Lakeview Low-Line
Image courtesy of the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce + PORT Urbanism
Reinventing legacy infrastructure as community space
On Chicago’s North Side, the Lakeview Low-Line demonstrates the power of public art as a tool for transformation. Beneath a half-mile stretch of the city’s muscular ‘L’ tracks, dozens of murals, sculptural seating elements, and interactive light installations soften the urban experience.
The project is grounded in the Lakeview Area Master Plan, which won an American Planning Association award for community outreach for coalescing residents behind a shared vision for the future of their neighborhood. Within five years of the plan’s release, construction of the Lakeview Low-Line was underway — a monumental achievement made possible by PSP co-founder Dillon Goodson’s community-oriented stewardship of the project.
Location
Chicago, Illinois
Completed while at
Lakeview Chamber of Commerce
Partners
Special Service Area (SSA) 27, Friends of Lakeview, Chicago Mayor’s Office, and the Chicago Transit Authority
Year
2011 - Present
Phase 2 of the the Lakeview Low-Line includes the addition of a linear pathway lined by interactive light boxes, murals, and additional greenery beneath the CTA ‘L’ tracks. Image by PORT Urbanism.
Acting as the community development director for the organizers, Goodson spearheaded a grassroots effort to rally community support for the project, gathering signatures from nearly all of the properties immediately adjacent to the future park. This led the Chicago Mayor’s Office and Chicago Transit Authority to pledge their commitment to seeing the project through. A fundraising effort, coordinated by Goodson and the non-profit, Friends of Lakeview, raised more than $350,000 in just two years to support the first two phases of the three-phased project.
The Lakeview Low-Line is grounded in the Lakeview Area Master Plan, which won an American Planning Association award for community outreach for coalescing residents behind a shared neighborhood vision.
Artwork by artists including Lauren Asta, pictured here, line the half-mile Lakeview Low-Line.
Ten years after the Lakeview Area Master Plan was released, the project's first two phases had taken shape, paving the way for the full connection of the half-mile pathway in the coming years. In addition to being named locally as one of Curbed Chicago’s best new public spaces in Chicago, The New York Times referenced the Lakeview Low-Line as an example of the kind of public transit improvement that should guide leaders in New York City and beyond.