The First Step in Revitalizing a Neighborhood
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Existing Site Plan |
Proposed Site Plan |
This neighborhood was once a booming community with a great mix of class, race, and creed. It was a wonderful example of how cities can bring together people from all walks of life.
Failure came because of the closing of steel mills and other industrial plants along the lake in the mid 20th century. This really defined urban living in the second half of the 20th century. The lack of available jobs eventually led to a general decay of the urban condition. The sense of community went away, and with this came a disregard to the neighborhood’s appearance. Buildings became dilapidated; some burned down and were razed.
So what was an ideal population density dropped to levels where the neighborhood could no longer support itself. Without residents, shops close. Without shops, no one wants to move to the neighborhood. Soon, vacant lots take up more space than actual buildings. This downward progression was pretty much the norm for every metropolitan urban center across the United States from World War II until the 1990s, when urban areas found revitalization.
What makes this neighborhood unique is its history, its proximity to Lake Michigan and to the Loop downtown. These three factors, combined with existing urban infrastructure, make it a perfect opportunity to revitalize. What now needs to happen is a sensitive growth that respects the community’s best interest. People have lived in this community since its heyday in the mid 20th century. To clumsily or hastily build in such a way that would not be sensitive to their wants would be the ultimate disservice.
The community should be the driving force behind determining what goes where and how. This is actually easy because the urban infrastructure exists already, albeit a bit fragmented. But retail areas and residential areas are defined. A developer should not be able to come in and build whatever he or she wants without regard to the community. Each piece of the puzzle must fit in order to make the community whole once again.
It once had viable commercial streets connecting the main north/south commercial street with the industry along the lake, as well as viable tertiary residential streets. At this point, both the commercial and the residential streets have lost their identities. What can be gained again is what once was. By phasing in both commercial space and residential space (sensitive to the area’s wants and needs), momentum can turn upward for the community after fifty years progressing in the other direction.
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