The River North area just north of the Loop is now known chiefly for its restaurants, art galleries, and attractive old loft buildings, but that will not be true much longer. Within a decade or two what was once a quiet, predominantly low-rise commercial and industrial district will become one of the city’s most heavily built-up, densely populated neighborhoods.
High-rise apartment buildings aren’t necessarily a curse. There’s no doubt that having more people around adds to the bustle and excitement we associate with city life. But many of the high rises built to date were designed with a minimum of concern for their effect on the environment. Typically they come right out to the property line, with no room for yards or planting to soften their harsh edges. Often the only greenery is a few spindly trees in sidewalk grates. The lower stories are frequently finished in concrete rather than some more attractive material like brick or stone. In many cases the street is marred by the blank walls, driveways, and other unsightly accoutrements of the building’s parking garage.
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The irony is that there is ample vacant land in the community that could be given over to park use. And the development manager for one major landholder in the area told me he is not averse to ponying up a contribution for a park, provided the burden would not be borne entirely by his organization. If other developers were to take a similarly enlightened attitude, getting a park would simply be a question of creating an appropriate financing mechanism. There is a variety of possibilities, including tax-increment financing, a special taxing district, or development fees (at least for projects above a certain size). Fees and taxes are not something that property owners are eager to hear about, but no one can dispute that a park would greatly enhance the attractiveness of the area and thus the value of the properties within it. It remains merely for someone to take the lead on the issue.
The possibilities are interesting and deserve to be explored in a systematic way. Far be it from me to tell the AMA how to run their business, but since they’ve gone to all the trouble of assembling the key parcels of land in the area, they might want to think about hiring a planner. A meeting of the community’s movers and shakers may also be appropriate to consider financing.
