Help Shape the Future of Downtown Chicago through River Advocacy

The City of Chicago has released a draft plan called the Central Area Plan, an area spanning 7.4 square miles and encompassing the Main Stem, North Branch, and South Branch of the Chicago River, and they want your input. This plan presents a 20-year economic and growth blueprint for the downtown district and we need your voices to help us advocate for the pillars of the plan related to forward-thinking river visioning and protection.

One key initiative in the draft plan listed under the Land Use pillar calls for the extension of riverfront paths along the Chicago River between Wolf Point and the Wild Mile to link neighborhoods and green spaces.

Friends of the Chicago River has worked for decades on the advancement of City of Chicago River related policy and planning from securing the first river protection ordinance in 1983 to the 1999 Chicago River Corridor Development Plan and more recently, the 2019 Chicago River Design Guidelines. Friends’ also co-facilitates the City of Chicago’s River Ecology and Governance Task Force, where we review plans like the Central Area Plan with a coalition of river partners working in Chicago.

Please take a few minutes to review the plan and share your thoughts.