DAVID SCHALLIOL


For more than a century, the Bloomingdale Line hauled raw materials and finished products to and from industries along its route. Now it will offer much-needed open space to crowded neighborhoods. Below: An early rendering of a trail entry.


became the main artery of a thriving industrial corridor. The trains hauled raw materials in and finished products out to every corner of the nation. But as the trucking industry came to dominate freight transportation after


World War II, the trains rolled less and less frequently, ceasing altogether in 2001. In the meantime, the neigh- borhoods—Logan Square, Bucktown, Humboldt Park, and Wicker Park—experienced a residential renaissance that suggested a new use for the old rail line. Despite names that include words like “park” and


“square,” these neighborhoods are desperately short of open space, says TPL’s Beth White. “In Logan Square alone we need another 99 acres of parkland to bring them up to even a minimum standard,” White says. And while the abandoned railway embankment has


long represented a dividing line between the diverse neighborhoods, the shared park will now link them: the arts community in Wicker Park, the families and out- posts of hip urban youth in Bucktown and Logan Square, and the historically Puerto Rican enclave of Humboldt Park. Tying together disparate neighborhoods in this way


CITY OF CHICAGO 20 LAND&PEOPLE Fall/Winter 2012


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80