July 2008
Peopling Places, as the tag line says, is about glueing places back together, connecting people with place. The current emphasis is on a stretch of Milwaukee Avenue in the Chicago neighborhood of Logan Square that runs from Logan Square proper, north to Diversey Avenue, about a third of a mile.
This area that was once a vibrant commercial corridor is struggling today. But readers need not be familiar with Milwaukee Avenue; they may relate the discussion to another commercial area that they do know. The small changes that can be made to glue the Milwaukee Avenue corridor back together, to connect people with the corridor, and the lessons learned along the way, can apply and be transferred and adapted to other struggling commercial areas.
My name is Lynn Stevens, and I am an urban planner living in the Logan Square neighborhood northwest of downtown Chicago. While I work as a planner in a McHenry County suburb (northwest of Chicago), I wanted to work toward the improvement of my own community and document my observations and efforts on this blog.
October 22, 2008 at 5:16 am |
Have you spoken with the people who already shop all along Milwaukee north of the Logan Square Elevated? That seems like a pretty happening stretch to me, as opposed to Milwaukee Ave south of California. The stretch of Milwaukee that you wonder about rejuvenating is full of stores, many which have been there quite awhile, and there are always people bustling up d down, in and out.
Laurie
December 15, 2008 at 4:56 pm |
Do you know what’s going on with the old Abril restaurant? It looks like the For Lease signs are down? I’m really hoping a new restaurant is moving in!
February 19, 2009 at 1:13 pm |
Lynn, this is a lovely idea for highlighting a great neighborhood. Thanks for getting this started.
Best,
Kathleen
March 6, 2009 at 12:47 pm |
just found this website and am looking forward to reading it regularly. i too am an urban planner and (new)logan sq. resident and am so thankful you’re providing all this information and a forum to keep up-to-date on our great neighborhood. look forward to seeing you around town!
March 17, 2009 at 8:52 am |
Lynn,
I am also a Logan Square resident and Urban Designer/Architect. I have also been thinking about how to use my expertise to improve my corner of LS. If you need some assistance, drop me a line.
Drew
March 31, 2009 at 11:20 am |
Hello!
My name is Emily Schleier and I’m the Assistant Editor for a new media start-up publication titled The Printed Blog. You can download our latest issues at The Printed Blog.
The Printed Blog is exactly that – a printed news publication with 100% of its content pulled from blogs and other user generated content. We are a new model of print publication based out of Chicago that has taken on the challenge of reviving the newspaper industry and turning in to a more community-based, interactive and user-generated medium.
There are many advantages to our approach at forming a new type of newspaper. First and foremost, all of our content is taken from the internet and then put through an editorial process so that we’re sure our readers are only getting the best of the best when it comes to blogs, photos, music, events, etc.
With this being said, we think that your blog falls under the “best of the best” category and would feel extremely privileged if we were able to take articles from it to include in our publication. High profile blogs such as, Mashable, Daily Kos, The Bloggess, American Express and Bastard Life are all on The Printed Blog team!
All of the content that we use from the web is also completely accredited to the author and blog that it originated from, so this would be a great way to gain some exposure and bring traffic to your site.
The Printed Blog has been the point of discussion amongst many journalists and media representatives from all around the WORLD. We have been featured in many of the world’s leading publications such as The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, Business Week, Wired magazine, as well as publications in France, Spain, Brazil, Egypt and many more!
We are currently working on our tenth issue that is set to be distributed in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago on Thursday, April 9th.
We’d love to add you to our list of blogs to pull content from in hopes to print one of your posts in an upcoming issue. Do we have your permission? We would also like to have the option of printing the images that accompany your blog posts- do you have the rights to these images? I look forward to hearing back from you and please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions. You can follow our progress on Facebook, MySpace and Twitter!
All the best,
Emily Schleier
Assistant Editor
The Printed Blog
319.795.2117
April 8, 2009 at 12:17 pm |
I received the following in an email from Rey Colon.
Thought you could share it.
Dear Neighbor,
Graduate students from UIC are currently researching shopping habits in Logan Square. As part of their research, they have created a survey for residents of Logan Square and the closely surrounding areas. They need your input to identify your interest. Your assistance and time in participating in the survey will be greatly appreciated. Click on the link below and you will be directed to the survey. Feel free to forward the link to friends so they can also participate.
Thank you for your cooperation!
Sincerely,
Alderman Rey Colón
ReyColon.org
We Want Your Feedback
Please fill out a quick survey about your shopping preferences in Logan Square. The graduate students in charge of this survey are hoping to get many replies that will assist them in aiding the expansion of a local non for profit agency. All responses will be anonymous.
Click UIC’s Logan Square shopping survey
June 18, 2009 at 11:16 am |
Hi Lynn,
Thanks for linking to me on your website. Additionally have you heard about the Altgeld/Sawyer community garden that just got started up? It’s an amazing project. I’d love to get a theater company up and running on Milwaukee Ave. It’s just calling my name but I focus on films. Maybe someone else has the itch?
October 2, 2009 at 5:06 pm |
Hi Lynn,
I just heard about your blog today; cool. Your “current emphasis is on a stretch of Milwaukee Avenue in … Logan Square that runs from Logan Square proper, north to Diversey Avenue” is dear to me as well. I traverse and shop this section of Milwuakee regularly, and I am also a Logan Square resident and urban planner. Perhaps you might be interested in a pedestrian traffic and business study I did on that same stretch of Milwaukee Avenue in 2005. I documented all the businesses on the the stretch as well as the pedestrian traffic levels (w/rough attempts of origin and destination) at different times of the day and weekends. It would be interesting to see the changes over time. Feel free to contact me.
December 6, 2009 at 7:45 pm |
Hi Lynn,
It was a pleasure meeting you last night at the Logan Square Holiday Art Sale & Show, brief as our conversation was. I look forward to checking your blog often. If you are ever looking for some help from another planner and LS resident, I’d be happy to contribute my time and ideas.
Best wishes,
Taryn