Mid-South Neighborhood Research & Data

The Mid South area lies between the South Loop and McCormick Place to the north and Hyde Park and the University of Chicago campus to the south. While adjacent to Burnham Park the neighborhood lacks regular and convenient connections to the lakefront and Lake Shore Drive. Rail transit service is also nearby, but much of the neighborhood is outside regular walking distance to stations. And, with a preponderance of residential land use, the study area lacks easy access to daily goods and services. Large-scale infill and redevelopment offers an opportunity to address a number of neighborhood issues.

Polling Results - Mid-South Study Area - 08.2008 (55 KB)

Jump to:

• Analysis and Issues
• Transit Lines and Routes, Service, and Facilities
• Access to Commercial: Land Use

Analysis and Issues

1. Land use in the study area is overwhelmingly residential.
2. Current plans for new retail are at the edges of the study area, leaving a large area in the middle beyond walking distance of retail locations.
3. The south side of Pershing from King Drive to Langley is currently zoned B3-3, yet there is little to no developed commercial space.
4. The Oakwood Shores plan does not include any retail development.

Transit Lines and Routes, Service, and Facilities

Green Line

The CTA Green Line operates as an elevated track passing to the west of the study area parallel to Martin Luther King Boulevard. The Indiana Station and the 43rd Street Station serve the area, their half-mile walk circles extending from Indiana east to the intersection of Pershing Road and Vincennes, and straight east on 43rd Street to Langley. The 35th Street Station’s half-mile service area does not reach to Martin Luther King Boulevard. The eastern and northern two-thirds of the study area are outside the half-mile rail service area.

Metra Electric Line

The Metra Electric Line tracks are located between the eastern edge of the developed neighborhood and Lake Shore Drive. Metra stations are located at 27th Street to the north and 47th Street to the south. Both of these stations lie more than a half mile from the boundary of the study area, with 2.7 miles between them, as measured at track mile posts. Metra operates 32 inbound trains each weekday that stop at the 27th Street Station, and 27 trains that stop at the 47th Street Station.

Bus Routes

CTA buses operate on MLK (#3 and #X3), Cottage Grove (#4 and #X4), 35th Street (#35), Pershing (#39), and on 43rd Street (#43). The #43 bus, which provides an important connection to the east side of the study area, operates on a limited evening schedule that makes its last stop at 7:05 pm.

Walk Circles and Rail Transit Service Area

The service area for most forms of transit is typically defined as a half-mile, or ten-minute, walk from the station. Therefore, a half-mile radius circle centered on a transit station provides an indication of the service area. In an area with an urban street grid the walk circle will roughly correspond to actual walk distances along public right of way, however, where interruptions in the grid occur a half-mile walk can fall short of the circle radius. In the study area, direct access to stations is provided on main streets, such as 43rd. Even in areas where the grid is interrupted, by superblocks or a lack of connecting streets, pedestrian access to these main streets from most locations is possible without taking indirect routes. The walk circle analysis shows most of the eastern half of the study area to be farther than a half-mile walk to the Green Line stations.

Access to Commercial: Land Use

Neighborhood grocers, coffee shops and diners, bookstores, and boutique shops provide more than necessary daily goods and services, they also offer spaces for public interaction that constitute a large part of the social life of the community. A neighborhood without access to local commercial space is poorer culturally as well as in terms of economic exchange. Market experts shout out for more rooftops to bring the necessary demand, and new rooftops (or housing units) are being constructed in the Reconnecting Neighborhoods study areas. Planning and zoning can help to reserve quality locations for new retail, rather than miss opportunities as residential infill moves forward.

Overall Land Use Pattern

The study area exhibits a mix of primarily residential land uses, with several major institutional and park uses also present. Throughout the area, residential infill development is underway, weaving new townhouse or mid-rise multi-family structures into the existing fabric at a compatible density. Rehabilitation of existing residential structures is also occurring in many locations. Commercial and service uses are notably absent within the study area, save for a few isolated ground floor businesses in older mixed use buildings. The study area can be understood as quadrants divided by Pershing and Cottage Grove boulevards. Mandrake Park, located at the confluence of the major boulevards that serve the area, functions as a significant gateway as one enters the area from Lake Shore Drive along Oakwood Boulevard.

Northwest Quadrant

The ongoing Oakwood Shores development will ultimately transform this area, weaving a street grid lined with residential uses into the area between Pershing and 37th Street. North of Pershing the scale of development changes with several midrise and high-rise residential structures, institutional uses and Ellis Park located on four superblocks. Several large, contiguous vacant areas remain.

Northeast Quadrant

East of Cottage Grove the block structure is oriented northsouth, with longer blocks parallel to Lake Shore Drive. Again, high rise structures are located to the north and smaller scale Oakwood Shores development is slated to the south. Between 36th and 37th, two blocks with significant vacant property remain, and are ideally suited for additional infill development to complete the residential neighborhood fabric.

Southwest Quadrant

Larger scale residential development oriented toward Martin Luther King Boulevard forms the western edge of the study area, with a mix of single family and walk-up multi-family filling in the remainder of the neighborhood. Several churches and two high-rise senior apartment buildings punctuate the interior of the neighborhood, and an abandoned railroad viaduct that weaves through the middle of the area is also a prominent physical feature. Along Drexel between 41st and 43rd Streets, the new Jazz on the Boulevard development is oriented to the east in a pattern that mimics the historic residential pattern along Chicago boulevards elsewhere in the City. A few isolated commercial uses are located along 43rd Street, Pershing and Martin Luther King at the perimeter of this quadrant, interspersed with institutional uses and new residential infill projects.

Southeast Quadrant

Similar to the northeast quadrant, the blocks in this area are oriented north-south, parallel to Lake Shore Drive. Significant market-rate infill development is underway along the interior streets in this area. Larger scale residential development between Lake Park Avenue and the Metra Electric Line includes existing high-rises to the north and the Lake Park Crescent development currently under construction