Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about People Spots

CDOT Sets Out to Bring More Street Life to Almost 50 Plazas

By John Greenfield | Sep 5, 2013

As part of the Make Way for People program, which seeks to create places where residents can relax, socialize, and maybe enjoy some culture, the Chicago Department of Transportation is seeking proposals to activate nearly 50 plazas across the city. “The concept behind the request for proposals is we believe these spaces have a lot […]

Alderman Tunney: A People Spot Is More Valuable Than Parking Spots

By John Greenfield | Aug 23, 2013 | 20 Comments

32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack, usually a progressive on transportation issues, recently made some backward comments about city initiatives that convert car parking spaces into facilities like Divvy stations, bike parking corrals and People Spot seating areas. Waguespack fretted about the impact these conversions would have on local businesses, but it’s clear that these innovative […]

Cubs Divvy Station and Southport People Spot Enliven Wrigleyville

By John Greenfield | Aug 8, 2013 | 16 Comments

It’s a pleasure to see Divvy docking stations, People Spot seating areas, on-street bike corrals, and other productive uses of the public way popping up around Chicago. They serve as reminders that there are much more effective ways to move people around the city and attract customers to business districts than focusing on facilitating car […]

What’s Up With Waguespack? The Alderman’s View of Parking Conversions

By John Greenfield | Jul 16, 2013 | 30 Comments

32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack is a key independent voice at City Hall. Most famously, when Richard M. Daley was ramming the disastrous 2008 parking meter contract through City Council in a mere three days, Waguespack was perhaps the only alderman to actually read the thick document. He led the opposition to the deal, and […]

Rack ‘Em Up: Chicago to Reach 25 On-Street Bike Corrals This Summer

By John Greenfield | Jul 5, 2013 | 16 Comments

It was a sign of the times when the Chicago Department of Transportation celebrated the city’s 13th on-street bike parking corral this morning at the Cheetah Gym, 5248 North Clark in Andersonville. Nine years ago, when I worked as CDOT’s bike parking manager, I put plenty of blood, sweat and tears into trying to get […]

The Long, Hot Summer of Transportation Initiatives

By John Greenfield | May 28, 2013 | 21 Comments

[This piece also ran in Checkerboard City, John Greenfield’s transportation column in Newcity magazine, which hits the street in print on Wednesday evenings.] Trust me, my friends, this is the year sustainable transportation blows up in Chicago. Say what you want about Rahm Emanuel’s record on education, crime and privatization. But since he took office […]

Andersonville to Get New Parklet by the Coffee Studio, Plus Bike Corrals

By John Greenfield | Apr 4, 2013 | 14 Comments

Andersonville’s vibrant, ped-friendly Clark Street business district just keeps getting better. Last year the strip got one of Chicago’s first “People Spots” at Clark and Farragut, which replaced car parking with a miniature park with benches and greenery, as well as an on-street bike parking corral next to the parklet and another one by the […]

Will Andersonville Get Chicago’s Next Great Pedestrian Plaza?

By John Greenfield | Feb 4, 2013 | 9 Comments

Last week when I talked to Brian Bonanno from the Andersonville Development Corporation about his interest in bringing bus rapid transit to the neighborhood, he mentioned that the ADC wants to create a pedestrian plaza along the Clark Street business strip. The Chicago Department of Transportation’s Make Way for People initiative is helping to create […]