Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Interviews

Chicago Loop Alliance Uses Placemaking to Promote Commerce

By John Greenfield | Sep 10, 2013 | No Comments

[This piece also ran in Checkerboard City, John Greenfield’s column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.] The State Street shopping district has come a long way since the seventies and eighties when the strip featured a motley assortment of discount stores, theaters showing exploitation flicks, adult bookstores, strip clubs and flophouses. […]

Will Disappearing Bike Lanes Be a Problem With This Year’s Installations?

By John Greenfield | Sep 9, 2013 | 9 Comments

The Chicago Department of Transportation is currently hustling to construct 35 miles of buffered and protected bike lanes this year, which would bring us to a total of 65 miles of lanes installed under Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The department hopes to reach 100 miles by May 2015. However, in the rush to build a large […]

Alderman Tunney: A People Spot Is More Valuable Than Parking Spots

By John Greenfield | Aug 23, 2013 | 20 Comments

32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack, usually a progressive on transportation issues, recently made some backward comments about city initiatives that convert car parking spaces into facilities like Divvy stations, bike parking corrals and People Spot seating areas. Waguespack fretted about the impact these conversions would have on local businesses, but it’s clear that these innovative […]

Cann Family Lawyer: We Need to Challenge the Culture of Dangerous Driving

By John Greenfield | Aug 9, 2013 | 7 Comments

The arraignment for Ryne San Hamel, the driver who fatally struck cyclist Bobby Cann, took place last Friday morning at the Cook County Courthouse at 26th and California. On May 29, San Hamel, 28, had a blood-alcohol content of .127 and was driving his Mercedes sedan at 50 mph when he struck Cann, 25, on […]

CTA: Poor People Will Register Ventra Cards, Won’t Get Debit Card Hard Sell

By John Greenfield | Aug 2, 2013 | 41 Comments

A recent discussion of Ventra, the new fare payment system for the CTA and Pace, with CTA spokesman Brian Steele, has allayed some, if not all, of my concerns about the impact on low-income Chicagoans. The cost of a single-ride ticket will rise from $2.25 to $3. This price hike can be avoided by purchasing […]

Emanuel: BRT Part of the “Modernization” of Chicago Transit

By John Greenfield | Jul 31, 2013 | 4 Comments

At yesterday’s press conference touting the CTA’s claim of saving $10 million by cracking down on absenteeism, I asked the Mayor Rahm Emanuel why he’s in favor of reconfiguring Ashland Avenue to create “gold-standard” bus rapid transit. I also asked how he plans to overcome the resistance to turning two of the four car lanes […]

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