A derelict rail line is being reimagined as a linear park, like Manhattan’s High Line. But in a borough that lacks both green space and transportation, locals wonder whether its best use would be the original one.
The recent opening of the Castlefield Viaduct Sky Park in Manchester, UK, has brought fresh attention to the growing number of projects that reuse urban infrastructures to create linear parks.
Stretching nearly 3 miles along a former elevated train track in Chicago, the Bloomingdale Trail draws pedestrians and cyclists down its paved path — the centerpiece of a park system often cited as a model urban green space that integrates access, recreation and transportation.
In an effort to slow the displacement of lower-income residents, two aldermen whose wards include parts of the elevated trail are proposing rules that would put a 14-month moratorium on building and demolition permits and zoning changes.
The Trust for Public Land will sell 4.5 acres of land at the westernmost end of the 606 to the City of Chicago to build an 100% affordable housing project and a public park.
The High Line is an urban park that might have never been built and is now estimated to be responsible for $2B in impact. The Atlanta BeltLine, Buffalo Bayou in Houston, The 606 in Chicago, The Underline in Miami, Philadelphia’s Rail Park, and the 11th Street Bridge Park in Washington, D.C. are among the emerging projects looking to unlock the potential of reimagined infrastructure and the benefits it can bring to their cities.
New Monuments for New Cities is a public art exhibition in which artists were asked to imagine new monuments. Their designs will travel to five cities next year, to be displayed in industrial reuse spaces, beginning in Buffalo Bayou in Houston in February, and ending on the High Line in New York in October.
Haven’t visited The 606 yet? Take a virtual tour of Chicago’s first elevated park.
A group of youth leaders who helped shape The 606 affordable housing ordinance and their supporters marched to the elevated trail Wednesday evening in an effort to keep momentum for the legislation going.
Soon both residents and tourists alike will be able to tell anonymous personal stories about Chicago along The 606’s Bloomingdale Trail, which will then be broadcast for all runners, cyclists and walkers to enjoy.
