Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Lakeview

Colectivo Coffee, 2535 N. Clark. Photo: Michelle Stenzel

Eyes on the Street: Swapping Parking for Customer Seating Is a Smart Move

By John Greenfield | Jun 20, 2017 | 25 Comments

Merchants are beginning to understand that their bottom line depends less on the number of vehicles they can park than the number of customers they can accommodate.

Renderings of a section of the flyover project area without and with redevelopment. Images: CTA

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The Belmont Flyover: Learning From the Past and Planning the Future

By Charles Papanek | May 7, 2017 | 16 Comments

It’s going to be important for the city to learn the mistakes of the past, particularly the failure to promptly redevelop several lots that were left empty for five or more years after the Brown Line reconstruction was finished.

Robert Calvin rides in Chicago's Austin neighborhood. During a roughly nine-month period last year police wrote 321 bike citations in Austin but only 30 in majority-white Lakeview. Photo: John Greenfield

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The CPD’s “Biking While Black” Enforcement Practices Have Got to Stop

By John Greenfield | Mar 21, 2017 | 27 Comments

A Chicago Tribune investigation indicates that police are much more likely to ticket people in African-American communities for bike infractions than they are to issue citations to lawbreaking cyclists in mostly white areas. This isn't just illegal and unjust. It also discourages cycling in black neighborhoods.

The intersection of Wellington and Racine. Photo: John Greenfield

After an Officer Seriously Injured a Cyclist in Lakeview, Police Blamed the Victim

By John Greenfield | Feb 15, 2017 | 17 Comments

The CPD argues the cyclist was at fault, claiming that she ran her stop sign. However, her attorney says the truth about the crash has yet to be determined, and the CPD's refusal to accept responsibility is yet another example of our city's larger problem of police accountability.

The Cubs World Series Victory Parade Transforms the Streets of Lakeview

By John Greenfield | Nov 4, 2016 | 1 Comment

If you’ll indulge this bandwagon-jumper in a bit more Cubs-mania (don’t worry, we’ll have another serious post or two today), I thought SBC readers might enjoy a few shots of how the in-progress Cubs victory parade has filled the streets of the Lakeview neighborhood with humans instead of motor vehicles. It’s more evidence that some of […]

Policies and Politics, Not TODs, Are to Blame for Affordable Housing Crunch

By Steven Vance | May 3, 2016 | 39 Comments

Yesterday the Tribune’s Mary Wisniewski further explored a topic Streetsblog’s John Greenfield covered two weeks ago for the Reader. Virtually all of Chicago’s new transit-oriented development projects are upscale buildings in affluent or gentrifying neighborhoods. TOD advocates argue that adding housing in these communities will take pressure off the rental market. But some Logan Square residents […]

Shop by Bike and Win Prizes During the “Ride & Seek Lakeview” Promotion

By John Greenfield | May 1, 2016 | 3 Comments

Smart community leaders brainstorm ways to get more butts on bicycles. After all, more people traveling in the neighborhood on two wheels instead of four means less traffic congestions and pollution. And when more shoppers access retail strips by bikes instead of cars, there are similar (or even better) economic benefits for the area, with […]

Eyes on the Street: Restaurants Make Room for Customers Instead of Cars

By John Greenfield | Apr 23, 2016 | 13 Comments

It’s encouraging to see that more and more business owners have come to understand that accommodating people, rather than automobiles, is good for the bottom line. This summer we should see the city’s first “Curbside Cafes,” outdoor seating areas where it’s restaurants and bars may serve food and drinks, located in the parking lane on […]

People Will Win if Wrigley Field Streets are Closed to Vehicle Traffic

By Steven Vance | Apr 14, 2016 | 14 Comments

Two local politicians have proposed changing the streets around Wrigley Field to help defend it from terrorist attacks. Instead we should be looking at ways to protect the area from an excess of car traffic. U.S. representative Mike Quigley (5th district) recently floated the idea of pedestrianizing Clark and Addison Streets during game days to prevent […]

Actually, the Lincoln/Ashland/Belmont Remix Will Be a Major Improvement

By John Greenfield | Apr 1, 2016 | 17 Comments

Last week a ward staffer provided me with a preview of plans for the Lincoln/Ashland/Belmont reconstruction project. From what I gathered from that conversation, the Chicago Department of Transportation was planning a relatively conservative redesign of one of the North Side’s most dangerous intersections. But at a public meeting about the initiative last week, I […]

Both Lakeview People Spots Will Be Moving to New Locations

By John Greenfield | Mar 11, 2016 | 5 Comments

Say goodbye to the Heritage Bicycles People Spot. Yesterday morning commissioners for Lakeview’s Special Service Area 27 decided that the curbside mini park should be relocated this year from the 2900 block of North Lincoln, in front of the bike and coffee shop, to a new home on the 3300 block, by Dinkel’s Bakery. The […]

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