Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Chicago Loop
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===Private transportation and roads=== [[File:Ame05005 04.jpg|thumb|A sign commemorating the terminus of Route 66]] Chicago's address system has been standardized as beginning at the intersection of State and Madison Streets since September 1, 1909.<ref name="Grid">{{cite web |last1=Bentley |first1=Chris |title=The guy who made it easy to navigate Chicago |date=May 20, 2015 |url=https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-news/the-unsung-hero-of-urban-planning-who-made-it-easy-to-get-around-chicago/43dcf0ab-6c2b-49c3-9ccf-08a52b5d325a |publisher=WBEZ Chicago |access-date=15 January 2020 |archive-date=January 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115233332/https://www.wbez.org/shows/wbez-news/the-unsung-hero-of-urban-planning-who-made-it-easy-to-get-around-chicago/43dcf0ab-6c2b-49c3-9ccf-08a52b5d325a |url-status=live }}</ref> Prior to that time, Chicago's street system was a hodgepodge of various systems which had resulted from the different municipalities that Chicago annexed in the late 19th century.<ref name="Grid"/> The implementation of the new street system was delayed by two years in the Loop to allow businesses more time to acclimate to their new addresses.<ref name="Grid"/> Several streets in the Loop have [[Multilevel streets in Chicago|multiple levels]], some as many as three. The most prominent of these is [[Wacker Drive]], which faces the Chicago River throughout the area. [[Illinois Center]] neighborhood has three-level streets. The eastern terminus of [[U.S. Route 66 in Illinois|U.S. Route 66]] (US 66), an iconic highway in the United States first charted in 1926,{{sfn|Teague|p=88|ps=none}} was located at Jackson Boulevard and [[Michigan Avenue (Chicago)|Michigan Avenue]].{{sfn|Teague|p=2|ps=none}} When Illinois and [[Missouri]] agreed that the local signage for US 66 should be replaced with that of [[Interstate 55 in Illinois|Interstate 55]] (I-55) as the highway was predominately north–south in those states,{{efn|It is standard practice in the United States, both with [[United States Numbered Highway System|U. S. Route]]s and [[Interstate Highway System|Interstate]]s, to number north-south roads with odd numbers and east-west roads with even numbers.}} most signs of the former highway in Chicago were removed without incident but the final sign on the corner of Jackson and Michigan was removed with great fanfare on January 13, 1977, and replaced with a sign reading "END OF ROUTE 66".{{sfn|Teague|pp=2–3|ps=none}} The first anti-parking ordinance of streets in the Loop was passed on May 1, 1918, in order to help streetcars, and had been advocated by [[Chicago Surface Lines]].{{sfn|Lind|p=200|ps=none}} This law banned the parking of any vehicle between 7 and 10 a.m. and 4 and 7 p.m. on a street used by streetcars; approximately 1,000 violators of this law were arrested in the first month of the ordinance's enforcement.{{sfn|Lind|pp=200–201|ps=none}} The [[La Salle Hotel]]'s parking garage was the first high-rise parking garage in the Loop, constructed in 1917 at the corner of Washington and [[LaSalle Street]]s<ref name="Parking">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Mabwa |first=Nasutsa M. |title=Parking |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Chicago |publisher=Chicago Historical Society |url=http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/959.html |access-date=January 15, 2020 |archive-date=December 31, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231132843/http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/959.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and remaining in service until its demolition in 2005.<ref name="LaSalle demolition">{{cite news |last1=Francisco |first1=Jamie |title=Hailed for its innovation, but razed as out-of-date |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2005-04-01-0504010258-story.html |url-access=limited |access-date=15 January 2020 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=April 1, 2005 |archive-date=January 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116010313/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2005-04-01-0504010258-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In the 1920s old buildings were purchased in the area and converted to parking structures.<ref name="Parking"/> More high-rise garages and parking lots were constructed in the 1930s, which also saw the advent of double-deck parking.<ref name="Parking"/> The first [[parking meter]]s were installed in 1947 and private garages were regulated in 1957; they were banned outright in the Loop in the 1970s in response to federal air-quality standards.<ref name="Parking"/> The first underground garages were built by the city in the early 1950s.<ref name="Parking"/> All residences and places of employment within the Loop are in highly walkable areas;{{sfn|CMAP|p=10|ps=none}} the [[Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning]] defines such areas based on population density, the length of city blocks, tree canopy cover, fatalities or grievous injuries incurred by pedestrians and bicyclists in the area, the density of intersections, and amenities located near the area.<ref name="Walkability">{{cite web |title=Population and Jobs in Highly Walkable Areas |url=https://www.cmap.illinois.gov/2050/indicators/walkable-areas |publisher=Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning |access-date=15 January 2020 |archive-date=January 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114024958/https://www.cmap.illinois.gov/2050/indicators/walkable-areas |url-status=live }}</ref> 33.3 percent of Loop residents walk or bike to work compared to 7.3 percent citywide.{{sfn|CMAP|p=8|ps=none}} An additional 19.4 percent of Loop residents use transit for a daily commute, while 23.4 percent of residents citywide do.{{sfn|CMAP|p=8|ps=none}} Just 22.2 percent of Loop residents drive to work alone or in a carpool, compared to 54.9 percent of all Chicago residents and 72.5 percent in the greater Chicago region.{{sfn|CMAP|p=8|ps=none}} By household, 47.2 percent of Loop residents do not have access to a personal vehicle at all, compared to 26.4 percent citywide and 12.6 percent regionally.{{sfn|CMAP|p=8|ps=none}}
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)