What is The 606?
The 606 takes Chicago’s legacy of great parks to new heights. The elevated Bloomingdale Trail is the centerpiece of The 606; it connects to four neighborhood parks at ground level, an observatory, art installations, and other amenities. Set above city streets, it’s a unique way to explore Chicago on a trail that invites biking, running and strolling. The 606 also connects parks, people, and communities; what once physically separated four neighborhoods now knits them together and attracts visitors from throughout Chicago and beyond. Kids learn to ride their bikes here, commuters find a new shortcut to work, and neighbors make new friends. The 606 changes what it means to go to the park.
Our Story
The 606 was a decade in the making.
As train traffic slowed on the Bloomingdale Line in the 1990s, attention turned to how the train line might be used to increase much-needed green space. The City of Chicago brought residents together to discuss an area of particular concern – Logan Square, a neighborhood that, at the time, had the least amount of open space per capita of any in Chicago.
Despite the neighborhood’s historic boulevards, Logan Square needed an additional 99 acres of active open space just to meet the City’s minimum standard. The City’s proposal to convert the Bloomingdale Line to a park was included in the 2004 Logan Square Open Space Plan, which prompted the Chicago Department of Transportation to begin applying for federal transportation funding for the project.
The City’s proposal also prompted neighbors to form Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail, an organization whose vision and mission were key to creating The 606. The group created a groundswell of community support not just in Logan Square, but in the other neighborhoods surrounding the rail line: Humboldt Park, Bucktown and Wicker Park. Friends of Bloomingdale Trail was familiar with The Trust for Public Land through their work on expanding Haas Park in Logan Square, and reached out to the national non-profit to help bring together a coalition of city and civic organizations to move the rail project forward. The alliance among the City of Chicago, ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ, The Trust for Public Land, and dozens of groups generated the idea for a park and trail system that would connect four Chicago neighborhoods and create innovative park space that would serve both residents and visitors.
Using its expertise in land conservation, creating urban parks and community collaboration, The Trust for Public Land hosted numerous community meetings, including a three-day design charrette in 2011. Community input into design and function was a hallmark of The 606 process. Numerous public meetings ensured community input into the park and trail system’s design, function, and aesthetics of the parks, trail, and event spaces. That process culminated in an unveiling of the final design plans and overarching project name in June of 2013.
The park and trail system is also the signature project of Mayor Emanuel and his push to create 800 new parks, recreation areas and green spaces throughout Chicago. The City of Chicago, The ¿ì²¥ÊÓƵ, and The Trust for Public Land provided the financial, and logistical strength to move this public-private partnership from a dream into reality.
The 606 brings together arts, history, design, trails for bikers, runners, and walkers, event spaces, alternative transportation avenues, and green, open space for neighbors, Chicagoans, and the world. We look forward to sharing The 606 with you and your family.
Our History
The story of The 606 begins just after the Great Chicago Fire. In their efforts to rebuild the city, the Chicago City Council gave permission for the Chicago & Pacific Railroad to lay tracks down the middle of Bloomingdale Ave. (1800 N) on Chicago’s Northwest side. The move helped connect goods from outlying rail ports to the busy Chicago River, and supported Chicago’s burgeoning industrial growth.
Following the Fire, Chicago’s population boomed, and dangerous conflicts between residents and rail abounded – with rail often the victor. Between the 1870s and 1890s, thousands were injured or killed each year due to treacherous rail crossings at grade (ground level). In response, elevating the city’s rail lines became a political hot button and a critical issue for social reformers.
In 1893, the City Council passed an ordinance mandating that railroads elevate their tracks within six years. The Bloomingdale Line, now operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad Company, was one of the last to conform to the new ordinance, beginning work in 1910 and completing in 1913. In a testament to American and Chicagoan ingenuity, rail service continued uninterrupted throughout construction.
The embankments created by elevating the line are essentially enormous concrete bathtubs filled with soil, stones, and other drainage material – similar to French drains. Seven feet thick at the base, the walls have proved sturdy for 100 years, and form a firm foundation for the centerpiece of The 606, the Bloomingdale Trail.
For nearly a century, the rail line served a small manufacturing district across the city’s Northwest side, including bicycle, furniture, confection, and instrument makers. Trains rolled overhead until the 1980s when activity slowed to a trickle. By the mid-1990s, the few trains that used the corridor were re-routed, and freight service ceased completely.
While the neighborhoods of Wicker Park, Bucktown, Humboldt Park, and Logan Square converted mainly to residential uses below, nature reclaimed the former rail line above. Trees sprang up between the tracks, flowers bloomed, and animals moved back into former habitats. It was only a matter of time before the communities along the line rediscovered the space. And those who ventured up unofficially in the early 2000s created an impromptu nature trail and found a natural habitat with unmatched views of the city.
It was a special place – and those that knew about it felt compelled to share it with neighbors, friends, and the entire city.
Official plans for converting the Bloomingdale Line into a public space date back to the late 1990s, when it was included in the City’s Bike Plan. In 2003, the City’s Department of Planning and Development held a series of public meetings to determine how to bring new open space to the City’s underserved Northwest side, forming the basis of what would become The 606. The 2004 Logan Square Open Space Plan called for an ambitious reuse of the former industrial rail corridor. This spurred the formation of the Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail, a group of residents who would champion the project for the next decade, dedicated to making the vision become a reality.
Knowing the Trust for Public Land’s work creating Haas Park in Logan Square, members of the Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail reached out to the national non-profit, which helped bring together a coalition of city and civic organizations to move the project forward.
From industrial beacon to impromptu nature trail to innovative public space and alternative transportation corridor for the next generation, the Bloomingdale Line has been the site of innovation since its inception.
We look forward to sharing The 606 with you and your family.