Thu 6 Dec 2007
The City of Big Shoulders Becomes the City of Green Alleys
Posted by LAC Publicity Subcommittee under About Chicago
Chicago, the host city for MLA ’08, has the unusual distinction of being the “alley capital of America.” The city contains almost 2,000 miles of alleys that city officials claim is the “paved equivalent of five midsized airports.”
The alleys relieve congestion on main streets and provide a place for garbage. But they also require the city to maintain 2,000 additional miles of non-descript asphalt, which is just as prone to flooding as Michigan Avenue. The city’s overstrained sewers struggle to absorb the runoff, from wherever it comes.
Enter Chicago’s “Green Alley Initiative,” an innovative effort to modernize the alley system in an environmentally friendly way. Green alleys consist of porous concrete, which means that water seeps into the alley rather than draining into a sewer grate. Once it’s underground, the water is filtered through stone beds before rejoining the water table. This green water never reaches the sewer. The city will repave 46 old alleys, making them green, by the end of 2007.
Green alleys are just the latest example of Chicago’s environmental consciousness. Other approaches include expediting building permits for green building, constructing rooftop gardens to collect rainwater, and adding more than 200 acres of parks and open lands. We are striving to make MLA ’08 the greenest meeting ever, and it’s comforting to know that many people in our host city share our goals.
–Marcus Banks
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