How Can Avondale’s Belmont And Kimball Area Be Improved? Neighbors Asked To Weigh In

AVONDALE — The city is launching a community-driven plan to improve a busy Avondale intersection and the surrounding area with help from neighbors.

The Belmont Blue Line Equitable Transit-Oriented Development Plan launched this week with an open house Wednesday at NEIU’s El Centro building, 3390 N. Avondale Ave., after a few focus groups last month. The plan seeks to improve the area around the Belmont and Kimball intersection with input from neighbors and community members.

The Chicago Department of Planning and Development and the Regional Transportation Authority are behind the plan, which aims to develop a shared vision that “honors what makes this neighborhood home and helps shapes what comes next,” according to the plan website.

The plan will identify areas where more housing could be built; improve street safety for pedestrians, cyclists and transit riders; increase public spaces and parks; and find ways to support new and old businesses and the neighborhood’s cultural identity amid demographic changes.

Wednesday’s open house kicked off the 18-month planning process with a listening phase, gathering feedback from neighbors on what they like about the area and what they want to see. Adding notes to each poster that represented sections of the plan, neighbors shared their ideas for more housing, more parks, protected bike lanes on Kimball and more.

Emily and Ben Taylor, who have lived near the highway in the neighborhood for 15 years, said they would like to see more bike lanes, housing and better street infrastructure that could slow down speeding drivers coming off the highway. They also want to see the Aldi and T.J. Maxx shopping mall repurposed to add housing or connect the parking lot to the Blue Line stop in some way.

“I want to see denser housing … and more bike lanes,” Ben Taylor said.

José Heredia, who also lives in the project area zone, said he remembers when the protected bike lanes along Belmont Avenue were added, admitting that at first he was not a fan.

“But now — getting a Divvy membership, and I got a new job that’s closer to the neighborhood — it is actually super nice, and as a cyclist, a lot of the main streets are super dangerous,” Heredia said.

Heredia is happy to see new businesses come to the area, like Terra Coffee and Belmont Tavern near the Blue Line, but he also wants to see its cultural identity preserved and is interested in ways that housing and infrastructure can support longtime businesses.

Some neighbors also mentioned the need for an Avondale library, an idea that’s been percolating since at least 2022 and was revived by a few neighborhood groups earlier this year.

Carmen Martinez, supervising planner for the Northwest Side region for the Department of Planning and Development, said the planning team will work with neighborhood groups to form steering committees to help guide community input moving forward. Residents can weigh in on a survey about the project online.

“We’re excited to kind of be in Avondale, and this area has a big need for housing, particularly, and investment in general,” Martinez said. “We’re hoping that this plan highlights these small businesses and the places here.”

Ald. Anthony Quezada (35th), who also attended the meeting and is working with the city on the plan, said the area could use housing, cultural and safety improvements, especially equitable transit-oriented development that is a “proven and good policy.”

“We have an affordability crisis — we need more housing,” Quezada said. “We also need to support the community that already lives here and provides to our community. We have such vibrant small businesses, and we have such an amazing corridor that we’ve been making incredible investments in, like our protected bike lanes on Belmont Avenue.”

The city will gather community feedback through meetings, surveys and pop-ups until October. The plan could be drafted early next year and adopted in May, per the plan timeline.