Chicago Suburb Removes Pedestrian Mall

"The debate over the malling — and subsequent unmalling — of downtown Oak Park has gone on for almost 40 years. A total of four blocks first went pedestrian-only in 1974. Then in 1988, after more years of debate, village planners opened all but the Marion Street section to car traffic. Village President David Pope [says] 'Marion Street continued, however, to languish and as a result the decision was made over the last four years to remove the mall and reintroduce the street.'

"That years-long decision also spurred a group called Save the Marion Street Mall to gather 1500 petition signatures calling for the city to keep the cars out and also spruce up the place. But late last year the Village Board approved a $5 million so-called re-streeting plan.

"Urban planning experts say that in the long run, malling or not malling a place like downtown Oak Park is beside the point. Robert Breugmann is a professor of Urban Planning at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

"BREUGMANN: It's really whether these old downtowns — whether they're city centers or suburbans — can compete with the very convenient new shopping centers, strip malls — whatever they are — on the periphery. The pedestrian mall is really just one piece of that competition."