Great Public Space — 2009
Park is bordered by Foster Avenue to the north; North Avenue to the south; Lake Michigan to the east; and Stockton, Lakeshore, and Marine Drives to the west. Listed on the National Register, Lincoln Park is home to several architecturally significant structures. The park also is known for its statuary, including a bronze of the park's namesake by Augustus Saint-Gaudens and statues of Ulysses S. Grant, Alexander Hamilton, and William Shakespeare. Easily accessed by bus, rail transit, car, and on foot, Lincoln Park has vehicular roadways and paid parking, paths for walking or jogging, and bike trails. The park is popular with summertime rollerbladers, beach volleyball players, and skateboarders, and cross country skiers and skaters in the winter. A free trolley operates during the summer. | View Lincoln Park |
World-Class Amenities
Historic Nature
Planning and Improvements
Engaged and Active Citizens
Just 60 acres when it was developed in 1860 from land housing Chicago's only cemeteries, Lincoln Park today is the largest of the 552 parks in the "City in a Garden." Each year more than 6.5 million people visit the park on Lake Michigan. The zoo, arboretum, theater, and museums are major draws, and water covers roughly a fifth of the park's 1,208 acres. Citizen activism is what led to creation of the park, and today, citizen groups work to identify issues of concern.
Great Street — 2007
SummaryBeginning in the 1920s, the avenue grew to include high-rise office buildings, luxury retail merchants, hoteliers, and corporate headquarters. Today, the Magnificent Mile is every bit a vertical neighborhood, integrating its historical identity, structures, and spirit of public-private partnership to create an unmistakable, multi-faceted character. At its core, North Michigan Avenue is a tremendously active street. The avenue has six lanes for vehicles and broad, bustling sidewalks shielded by extensive, mature greenery that fosters a vibrant but safe pedestrian environment. Less than a quarter mile away is the Chicago Transit Authority's parallel subway Red Line. Numerous buses and seasonal trolleys serve the avenue together with Chicago River tour boats and a water taxi. |
The old Chicago Water Tower, built in 1869, creates a jog in the otherwise linear street; the irregularity generates a center of gravity for the avenue. The water tower is flanked by a park surrounded by a canopy of trees, highlighting this local historic icon.
Characterized by a tremendous diversity of uses and users, North Michigan Avenue accomplishes the rare feat of providing a full array of neighborhood amenities in a dense urban core. It is home to retailers such as Cartier and Burberry, the Four Seasons and Ritz-Carlton hotels, as well as residential skyscrapers, museums and corporate offices. People live, work, shop, visit, and recreate in this seven-block area.
Public and private realms align within the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association, a nonprofit community advocacy group formed in 1912 (originally named the North Central Association). In the 1940s Arthur Rubloff, a leader in the association, coined the moniker "The Magnificent Mile." According to City of Chicago urban planner Kathy Caisley, the association remains a champion of the street. "They form a crucial link between the business community and residents," she said, "and work closely with the city to ensure that the Magnificent Mile remains magnificent."
The partnership functions because stakeholders understand the value of buying into a collective vision of a better street. The association's activities — from development and signage review to avenue promotion — complement property owners' desire to create a striking street environment. North Michigan Avenue property owners privately fund all the greenery in both the parkway planters in front of their buildings and in the medians that run the length of the Magnificent Mile, creating new displays for the spring, fall, and summer planting seasons. This is an enormous undertaking by private entities that has a substantial positive effect on the city. "Oftentimes, you will find various property owners engaging in a little friendly competition to see who can 'out-beautify' the other in these mini urban gardens," said Sarah Fleming, the association's planning manager. "This overwhelming commitment to both the avenue and to the city of Chicago is part of what makes North Michigan Avenue one of the great avenues of the world."
North Michigan Avenue's legacy of exemplary design is ongoing. Some of the city's most beloved and famous skyscrapers are here, including the Tribune Tower (1925), John Hancock Center (1970), and the contemporary Crate and Barrel flagship store. Revised zoning in the 1980s allowed for the infill of open air building arcades (created with 1970s zoning bonuses) with high-end retail space, and a recent special sign district, established in 1997, ensures high quality signage.
North Michigan Avenue provides an outstanding example of what planning, greening, and positive public-private partnerships can create, making it one of America's leading great streets.
The story of Chicago's North Michigan Avenue could be aptly subtitled "selected works in the history of the skyscraper." But that would ignore the rich milieu of planning, commercial, community, and design activity that have combined to make "The Magnificent Mile" into the ultra-dense, ultra-varied urban wonderland that it is. One of the beloved avenues of the world, the development of North Michigan Avenue was envisioned by Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett's 1909 Plan of Chicago as a major commercial corridor in the style of the Champs Elysees in Paris.
