Chicago Inches Closer to Finishing Riverwalk Between North Avenue and Division
You may or may not have seen blog headlines in the last few days stating that Chicago is getting a new riverwalk. Well, that’s not quite the truth. It’s more like the next door neighbor of the truth. What really happened is that Chicago city council approved money that will be used to put together a plan to develop a framework which will guide other people sometime in the future to use some unknown source of money to...
Community Groups Intensify Push for New North Branch Park
Ever since the City of Chicago released the framework for redeveloping the North Branch Industrial Corridor into a new bustling neighborhood of tech firms, trendy restaurants, and glittering high rises, people who actually live in and near the area have worried that an opportunity is being missed. An opportunity to create new parks for the people who will actually live there. The city’s redevelopment plan was shown at 18...
Draft North Branch Framework Breezes Through Approval Process
If it seems like it took just ten days for the city’s North Branch Industrial Corridor Framework to go from “draft” status to “approved” by the Chicago Plan Commission, that’s because it did. Most interested citizens barely had time to put their kids to bed, step on a few Legos and pour themselves a Bacardi and Coke before settling down to read the city’s 126-page outline of their...
North Branch Redevelopment Plan Gets a Wary Welcome from Local Aldermen
Neighborhood groups are starting to weigh in on Chicago’s largest urban renewal project in a generation. The North Branch Industrial Framework will transform 760 acres of industrial land along the Chicago River on the city’s north side into homes, low-impact businesses, parks, schools, and new neighborhoods. While it is officially in “draft” status, it is believed to be substantially complete. Mayor Rahm...
City’s North Branch Crystal Ball Getting Clearer
The future of Chicago is today, now that the city has released its draft North Branch Industrial Plan, outlining the expansion of high-density downtown Chicago northwest along the Chicago River. The plan is a blueprint for knitting together 760 acres of current and former industrial properties, brownfields, and assorted other spaces into a cohesive string of neighborhoods along the much coveted Chicago River. It’s as much a...
