Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Wicker Park

Winters Stumbles on Transit Issues With Comments Bashing BRT

By John Greenfield | Feb 7, 2014 | 50 Comments

If you’re running for a Chicago political office and want to showcase your inadequate knowledge of local transportation issues, a great way to do it is to trash the city’s Ashland bus rapid transit plan. At a recent panel of candidates for state rep in the 10th district of Illinois’ House of Representatives, which includes […]

ThinkBike Challenges Chicagoans to Think Beyond Bike Lanes

By Steven Vance | Oct 2, 2013 | 12 Comments

Last Thursday, Dutch “mobility advisor” Sjors van Duren stood by the Lakefront Trail, pointed to the block of Monroe Street between Columbus and Lake Shore Drive, and asked, “What is the function of this street?” The answer, it was agreed, is to distribute automobiles between the Loop and Lake Shore Drive. Van Duren works for the Arnhem […]

Proof That Bike-Share Generates More Foot Traffic Than Free Parking

By John Greenfield | Aug 5, 2013 | 37 Comments

[This article also appeared in “Checkerboard City,” John’s column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.] As I’ve written, the 32nd Ward’s Scott Waguespack is a good guy, and he’s one of Chicago’s best aldermen. A key independent voice and reformer, he’s sort of the Eliot Ness of City Council. He made […]

Three Miles of Milwaukee Will Be Open for Car-Free Play This September

By John Greenfield | Jul 26, 2013 | 8 Comments

Although Chicago was one of the first U.S. cities to consider staging a ciclovía, a Latin-American-style event that creates temporary car-free street space in order to encourage healthy recreation, community interaction and commerce, we’re currently way behind peer cities. New York, Los Angeles, Portland, Oregon, and San Francisco are each hosting several ciclovía events this […]

Dooring Epidemic Shows Urgent Need for Protected Lanes in Wicker Park

By John Greenfield | Jul 2, 2013 | 47 Comments

I’m getting really fed up with hearing about cyclists’ blood being spilled on Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park, Bucktown and Logan Square from dooring crashes that might have been prevented by protected bike lanes. On August 15, a 27-year-old woman on a Schwinn was injured by a delivery driver who parked his truck curbside in […]

Pedaling to All 68 Divvy Stations in One Day Was Fun, Not Frustrating

By John Greenfield | Jul 1, 2013 | 43 Comments

In a hurry? Read a shorter version of this piece at Grist.org, an environmental news website. To hear the Chicago Tribune tell it, people who used the Divvy bike-share system on its first day of operations last Friday experienced nothing but headaches. But on Sunday I rode a Divvy to and attempted to dock at […]

Bloomingdale Trail’s New Name Revealed as Construction Begins at Park 567

By Steven Vance | Jun 21, 2013 | 14 Comments

At a community meeting Tuesday night at the McCormick-Tribune YMCA, planners discussed the final designs, construction schedule, and new name for the trail and “linear park” formerly known as the Bloomingdale. The newly coined appellation “The 606” is an umbrella term referring to the trail as well as five adjacent parks that will serve as […]

Businesses Win When Cars and Parking Give Way to Peds, Bikes, and Transit

By Steven Vance | May 17, 2013 | 7 Comments

When the Chicago Department of Transportation proposed a redesign of Milwaukee Avenue that will improve safety for cycling, a few merchants groused about the loss of parking directly in front of their stores. Change can be scary, but this fear is misplaced. A safer street is a more inviting street, and CDOT could actually implement […]

Where Will Bike-Share Stations Go? System Map Begins to Take Shape

By Steven Vance | Apr 26, 2013 | 7 Comments

Chicago’s bike-share system, which will go by the name of Divvy, is on track to launch by the Bike To Work Day Rally on June 14. Divvy will start out with 75 stations in downtown and River North before growing to about 400 stations in an area roughly bounded by Lake Michigan, Devon, California and 63rd. […]

Goodbye North Avenue Parking Controls. Hello Bike Lanes?

By Steven Vance | Apr 5, 2013 | 3 Comments

Rush hour parking controls, which ban parking on one side of a street during the morning and evening rush so more traffic can flow in the peak direction, are incompatible with most if not all types of bike lanes. A few months ago, the Chicago Department of Transportation did away with rush hour parking controls […]

Bike Parking Revolution: Brewpub to Get Chicago’s Fifth On-Street Corral

By John Greenfield | Mar 7, 2013 | 16 Comments

On-street bike corrals have many benefits for retail areas. They accommodate a high number of customers and advertise the efficiency of cycling, since one car spot fits up to 12 bikes. Parking bikes in the street frees up space on sidewalks for pedestrians. On-street racks placed at corners improve sight lines and shorten crossing distances […]

Driver Who Doored Valenta Cited With Failure to Yield to a Horseback Rider

By John Greenfield | Mar 1, 2013 | 8 Comments

The crash report for the Dustin Valenta case, along with the responding officer’s failure to report the near-fatal hit-and-run to the Chicago Police Department’s Major Accidents Investigation Unit, suggests the CPD needs to beef up its training for responses to bike crashes. On February 8, Valenta was cycling past Artemio’s Bakery, 1443 North Milwaukee in […]

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