Skip to main content

Near North Neighborhood Research & Data

Given that the place name “Cabrini-Green” is so strongly associated with the model of public housing that the Plan for Transformation is removing, most Chicagoans and neighborhood residents are ready to leave that name behind as the area along Division Street west of Orleans is reinvented. Yet, at present, the area remains at the edge and between more recognizable neighborhoods.

One new development takes its name from its location south of North Avenue, others from Old Town, while participants in the Reconnecting Neighborhoods process ask if the area is becoming Gold Coast West, and new high end development extends up the canal from River North. The process of making connections to these adjacent neighborhoods, where existing CTA stations are located, will need to overcome social distancing greater than the physical spaces that separate it. New mixed income housing developments will go a long way to bridging those gaps, as new residents seek out nearby shopping, dining, and employment opportunities. A new CTA station at the heart of the area, and other improvements to the public realm, could help a new community identity emerge—with this neighborhood’s name waiting still to be coined.

PDF Polling Results - Near North Study Area - 08.2008 (30 KB)

Jump to:

Analysis and Issues

  1. The study area is served by four rail transit stations, and half-mile radius service areas for these stations cover all but a small portion of the area.
  3. A service area gap exists between the two Red Line stations
  4. Transit facilities and buses operate on the edges of the study area, leaving the interior between the major streets a quarter-mile or more distant from a station or bus route.

Transit Lines and Routes, Service, and Facilities

Red Line
The CTA Red Line operates as a subway passing through the study area below Division Street and Clybourn Avenue. The Clark/Division Station and the North/Clybourn Station serve the area, their half-mile walk circles extending from North Avenue down Halsted to Division Street and west from Clark to the intersection of Division and Clybourn. There is a gap of roughly 1000 feet between these two walk circles. The CTA is currently designing a new entrance to the Clark/Division Station at LaSalle Street, which will bring the station one block closer to the study area.
Brown Line
The CTA Brown Line is an elevated track running behind buildings fronting on the east side of Orleans Street and south side of North Avenue. The Chicago and Sedgwick stations serve the study area, with only a narrow gap between their half-mile walk circles. The Purple Line Express also stops at Chicago and Sedgwick stations during weekday rush periods. The Brown Line and its stations are currently undergoing an extensive renovation which will expand capacity and make all stations ADA accessible.
Bus Routes
CTA buses operate on North Avenue (#72), Division Street (#70), Chicago (#66), Halsted (#8 and #132), and on Sedgwick to Orleans (#11). Buses do not operate on Clybourn or on Larrabee Street.
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 Halsted or Chicago. 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 a part of the southwest quadrant of the study area to be farther than a half-mile walk to the Red or Brown Line stations. An electric power substation occupies a portion of this area between Crosby and Howe streets. Some newer housing units along and south of Division Street are located in this service area gap, but these are only a few hundred feet outside the half-mile circle.

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 constitutes 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 is an eclectic mix of land uses and development types that exhibit, on the ground, wide disparities in resident income. The ongoing transformation of the Cabrini-Green public housing to new housing types and land-use change from manufacturing to new residential and retail uses are reinventing the neighborhood’s character. The development pattern can be understood as quadrants divided by Larrabee and Division, and as commercial corridors and interior residential areas.
Southwest Quadrant
In the southwest quadrant, the Tribune newspaper plant, Greyhound terminal, and electrical power substation are industrial and transport uses on or near the riverfront. Yet the adaptive reuse of the massive Montgomery Ward catalog building along the river to commercial, office, and residential uses shows market forces at work. On the ground level of this building, now known as 600 West, restaurants, a gym, and a convenience store create commercial activity which, if matched by additional development on Larrabee, may be considered a commercial node serving the many new residential units in the area.
Southeast Quadrant and Orleans Street
The southeast quadrant is dominated by public housing and the new Parkside mixed income development. The 600 West parking structure is located at the corner of Chicago and Larrabee, with CHA low rise units filling the area east to Hudson and high rise buildings further east to Orleans. A community garden is located south of the CHA housing along Chicago and commercial uses are not found along the north side of the street until its intersection with Orleans. Orleans has been called “preacher’s row” by area residents because of the five churches located between Chicago and Division. Commercial uses include restaurants, a car wash, liquor store, and gym, but Orleans also exhibits open parking lots and vacant retail space. The Parkside mixed income housing development is filling all the space between Larrabee and Seward Park, with the exception of Jenner Academy.
Northwest Quadrant, North Avenue and Halsted
The CHA’s William Green Homes, two public schools and a park occupy most of the southern part of this quadrant stretching from Division up to Clybourn. New residential development is located along Halsted centered on Fair Street. The triangle formed by Halsted and Clybourn was until recently filled by the New City YMCA, and is now being redeveloped with a mixed retail, entertainment, and residential development known as New City. To the north of Clybourn to North Avenue, are relatively new three-flat houses and two high-rise apartment towers. A large retail and office building holds the corner of North Avenue and Clybourn, and commercial uses continue east along North Avenue. Along Larrabee the former Near North Career High School also will be redeveloped to housing, with a park immediately to the north.
Northeast Quadrant, Division and Clybourn
The majority of the northeast quadrant is long residential blocks, with the new Jenner Academy at its center. Commercial corridors bound this residential area with North Avenue at the top and a shopping center with a full sized grocery at the corner of Clybourn and Division. A number of mixed use buildings are also located on Sedgwick and Orleans near the Brown Line tracks.
logo
Take Action!

NEAR NORTH