Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Uptown

Last Friday's public meeting on TOD plans for the Broadway corridor. Photo: Charles Papanek

Residents Want More Affordable Housing Along Broadway as Part of Red/Purple Rehab

By Charles Papanek | May 16, 2017 | 3 Comments

Instead of focusing on higher-end shops, restaurants, and housing, many neighbors along this corridor expressed strong support for affordable housing to help maintain a diverse community.

Chicago’s First “Shared Street” on Argyle Is Officially Open for Business

By John Greenfield | Nov 5, 2016 | 11 Comments

This afternoon in Uptown, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, 48th Ward alderman Harry Osterman, and other local officials cut the ribbon on the Argyle “shared street,” a pedestrian-priority design inspired by similar streets in Asia and Europe. By calming traffic and blurring the lines between spaces for walking and vehicles, as well as providing more room for […]

The New Wilson ‘L’ Platform Will Be Massive – The Widest in the System

By John Greenfield | Sep 27, 2016 | 5 Comments

This morning the CTA celebrated the completion of more than 50 percent of the Wilson station reconstruction project, shortly after all customer boarding was moved to the recently completed west island platform. Now that both sides of the new platform are completed and the transit agency is working on demolishing the old one, you can […]

CDOT, 48th Ward Address the Learning Curve for the Argyle Shared Street

By John Greenfield | Sep 12, 2016 | 38 Comments

The Argyle Shared Street project, designed to calm traffic, provide more space for pedestrians and sidewalk cafes, creating a safer, more pleasant, and more profitable business strip, is a great idea. But so far the layout for the streetscape initiative, which raised the street up to sidewalk level and blurred the lines between pedestrian and […]

Take a Virtual Spin on the Argyle Shared Street, Now Fully Open to Traffic

By John Greenfield | Aug 29, 2016 | 19 Comments

The Argyle Shared Street, a project to create a safer and more pleasant environment on Chicago’s Southeast Asian shopping and dining strip by blurring the lines between pedestrian and vehicle space, reopened to two-way traffic last week. The $3 million project involved raising the level of the street, eliminating curbs, and adding decorative pavers with […]

“RIDE” Highlights the Need to Make Streets Safer for Chicago Cyclists

By John Greenfield | Mar 23, 2016 | 1 Comment

We don’t usually cover the performing arts here at Streetsblog Chicago, but I thought our readers would want to know about the original play “RIDE,” written by Neil Connelly, which discusses local bike safety issues, focusing on the aftermath of a fatal crash. The entire play is set in an Uptown bike store. No, it’s not actually […]

Groups Push for Turning Parking Under the Wilson Tracks to Public Space

By John Greenfield | Mar 14, 2016 | 13 Comments

New York’s Chelsea neighborhood has the High Line pedestrian path, and Chicago’s Northwest Side has the Bloomingdale Trail elevated greenway. Now groups in Chicago’s Uptown community are pushing to create the next great linear park by a rail line, a project they’ve dubbed the Wilson Underline. The CTA’s $203 million Wilson station overhaul includes ambition […]

The Union Station Transit Center and Wilson Station Rehab Are Rolling Along

By John Greenfield | Mar 4, 2016 | 10 Comments

Steven Vance and I took advantage of today’s sunshine to check out the progress of two major transit projects that are slated to wrap up this spring. The $43 million Union Station Transit Center will be a key enhancement to the Loop Link bus rapid transit corridor. Located on Jackson between Canal and Clinton, the […]

Orange Dots and Balloons Jazz Up the Sunnyside Pedestrian Mall

By John Greenfield | Aug 28, 2015 | 3 Comments

First built in 1975, the Sunnyside Pedestrian Mall is a leafy, car-free walkway that runs for two blocks between Beacon Street and Magnolia Avenue in Uptown’s Sheridan Park section. With its benches, plantings, and mosaic-covered pillars, it should be a popular place for all kinds of positive activity, along the lines of Lincoln Square’s Kempf Plaza. […]

New Uptown Buildings Would Have 240 Units, Only 72 Parking Spots

By Steven Vance | Jul 22, 2015 | 5 Comments

Cedar Street Cos., the company behind the FLATS Chicago developments, which typically involve converting single-room occupancy buildings to more upscale rental units, has proposed two new apartment buildings near the Wilson ‘L’ station in Uptown. One of the buildings would be virtually across the street from the station, at 1050 W. Wilson Ave., and the other […]

What Kind of Art Is Coming to the Wilson Station?

By John Greenfield | Jun 9, 2015 | 1 Comment

[This piece also ran in Checkerboard City, John’s transportation column in Newcity Magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.] “The essence of public sculpture is that, for a moment, it belongs to you,” says renowned Sri Lankan-British artist Cecil Balmond, speaking at a recent packed community meeting in the basement of an Uptown nursing […]

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