Petition Circulating for Transit to Reach Obama's Presidential Library

Hyde Park resident launches signature campaign to rebuild the CTA's demolished Green Line to connect downtown Chicago with the future site of President Obama's Library.

1 minute read

August 1, 2017, 9:00 AM PDT

By Casey Brazeal @northandclark


Jefferson park Blue Line Stop

Adam Moss / Flickr

In 1997, the city of Chicago elected to tear down a one-mile stretch of the CTA's Green Line rather than restore it. Some argued that the noise of the train and its look were making the neighborhood less attractive. Today much of the Southside is difficult to reach by public transit, especially CTA train, the Jackson Park area is struggling, has lost about 15 percent of its population since 2000 and, notably, is to be the home of a future Obama Presidential library it seems that those arguments were short-sighted.

Reuben Lillie, a musician and resident of the neighborhood, created a petition to try to undo what he sees as a 20-year-old mistake. "It argues that rebuilding the ‘L’ is essential for improving economic opportunities for residents and workers in Woodlawn, which struggles economically in spite of its proximity to prosperous Hyde Park and the University of Chicago," Michael Podgers reports in Streetsblog Chicago.

Wednesday, July 26, 2017 in Streetsblog Chicago

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I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

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