Chicago's next great park: The Bloomingdale Trail

Around Chicago abandoned warehouses are refurbished into eclectic lofts, old factories evolve into retail space, and parking lots become the foundation for office buildings.   However, not all development is commercial or residential.  There are urban transformations which benefit the whole community by modifying underutilized land into something beautiful and useful for everyone.  One project with this intention is the The Bloomingdale Trail.  It is a perfect example of how we can improve our city by repurposing neglected urban terrain into public greenspace. 

How could you pass under this and not wonder what's up there?

Living in Bucktown, most of my north/south commuting is done on Damen Avenue. Each time I passed under the Bloomingdale Avenue bridge I wondered when the last time a train had gone down those tracks. From the street, the tracks above looked overgrown with weeds and grass. Realizing it was no longer in use, I daydreamed about climbing up there to get a view of Churchill Park, along which the tracks run.

The trail passes through multiple parks.

One morning, while waiting on an order at The Goddess and Grocer, I rifled through the ubiquitous postcards, advertisements and half-read newspapers that occupied the shelf beneath the sugars and creamers on the condiment station. One of the tri-folds caught my eye. Look up! it said. The Bloomingdale Trail is coming! It was serendipity; The brochure was referring to my bridge!

Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail (FBT) is a non-profit grassroots organization campaigning to convert a part of the unused Bloomingdale railroad into an elevated park and trail spanning 30 bridges over 3 miles. The project proposes extending existing parks and building new ones which would serve as community access points to the trail. Ultimately, the elevated trail will link schools, parks, and business corridors from Humboldt Park and Logan Square through Wicker Park and Bucktown to the Chicago River.

FBT has been working with the City of Chicago, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, and the Trust for Public Land to achieve their goal. Visit bloomingdaletrail.org to learn more about the history of the trail, the propsed design or how to support the organization.