Turning alleys into neighborhood spaces

New Urban News Article with images, 1/1/2009

Large American cities increasingly are trying to improve the aesthetics, environmental performance, or sociability of their alleys.

In 2007 the City of Chicago issued “The Chicago Green Alley Handbook,” which is aimed at installing permeable paving, introducing planting, and relieving flooding along many of the city’s approximately 1,900 miles of public alleys.

Recently Los Angeles has been looking at how to create park-like settings or friendly neighborhood spaces in some of that city’s 12,309 blocks of alleys, with encouragement from the University of Southern California’s Center for Sustainable Cities.