For reference purposes, two articles and a letter regarding the Bloomingdale Trail, all copyleft 2003.

1. Article (published in Bucktown Community Organization newsletter, spring 2004)

Working on the trail road: New group advocates for Bloomingdale Trail
Payton Chung

It’s nearly three miles long, thirteen feet high, and has occupied ten acres
of land for a century. For the past four years, it’s stood vacant, a
nuisance to neighbors but otherwise largely forgotten.

Yet the neglected Bloomingdale Line — the old freight railroad running
along Bloomingdale Avenue (1800 N) — is also a hidden treasure. It has the
potential to become one of our community’s greatest assets: a nature trail
running through the heart of the city; a new city park (the size of three
city blocks) within a short walk of 100,000 Chicagoans; a finger of green
space touching six neighborhoods and linking our community to other parks
throughout the region. Residents and their pets could walk, jog, bicycle, or
stroll high above the urban fray, on a trail lined with gardens of native
wildflowers and shrubs. The trail would link the city’s lakefront,
riverfront, and boulevard open space networks with the sixty-mile Illinois
Prairie Path through the western suburbs. Residents along Bloomingdale would
gain a secure, well-tended backyard. Just as the railroad spurred industry
along the line, the new park would further enhance the community’s appeal as
a place for living, working, and shopping.

A newly formed grassroots organization called The Friends of the
Bloomingdale Trail has started planning for this future, organizing support
from a broad cross-section of the community for what will be the largest
investment in our community’s parks in decades. Bringing this project to
fruition will take many years, tens of millions of dollars, and a strong
commitment from the community.

The Bloomingdale Line was built in the late 19th century, when a city law
required that street railways be elevated to eliminate grade crossings.
Remnants of brick-paved Bloomingdale Avenue flank many of the embankments to
this day. Trains on the line shuttled freight to Finkl Steel, Peerless
Candy, Schwinn Bicycle, Churchill Cabinet, and numerous other local
factories. As local factories closed or became residential lofts, fewer and
fewer trains traversed the line until active service was ended four years
ago. Canadian Pacific Railroad still owns and maintains the tracks.

The city’s Department of Transportation first identified Bloomingdale as a
rails to trails conversion opportunity in a 1992 plan. The tracks were still
in use at that time, so the city focused attention on the Burnham Greenway
and Major Taylor Trail on the south side. Now that those projects are
completed, an updated Chicago Trails Plan has identified the Bloomingdale as
a high priority opportunity. Similarly, the draft Logan Square Open Space
Plan recommends building the Bloomingdale Trail, with access points at
Kimball, Spaulding, Leavitt, Damen, and Ashland.

The first, tenative steps towards making the trail a reality have already
started: preliminary engineering on replacing or restoring the line’s 37
dilapidated bridges, soil testing for environmental hazards, legal
negotiations to transfer ownership of the property to the city, and the
search for funds for the project. Any project of this magnitude will require
funds to be cobbled together from federal, state, county, city, and
private-sector resources. The High Line, a similar project in New York City,
recently secured a pledge of $15 million from the city and hopes to
galvanize corporate support. The French government paid for most of the
Promenade Plant�e in Paris, partially through development rights along the
line. Many other trails projects are seeking government funds, and the
Bloomingdale Trail will have to secure the support of the entire community
to win these funds.

You can help voice your support for this vision by joining the Friends of
the Bloomingdale Trail. 2004 memberships are now available to individuals,
organizations, and businesses for only $5. Over the next year, the Friends
hope to continue to build awareness about and consensus around the plan,
work with Canadian Pacific and the city to keep the existing structure clean
and secure, and formally incorporate to more effectively pursue our work.

2. A shorter, edited version of above, originally intended for a brochure.

Imagine�
�a two and a half mile trail for walking, running, bicycling, and contemplation connecting Bucktown and Wicker Park to Logan Square
�uninterrupted by traffic, tranquilly floating high above the din of urban life�connecting neighborhoods to the region�s open space network: the lakefront, the river, the boulevards, and a hundred miles of trails to the west
�all within easy reach of 100,000 Chicagoans.

The Bloomingdale Trail will be a new urban trail on the West Side, replacing the abandoned railroad along Bloomingdale Street.