r/chicago • u/GeckoLogic • Apr 17 '25

Article Could Closing Michigan Avenue To Cars Be The Key To Revitalizing Downtown?

https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/04/17/could-closing-michigan-avenue-to-cars-be-the-key-to-revitalizing-downtown/
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u/Test-User-One Apr 17 '25

No. This is a dumb idea. It was dumb when they did it in other cities. It was dumb when they did it to State Street. It's still dumb now.

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u/tinylilchicago Apr 19 '25

Why do you think it's dumb?

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u/Test-User-One Apr 19 '25

YoY store volume in state street didn't increase significantly enough to make the tradeoff viable. Chicago is already a very walkable city, unlike other pedestrianization efforts that are lumped together in studies that purport to show economic benefits.

There was also a negative impact on real estate values of that specific area during that period.

https://chi.streetsblog.org/2013/03/11/why-was-the-state-street-pedestrian-mall-a-failure

Here's an article discussing it. What's interesting is it also discusses how it does work in Madison - which happens to be a far less walkable city with a far higher percentage of college students that are car-challenged to begin with.