Commercial Corridor Revitalization Planning

Over the last year, DevCorp North and a steering committee of local residents have been working with consultants from the City Design Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago and receiving assistance from the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission to develop a commercial corridor revitalization plan for Morse Avenue and Howard Street. 

The goal of this process has been to develop specific recommendations based on the concerns of local residents, business owners and community leaders that would result in a coordinated implementation strategy to revitalize our commercial districts.  Gathering community input has been a vital component of the process. That input was collected through shopper surveys, business surveys, interviews and three well attended public meetings.  The plan is now in the final stages of editing.  The recommendations will soon be available here on the DevCorp North Web site, so that the entire community will be able to see the vision that has come out of this process and everyone will be able to track the progress of implementation. 

The recommendations are divided into five different categories, including Retail Shopping Mix, Aesthetic Design, Safety, Community Development and Transportation. Stop back here for more information about each recommendation and track the implementation of the recommendations.  This will be a great opportunity to shape the future development of Howard Street and Morse Avenue so that it meets the needs of everyone in the community.

The project was mainly funded by a grant from the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission.  DevCorp North is one of six community organizations awarded the three-year Full Circle grant through the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission (NIPC). The Full Circle grant is funded through a U.S. Dept. of Commerce Technology Opportunities Program (TOP) grant and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. This grant supports the Rogers Park Full Circle planning process, which encourages asset-based community mapping and uses modern web-based mapping technologies. In addition, this project is partly funded by the Howard Street and Clark/Morse/Glenwood Special Service Areas.

Click here for a summary of the second community meeting.

Click here for a summary of the third community meeting.