One of the reasons I chose to move to Chicago was the desire to live car-free. In high school I had made the connection between the United States car-centric “transportation system” and climate change. I grew tired of feeling guilty for getting in my car for basic trips I knew could be achieved by mass transit or biking. My hometown of Little Rock, Arkansas essentially required a car to get around conveniently. While researching cities that favored car-free living, Chicago ranked pretty high. I’ve lived here for 8 years and consider Chicago to be home. It is the love I have for this city and ultimately the Earth that I dream and advocate for city planning that puts the environment and its inhabitants first.

One of the primary elements of a city is its streets. Similar to a city’s budget, our streets reflect our values. Currently, our streets seem to value storing cars that sit for most of the day vs enabling neighbors to get to know one another or facilitating safe play for children. Our streets value cars, typically transporting only one person, over a bus full of people. When I ride my bike, I am constantly reminded that our city values car storage over providing safe biking infrastructure.

In the summer of 2020, the city of Chicago rolled out Shared Streets in response to the coronavirus pandemic in an attempt to provide safe spaces for walking, biking, and rolling since our sidewalks are too narrow to allow for proper social distancing. Shared streets are supposed to restrict through traffic in order to allow for a safer walking, rolling, and biking environment. It’s important to note that Better Streets Chicago (BSC) was instrumental in soliciting the public to voice their desire for these streets. BSC thinks the city can be more ambitious with shared streets. Signs, such as the ones pictured below, and traffic cones that can easily be moved will not be enough to achieve slow speeds on neighborhood streets, a necessary ingredient to increasing the amount of people choosing to walk and bike.

The good news is that our streets are not static and they can be more than a place for vehicles to move through or be stored.

Here are a few of my favorite sources of inspiration that fuel my desire to see our streets as places for connection and play.

Duth Woonerfs

A Dutch woonerf. Photo credit: Northeastern University

Dutch woonerfs (living streets) are streets that prioritize an efficient use of street space, offering space for socialization among residents, play or creation, and increased safety over vehicular movements. Cars are still allowed on these streets, but it’s clear to drivers that they are guests -- unlike the American street design that sees people walking and biking as guests and cars as the “rightful owners” of streets.

As you can see, this woonerf has some car storage/parking. The narrow lanes discourage speeding.

2. Barcelona Superblocks

In 2016 Barcelona began to carve out islands of mostly car-free spaces where people of all ages could enjoy their city without the noise and dangers of cars. Cars are allowed on many of the superblocks but they are limited to 10km/5-6 MPH.

The city recognized that cars totaled 20% of the movement within the city yet they occupied 60% of the space. Barcelona wanted to reclaim their streets from cars and prioritize people. I first learned about Barcelona superblocks through Streetfilms, a NYC-based organization that produces short films showing how smart transportation design and policy can result in better places to live, work and play.

I highly encourage you to watch Streetfilms’ coverage of the superblocks and imagine Chicago’s streets being places for connection, play, and rest. Given that we have a grid street system, just like Barcelona, we could easily create superblocks in Chicago as well.

If videos aren’t your thing, here are a few photos of Barcelona’s superblocks

Photo credit: Centra de Cultura Contemporania de Barcelona

This photo illustrates how through-traffic is limited through a superblock area. The space for people expands while the space dedicated to moving vehicles decreases. This signals to drivers that the space is meant to be traveled through slowly. Most of the vehicles entering the space will be residents, delivery vehicles, and service workers like plumbers, electricians, etc.

3. London’s Low Traffic Neighborhoods

Rendering of a potential set-up of a Low Traffic NeighborhoodPhoto credit: Jericho Low Traffic Neighbourhood — Rendering of a potential set-up of a Low Traffic Neighborhood Photo credit: Jericho Low Traffic Neighbourhood

In 2020, London started to roll out low-traffic neighborhood projects as part of their Streetspace for London campaign aimed at creating more space for walking and biking.

Low traffic neighborhoods are just as they sound: neighborhoods with low levels of outside vehicular traffic Oftentimes bollards or planters with cameras attached are placed at key entry points. The cameras detect whether a particular car is registered within that neighborhood. If a car is not registered, its owner is fined for entering the neighborhood.

Better Streets Chicago is not advocating for such a setup in Chicago yet recognizes how important traffic diverting measures are. The main principle is that every resident can drive onto the street, get deliveries, etc. but it’s hard or impossible to drive straight through from one main road to the next.

An image taken in a low-traffic neighborhood in London. Image credit: Forbes

In the image above, notice the metal bollards and the planters which make it clear cars are not allowed. However, people walking, rolling, and biking can easily move through this space.

Reimagining Wilson Avenue

As a resident of the Far Northside closer to the lake, I would love to see Wilson Avenue transformed into a low traffic street. As someone who primarily gets around by bike, I have a different experience of Wilson than someone who drives on it.

Wilson is less stressful to bike on compared to Lawrence Avenue given the traffic volumes and general speeds, but there’s still a lot that can be done to make Wilson Avenue more inviting for people who bike and walk. Traffic diverters along main entry points like Sheridan Rd., Clark St., Ashland, Western, etc. Diverters would allow for traffic to be restricted in such a way that non-residents could not enter Wilson Ave from these major streets but people could exit Wilson on to these streets. Wilson also needs traffic calming, which could be accomplished using infrastructure such as raised crosswalks and chicanes.

What other streets can you imagine receiving this treatment?

By reducing the number of cars on neighborhood streets, you better enable residents to utilize their streets for socialization, play, rest, and much more. Low-traffic neighborhoods also reduce the amount of noise pollution, air pollution, and risk of being injured or killed in a car crash, a leading cause of death in America. Over time, fewer people opt to travel by car which results in a win for the environment, public health, and our urban fabric.

If this blog post has inspired you to want something similar in Chicago, Better Streets Chicago encourages you to email your alderman about the need for low-speed residential.

Reimagining Our Streets: Inspiration for Safer, More Enjoyable Streets in Chicago