pedestrian streets

Two additional Chicago roadways were designated as P-Streets last week when the City Council approved rezoning of parts of Fulton and Randolph street in the West Loop.

Making transit, walking, and biking, safer and more convenient would help residents keep more money in their pockets for savings or to stimulate the local economy.

When Steven Vance and I heard that 25th Ward Alderman Daniel Solis had proposed an ordinance to lift the Pedestrian Street designation at a location on Pilsen's main drag, it raised a red flag:

Albany Park just took a step towards a more walkable future. Last week, City Council passed an ordinance to officially zone stretches of Montrose, Lawrence, and Kedzie in the neighborhood as Pedestrian Streets, or P-Streets.

[This piece also ran in Checkerboard City, John's column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings]

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 walkable. The Active Transportation Alliance recognized this and included the street in its list of 20 Chicago thoroughfares that should be considered for pedestrianization. In the surrounding census tracts, 30 to 50 percent of the households don't own cars.

Senior mayoral advisor David Spielfogel had some disappointing quotes in yesterday’s Sun-Times, arguing that “it doesn’t make sense” to make large streets like the Mag Mile car-free. However, that doesn’t mean innovative changes to major roadways are off the table.