hospital and Maryville Academy in Uptown, slated to be demolished shortly, JDL Development has proposed building 749 apartments in two buildings, along with 30,000 square feet of retail space. In addition, 554 parking spaces will be constructed, the minimum required by Chicago’s zoning code. Of these spaces, 65 […]
On Broadway: A Preview of Chicago’s Next Protected Bike Lane Street
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Uptown is one of Chicago’s few bike-friendly neighborhoods that doesn’t have any conventional bike lanes, let alone buffered or protected lanes, but that will change by the end of the year with an upcoming Chicago Department of Transportation project. Broadway between Montrose and Foster will get protected bike lanes for two blocks from Montrose to […]
When Removing a Pedestrian Street Designation, Proceed With Caution
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Shaun Jacobsen is the author of Transitized. Last June, 46th ward Alderman James Cappleman proposed removing the Pedestrian Street designation on six blocks radiating from the intersection of Broadway and Lawrence in Uptown. The proposed removal raised some eyebrows. Was a developer planning to build something that wouldn’t fit the criteria of a P-Street, like a […]