Community Showcase Tour Starts with West Side Parks and Boulevards

A news report from Ed Finkel, LISC Chicago’s New Communities Program.

About a dozen staff from community, environmental and architecture-related nonprofits toured and learned about West Side “Parks & Boulevards” on Aug. 6 to kick off “Round Two” of LISC/Chicago’s Community Showcase Tours.

Funded through a partnership with the City of Chicago Office of Tourism and The 2016 Fund for Chicago Neighborhoods, the tours are picking up where 2009 Burnham Plan Centennial tours of Albany Park, Auburn Gresham, Pilsen, Quad Communities, South Chicago and West Ridge left off.

They will continue with community-specific tours of Humboldt Park on Aug. 20, North Lawndale and Chicago Lawn on Aug. 27, and East Garfield Park on Aug. 28.

The “Parks & Boulevards” tour retraced the steps – or bicycle tracks, if you will – and recalled the spirit of last summer’s “Open Streets” event, during which the boulevards were blocked to motor-vehicle traffic for several hours.

To continue reading click here to be directed to LISC Chicago’s New Communities Program.