development in the once-downtrodden Oakland neighborhood.
The Oakland neighborhood has come full circle. It was a
semi-exclusive lakefront community in the 1880s and is
becoming one again, thanks to the new homes, streets
and sidewalks being built there now. Signs that Oakland
spent most of the 20th century as one of the nation's worst
urban slums are being erased block-by-block, day-by-day.
In a decade, the transformation likely will be complete.
Increasingly, "the ghetto" isn't what it used to be---or where
it used to be----as once stone-cold areas such as Woodlawn,
East and West Garfield Park and North Lawndale are
seeing new market rates homes and an influx of middle
class folk. Even Englewood is showing major signs of life as
a new city college is being built at 63rd and Halsted, soon
to be followed by retail and scores of new homes, if plans
are to be believed.
Consider this as we celebrate the turn-around of these
Chicago neighborhoods: much of it is happening without a
comprehensive urban plan, beyond the Chicago Housing
Authority's "Plan for Transformation" for properties it
controls. A larger vision for the South Side or the West
Side---or, for that matter, the North Side---does not exist.
Without a plan, development happens where it is most
convenient. It means townhouses and three-flats will pile
up on one or two streets, while a void is left three blocks
over. Without a plan retail development is left to the chain
drug stores and the strip mall operators. It means old
buildings will be knocked down without much
consideration of their reuse or historical importance to the
neighborhood.
The alternative: re-think how we re-think the 'hood. Make it
a place that welcomes new arrivals but doesn't drive the
people who are already there.
1. Push for a neighborhood or regional city plan that
directs construction and city resources.
2. Identify historic buildings; make their preservation a
prominent part of any neighborhood redevelopment effort.
3. Vigorously question or reject any design that creates
blank walls or visual barriers on retail frontage. Mix rental
above retail in business districts again. Limit demolition for
off-the-street parking.
4. Leverage the 'hood's relatively cheap land costs to push
for quality architecture wherever possible
5. Make sure playgrounds at schools and parks are
designed to promote year-round (and after school) uses.
6. Embrace basketball courts. Instead, push for spectator
areas, define and posted hours of usage, create a court
with shorter rims, insist on fencing that doesn't resemble
the kind found in a prison yard.
7. Place public transit enhancements at the forefront of
neighborhood redevelopment plans.
8. Create minimal design standards for business signs on
retail strips.
9. Encourage the replanting of parkways on residential
and retail streets.
10. Re-think the "storefront" church. For all the associated
negatives, a well-done house of worship would fit
comfortably in the streetscape, is accessible by public
transit and the congregation is apt to patronize nearby
stores.
11. Remember arts and culture. Small theater,
coffeehouses with live music, neighborhood historical
societies and the like all give character to a neighborhood
and provide a sense of belonging to newcomers and
long-time residents.
12. Push for landmark districts and the associated tax
breaks that come with them.
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