Chicago Ave Cares is an economic development plan for the Chicago Ave corridor of Oak Park, IL. This plan was put together by a team of 15 students in the Masters of Urban Planning and Policy program at UIC with close involvement from the City of Oak Park. We envisioned Chicago Ave as a lively neighborhood corridor full of local shops and arts and culture offerings. While our team did propose common economic development tools like a small business incubator and improved signage, we also introduced alternative development tools like allowing for Accessory Commercial Units, worker cooperative development, and a revolving loan fund.
On this team I co-led design of the entire document. I led creative and art direction and was responsible for the completion of the final product. I also led the feasibility analysis for recommendations, the chart of which can be found on page 19 of the document. Leading up to the final product I also assisted with project management and was on the writing team for the introductory section and the Nurturing Neighborhood Businesses section. Finally, I spoke during the final presentation of the plan to Oak Park stakeholders.
