35th Street Reimagined: Codesigning Neighborhood Improvements with McKinley Park Neighbors
In Summer 2022, a cohort of University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Masters of City Design and Masters of Urban Planning students-- alongside community and institutional partners McKinley Park Development Council (MPDC), the Institute for Policy and Civic Engagement (IPCE), and Design Workshop -- embarked on a month-long research, community engagement, and planning/ design process. This project laid out the initial steps to a longer neighborhood improvement process spearheaded by MPDC. The project focused on developing plans for three different public infrastructure improvement projects along 35th Street within the larger McKinley Park neighborhood. During studio, students worked intensely using a variety of participatory tools and engagement techniques to better understand the preferences and desires of community stakeholders through a series of events ranging from informal design popups; open house at Mariposa, a local community space; a Charrette, and a community conversation and showcase.
Design plans, based on community feedback are centered on three key conceptual design ideas. The first prioritize the 35th street corridor as a new gateway for the McKinley Park neighborhood; the second offers a new Hub of transit oriented development with new affordable housing, commercial and open space amenities; and the third focuses on envisioning a Cultural District that reimagines the central manufacturing district as a cultural hub with community and recreational spaces. Students also took the important step to propose policy relevant solutions for many of the challenges facing McKinley Park around rezoning, mitigating displacement, and recommendations to sustain an inclusive planning process in a community undergoing neighborhood change.