Initial plans have been revealed for a community garden at 2133-35 W Charleston Street in Bucktown. Located just east of the intersection with N Leavitt Street, the proposal will replace a now vacant lot which once held a century-old workers cottage that was torn down by the previous owner. Now a group of neighbors are hoping to strike a deal with the current developer who is willing to sell for the right plan. While the designer has not been disclosed, the community is moving towards their first community meeting soon.
Site context plan for 2133 W Charleston Street via Google Maps
The double lot, which is considered to be near the geographical center of Bucktown, was originally meant to hold a new single-family home, but was most recently sold late last year for nearly $1.2 million to the current owner Josue Sabillon. Now local neighbors see the value in preserving the open space for generations to come as the neighborhood continues to grow and fill its existing parks, it will also become the first community garden in the area which has been lacking compared to its surroundings.
Previous view onto 2133 W Charleston Street prior to demolition via Google Maps
Plans for the park go beyond traditional growing beds, aimed at being open to everyone with an element of education, the garden will contain multiple zones featuring various plant types. Flanked by two white pines, the trellis-covered entrance will lead to a ramp and stairs up to the main area filled with pollinator beds, fruit trees, vertical growing beds, seating, and a fountain. Behind that will be a demo kitchen under a grapevine-filled canopy with its own seating for all types of lessons, there will also be a picnic table, beehive, and a storage shed.
Previous view onto 2133 W Charleston Street prior to demolition via Google Maps
While there is still a long ways to go before the garden could become a reality, the first community meeting will be held on September 7th via Zoom, neighbors are also collecting signatures for a Change.org petition which can be found here. A final cost is still unknown but it can be expected in the lower millions including the land purchase, if well received the project will request funding from various sources mainly in the form of grants.
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We need to proactively do this across more of the city where land values aren’t as high yet too. This looks great and I would love to see some double lots go this route.
Why are we turning houses into parks? I look forward to seeing the homes that will be built on these residential lots, on this residential street.
also somewhat ironic to see a NIMBY plan featured on a YIMBY website….
What? You realize “YIMBY” isn’t equivalent to “build housing”, right? Any development that challenges the status quo, whether it’s a condo/residential building, offices, hotel, museum, or park, is subject to YIMBYism. And housing isn’t always the best use of urban space (particularly in an area with little green space). I applaud this site for covering and celebrating projects like this one.
I think in this case “YIMBY” can refer to developments that help foster a positive urban experience and increase street-level pedestrian activity. And this project seems to achieve that.
Unless I’m missing something, I’m with Brad here. This reads like a preemptive NIMBY proposal for whatever housing is eventually proposed for this site…
I’m with with Brad on this one. At what point does adding green space to a city turn it into a suburb? And it’s not like Chicago is lacking in green space. In fact, we do a miserable job of maintaining what we have.
I’ll answer your first question: “Never”. Unless you feel like the areas surrounding Lincoln Park, Grant/Millenium Park, Humboldt Park, Douglass Park, Bartleme Park, Jackson Park, the historic boulevard system, etc. feel “suburban” to you. And yes, I just proved your point that Chicago has great green spaces but unfortunately it’s easy to see based on Google Maps that this large swath of Bucktown has very few pockets of “green” (having to drive or take a bus/train to find green space sort of negates the concept).
Nobody ever said Manhattan was “suburban” but NYC pioneered the idea of urban park creation and continues to invest in new public green space on a massive scale.
….you can literally see Holstein Park, one of the nicest in the area that brings people from Logan Square to enjoy, 2 blocks away from the proposed site.
This is NIMBY entitlement at its finest. Can’t wait to see a nice home built here!