Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
Chicago

Ghost Parcels Show How Urban Highways Squandered Valuable Land

12:27 PM EDT on October 7, 2015

Here’s a great illustration of how incredibly destructive and wasteful it is to run elevated highways through cities. New York City-based artist and planning consultant Neil Freeman, who grew up in Chicago, put together these haunting images of Cook County land parcel maps superimposed over aerials of expressway interchanges in the West Loop, River West, Bridgeport and Chinatown.

Screen Shot 2015-10-06 at 2.28.23 PM
The Jane Byrne Interchange in the West Loop, currently being expanded. Image: Neil Freeman

The visuals are a byproduct of a research project Freeman is doing on housing typologies. The base layer is from Bing satellite images, and the parcels are from the Cook County assessor’s office. “Love that Cook County still keeps track of the parcels under the expressways punched through Chicago,” Freeman tweeted.So why does the county still maintain records of property lines that haven’t had meaning since the Richard J. Daley era?

Screen Shot 2015-10-06 at 2.28.31 PM
The Dan Ryan and Stevenson expressway interchange in Bridgeport/Chinatown. Image: Neil Freeman

“The reason these parcels under the expressways aren’t just shown as one continuous polygon is because [the Illinois Department of Transportation] never dedicated the parcels as right-of way,” a source at the county told me. “It’s most likely because, like all government agencies nowadays, they’re short-staffed. It’s not a priority task because parcels under elevated highways usually don’t generate any tax revenue.”

Screen Shot 2015-10-06 at 2.28.26 PM
The Ohio Feeder and the Kennedy Expressway in River West. Image: Neil Freeman

Think about how much money in property and sales taxes were generated by the homes and businesses that formerly stood on these parcels before they fell victim to the wrecking ball so that high-speed roadways could be shoved through the urban fabric. Equally important, think of all the lives that were uprooted in the name of “progress."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday’s Headlines Don’t Feel the Need for Speed

Tell me again, which constitutional amendment is it that gives people the right to drive as fast as they want?

December 1, 2023

Talking Headways Podcast: The Sexy World of Bus Speeds

When you start to add up the numbers, you can see why agency leaders would be interesting in finding ways to reduce those costs.

November 30, 2023

Thursday’s Headlines See Daylight

Daylighting, or removing parking near intersections, is an often overlooked way to improve pedestrian safety.

November 30, 2023

Why So Many U.S. Drivers Think Speeding Is Perfectly Safe

Do Americans hit lethal speeds because they're in a rush, or because they have no idea that they're increasing their chances of death with every tick of the odometer?

November 30, 2023

Highway Boondoggles 2023: Habitat Devastation in the Hoosier State

Plans for a new 54-mile highway in southern Indiana threaten thousands of acres of forests, farmland and wildlife habitat. So why is Indiana forging ahead anyway?

November 30, 2023
See all posts