Chicago’s West Loop is a neighborhood in rapid transition. With a rich and dynamic history, the area is experiencing unprecedented growth in population, and influx of commercial enterprises, and associated development. This Neighborhood Plan document, written from the perspective of residents, offers this vision for the future of the West Loop:
To preserve and enhance the high quality of life for residents and neighbors of the West Loop, allowing the neighborhood to remain a desirable place for residents to live work, and play for decades to come.
To realize this vision, the Neighborhood Plan sets forth three primary objectives:
- Promote preservation, progress, and prosperity.
- Create a resident-driven plan for the future of the West Loop.
- Provide guidance to the NoWL Development Committee, developers, city planners, and elected officials regarding the community’s vision for the neighborhood.
This document builds on several studies developed over the years, including the Near West Side Area Land Use Plan (2000), the Central Area Action Plan (2009), A Future for the Near West Side (2016), and draft West Loop Design Guidelines (2017). Based on input gathered from across the neighborhood, this Neighborhood Plan is the first developed expressly by residents of the West Loop.
Extensive outreach was made to develop the content for this plan, including a kickoff meeting on June 20, 2016; a resident survey conducted in the summer of 2016; five separate stakeholder workshops held between August of 2016 and January of 2017; and conversations at NoWL events and on social media.
The result is a series of recommendations within five separate focus areas: traffic & parking, infrastructure, parks & green space, public safety.
Development & Land Use Recommendations
- Consistently enforce the West Loop Design Guidelines.
- Observe the architectural style of historic West Loop structures while introducing new design elements.
- Implement building height requirements for developments that propose changes to existing zoning.
- Encourage and preserve local businesses.
- Provide open space for public use.
- Meet City requirements by providing affordable housing on-site.
- Address traffic congestion issues created by development.
Traffic & Parking Recommendations
- Initiate a neighborhood-wide traffic study.
- Implement improvements for pedestrians, transit, and cyclists.
- Expand the proposed resident permit parking program.
- Promote shared parking for the different sources of demand over the course of the day and week.
Infrastructure Recommendations
- Accelerate the rate of infrastructure repairs and provide more infrastructure amenities, commensurate with other areas that are classified under downtown zoning.
- Improve street lighting in poorly-lit areas.
- Encourage public art.
Parks & Green Space Recommendations
- Develop a strategic plan to address the West Loop’s green space deficit.
- Better manage use of existing parks.
- Provide dog friendly areas.
- Improve pedestrian access to Union Park.
- Construct a new fieldhouse at Skinner Park.
- Develop park advisory councils for Heritage Green and Fulton River Parks.
- Encourage resident participation in the CAPS Program.
- Initiate neighborhood watch programs.
- Increase police patrols.
- Split the CPD 12th District and locate a new station in the West Loop.
- Promote the sharing of security cameras footage with law enforcement.