McKinley Park

My overarching objective is to promote equitable, pedestrian-oriented mixed-use development in McKinley Park in order to improve the servicing of the neighborhood and surrounding region. My three targeted interventions are as follows: A) upzone the pentagon between Damen/Archer/33rd St/Ashland from its current RS-3 (single-unit family dwellings), likely to RT-4 (residential two-flat, townhouse, and multi-unit district) in order to support the neighborhood plan’s desire for a pedestrian corridor along 35th St. B) Cover the southeastern gap in the combined grocery pedestrian shed by converting the vacant building at 3702 S. Wood St into a local, pedestrian-oriented grocery store. C) Build an arts hub on the large vacant lot to the immediate north of the 35th/Archer Orange Line stop. This hub would include an independent movie theater (southwest Chicago’s first) and a performing arts venue/small art gallery, separated by a ground-floor full-service restaurant with residential units on top.

Fig. 1 Proposed interventions A, B, and C. Basemap: Google Maps

These interventions are motivated by the theories of Jane Jacobs and the emphasis on the human scale that underpins the 15 minute city movement. Jacobs argued that cities needed an intricate, close-grained diversity of uses that would provide constant mutual support to one another. “Constant mutual support” involves mixed primary uses that draw people towards an area at different times throughout the day such that pedestrian activity is perpetually present—even during traditionally slow or dead periods—and each primary use receives more visitors than it alone would draw. She argued against the “sorting and sifting out of particular land uses,” particularly the “decontamination” achieved by relegating cultural and civic centers to art enclaves separated from the “workaday” city (Jacobs 1961). The 15-minute city is a movement that builds upon the familiar quarter-mile “pedestrian shed” (wherein all daily life needs can be met within a five minute walk) such that all human needs and many wants can be met within 15 minutes of travel; while open to interpretation, it fundamentally seeks to design cities for the human scale (not the automobile) (Steuteville 2021).

City planning departments (CMAP and DPD) collaborated with the McKinley Park Development Council (MPDC) and neighborhood residents and stakeholders in 2021 to produce the McKinley Park Neighborhood Plan, the neighborhood’s first ever formal plan. The collaborators identified six guiding principles, of which the first two were 1) to preserve neighborhood diversity, especially through the preservation of affordable housing, and 2) to promote equitable transit-oriented development. They also expressed an interest in further developing a pedestrian corridor along 35th St from Hoyne to Ashland while citing concerns over current commercial vacancy and turnover rates (McKinley Park Development Council et al 2021).

Existing zoning regulations insisting upon large swathes of single-use land, particularly those designated as single-family residential (RS-3: residential single-unit district, detached single family homes and two flats) do a disservice to the community as they inhibit the close-grained diversity of uses necessary to ensure consistent pedestrian activity.

Fig. 2. McKinley Park's current zoning regulations. Basemap: Second City Zoning & Google Maps

Intervention A would upzone a portion of current single-family residential land within a 5-minute pedestrian shed of the desired 35th St corridor to at least an RT-4 designation (residential two-flat, townhouse, and multi-unit district). This change would enable gradual redevelopment and a population increase within the pedestrian shed of the desired 35th St corridor. This increase in residential pedestrian activity would support existing commercial pedestrian activity, ideally so much so that current turnover/vacancy rates decrease.

Fig. 3. Intervention A. Basemap: Second City Zoning & Google Maps

I assessed the pedestrian shed of two daily life needs in the Amenities section. The combined grocery pedestrian shed is recreated below.

Fig. 4. The existing combined grocery pedestrian shed for McKinley Park. Basemap: Google Maps

The five grocery stores in McKinley Park are Jewel Osco, Oakley Foods, Target, Mariano’s, and Cermak Fresh Market. Of these five, both Mariano’s and Target are extremely car-oriented and set back from the street by expansive parking lots. Jewel Osco is moderately car-oriented, as it is set back by a medium parking lot and positioned on busy arterial Archer Avenue. Cermak Market is at the center of a busy vehicular intersection, but it is fairly accessible to pedestrians. Oakley Foods is pedestrian oriented and the neighborhood’s only independent grocery store. As depicted in the diagram above, their combined pedestrian shed covers the majority of residential McKinley Park with the exception of the southeast region. As existing grocery stores skew car-oriented and corporate, intervention B) would fill this gap in the combined grocery pedestrian shed with an independent, pedestrian-oriented grocery store.

Fig. 5. Intervention B's contribution to the combined grocery pedestrian shed. Basemap: Google Maps

3702 S. Wood St is an ideal site for this intervention due to its prolonged vacancy and its proximity to other primary uses (two churches, a carpenter, and a funeral home). This mixing of primary uses would support consistent pedestrian activity along 37th St: churchgoers could pop by the grocery store after service and shoppers could chat with clergy and check out community offerings between errands.

Fig. 6. A map of 311 service requests for vacant buildings in McKinley Park shows that 3702 S. Wood St has been repeatedly reported vacant. Map: Chicago Open Data Portal

Fig. 7. 3702 S. Wood St. Image: Google Street View

Fig. 8. Neighboring establishments to 3702 S. Wood St include two churches, a carpenter, and a funeral home. Image: Google Mapss

The McKinley Park Neighborhood Plan expresses a desire to attract transit-oriented development to the neighborhood. It identifies the large vacant lot at the corner of 35th St. and S. Leavitt St. as a potential site for such development due to it being adjacent to the 35th/Archer Orange Line CTA station. A movie theater is a primary use that would draw people from across the southwest Chicago region via transit, as it would be the neighborhood and the region’s first. McKinley Park also lacks any community performance venue or art galleries. The vacant lot is sufficiently large to hold multiple storefronts, and the combination of these two primary uses with a supporting ground-level restaurant (with residences on top) so close to transit could potentially bolster secondary diversity in the area and draw people into the neighborhood.

Fig. 9. Vacant lots near the 35th/Archer Orange Line CTA stop.

Fig 10. Proposed intervention C