The Largest Urban Park In America Coming To Chicago

A new park in Chicago aims to turn 140,000 acres of under-used and post industrial land along the Second City's southern rim into the country's largest urban park. Governor Pat Quinn hopes to add private funding to the $17m allotted by the state.

1 minute read

December 20, 2011, 8:00 AM PST

By George Haugh

Illinois hopes that the park will be "the first viable, large-scale attempt to protect and enhance the Lake Calumet area through an integrated, cooperative approach to land and resource management," said the Sierra Club.

If completed, the park will be easily larger than Central Park, which is a mere 843 acres, and Lincoln park, currently Chicago's biggest at 1,200 acres. The largest urban park deserving of the name in the contiguous United States is Phoenix's South Mountain Park, at more than 16,000 acres. Enclosed by the Phoenix-Glendale sprawl, the dusty stretch of rocks and rolling brush is home to rattlesnakes and lizards.

FULL STORY: A Plan For America's Largest Urban Park

Monday, December 19, 2011 in The Atlantic

Community / Economic Development Government / Politics Land Use Landscape Architecture Illinois Chicago Sierra Club Urban Parks Central Park View More

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