AVONDALE — The second of three public meetings set to shape the future of Logan Square’s busiest district kicked off Tuesday with building blocks.
Think of the blocks as Jenga meets Lego meets urban development — the small wooden pieces labeled with various development options were placed, stacked and rearranged on large maps centered around Kedzie and Milwaukee avenues. The aim was to help residents visualize what's possible along the Milwaukee Corridor.
About 150 residents, including Ald. Rey Colon (35th), gathered at the Hairpin Arts Center, 2801 N. Milwaukee Ave., to discuss options at and around the square by moving the blocks, which represented a combination of possibilities such as affordable housing, green space, parking and retail.
According to Metropolitan Planning Council program director Marisa Novara, the use of small groups at such meetings give residents a chance to see exactly what trade-offs are involved when the limitations of a given site meet the desires and opinions of those affected first-hand by development.
Novara is a former developer, she said, so she knows how tense a meeting can be when the wants and needs of a community bump up against logistical constraints.
“But, if given the full information, people make good decisions,” she said. “When shown what various trade-offs mean, people can make different decisions than they started off with.”
The first meeting on Sept. 11 covered introductions and possible frameworks for the Milwaukee Corridor stretch of Logan Square. The third public meeting, which builds on the first two meetings, will be held on Sept. 30 and will bring a handful of Tuesday’s block designs in front of developers. The developers will then break down the trade-offs inherent in each design.
As it stands, a vote of all attendees from the first meeting showed 43 percent considered affordable housing a top priority, 21 percent were most in favor of open/green space and 14 percent wanted a grocery.
The same vote at the second meeting showed 33 percent considered affordable housing a top priority, 30 were in favor of green space at the location and 19 percent voted for a grocery store.
But, as many of the more than 12 groups demonstrated with their building blocks, a working solution could potentially provide space for portions of each plan.
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