Great Neighborhood — 2011
Designated areaBoundaries extend from E. 115th Street to the south, E. 107th Street to the north, South Cottage Grove Avenue to the west, and parts of South Ellis Street and East 114th Street bordering the railroad tracks to the east. SummaryThe idea of a company town wasn't new 131 years ago, but George Pullman's execution of the concept was arguably the most successful. Owner of the luxury railroad passenger-car manufacturing company bearing his name, Pullman believed the built environment could contribute to a worker's productivity. He purchased 4,000 acres on the shore of Lake Calumet, 12 miles south of Chicago, and created an $8 million community with features — indoor plumbing, gas lighting, and cross ventilation — not commonly found in working-class neighborhoods. |
The town was designed to resemble a suburban park, a radical notion for a blue-collar development. A winding carriage path and circular flower beds softened the town's formal street grid. Brick was used extensively for houses, which reflected Queen Anne designs. Contrasts of color and texture, as well as variations in ornamentation of facades, rooflines, chimneys, and finishing materials, were used to create architectural interest and reflect the owner's status.
A train depot separated the residential and industrial districts. The industrial complex, now a state historic site undergoing restoration, included an upscale hotel, market, shopping arcade, library, and other amenities. Several parks provided recreational opportunities. Thirty thousand trees graced the village, which was served by private water and sanitary sewer systems.
The neighborhood flourished — 12,000 people lived there in 1893 — until an 1898 court order resulting from a worker strike forced the Pullman Palace Car Co. to sell its residential assets. Home upkeep and landscaping fell to individual owners. In 1889 Pullman was annexed by the City of Chicago.
Demolition was proposed in 1960 and spurred residents to action. The area was declared a state historic district in 1969 and added to the National Register two years later. Despite setbacks, including a 1998 fire that destroyed the iconic clock tower, the state, city, and neighbors have restored much of the district and continue to make improvements, including reconstruction of the clock tower.
Pullman's timeless features have contributed to the renaissance of this handsome former company town. An experiment in industrial order and community planning, the neighborhood features a design that was intelligent in 1880 and "smart" today. The mix of land uses, diversity of dwellings, and proximity to schools, shops, parks, and public transportation attract those who appreciate a historic, urban community with a small-town feel — a place voted the world's most perfect town more than a century ago.
Great Public Space — 2012
Union Station, Chicago, Illinois
First envisioned by renowned architect Daniel Burnham, the station provides a grand stage where Chicago's history and energy come together for millions to enjoy. Beaux-Arts facades, soaring columns, marble floors, brass lamps, and the striking Great Hall create a setting, featured in films such as The Untouchables, that invites commuters and tourists alike to stop and take it all in.
Following a public meeting in December 2011 with more than 200 people in attendance, the May 2012 Master Plan Study balances the improvements in bus connections demanded by suburban commuters with the broader goal of accommodating an expected 40 percent increase in ridership by 2040. Currently handling 32 million passengers a year, Union Station is not just a historic and beautiful space, but also an aesthetically pleasing interchange for 120,000 daily passengers and passersby.
History
Station design and features
Commitment to sustainability
As one of the downtown's most iconic structures, Chicago Union Station represents both the city's outstanding architectural tradition and its historic role as a national rail hub. Completed in 1925 following construction delays caused by World War I, the station underwent a series of major renovations after Amtrak took full ownership in 1984. There were sustainable retrofits and a 1992 change to the underground space to better accommodate growing passenger volumes and consolidate amenities in a redesigned food court.
Great Public Space — 2012
Chicago Botanic Garden. Glencoe, Illinois
Located at 1000 Lake Cook Road, 20 miles north of Chicago near the Edens Expressway.
An integral part of the local community, the garden's community gardening program — called Windy City Harvest — distributed fresh food to an estimated 65,000 families, reaching a population of nearly 400,000 people. In 2011, the garden's 500 classes served kindergarteners through PhD students.
The garden is more than just a local treasure, but also a global trendsetter with Chinese, English, Italian, and Japanese design influences. It has collaborated with the United Nations World Environment Programme, Botanic Garden Conservation International (BGCI), England's Royal Botanic Gardens, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Bureau of Land Management.
First developed by John Simonds and Geoffrey Rausch in 1963, the garden's Master Site Plan is still being realized through the "Keep Growing" 10-year strategic plan that envisions further education and outreach programs. A new Horticulture Center is being planned to house the more than 250,000 plants that cycle through the garden's current production facilities each year.
History
Design excellence
Education and outreach
Sustainability
What was once degraded land polluted by highway construction has for the past 40 years been home to the Chicago Botanic Garden, a 385-acre living museum with 2.5 million plants, 26 distinct display gardens, and a robust program of research, education and public outreach. Attracting nearly a million visitors each year, the Garden is Chicago's seventh largest cultural institution and 12th largest tourist attraction.
©Copyright 2012 American Planning Association All Rights Reserved
