Creating an Inviting and Forward-Thinking Street 

In January 2025, the Chicago Departments of Planning and Development (DPD) and Transportation (CDOT) released A Vision for LaSalle Street, a community-led framework for public realm improvements and neighborhood-oriented enhancements between Wacker Drive and Jackson Boulevard.

The vision is built around 11 planning principles, which include:

• Promoting a mix of private uses that encourage vibrancy outside of traditional 9-to-5 business hours, such as new restaurants and stores.
• “Softening” the street’s canyon-like environment with new landscaping and greenery.
• Making art, architecture and performance spaces foundational parts of the corridor’s identity.
• Creating welcoming, pedestrian-oriented community gathering spaces and convenient public transit connections.
• Prioritizing diverse, affordable programming that makes LaSalle an equitable and accessible destination for visitors and Chicagoans citywide.

The document was informed by hundreds of community members through in-person and online meetings, an electronic survey and outreach through the 34th and 42nd ward offices.

CDOT is also conducting an engineering assessment of LaSalle’s physical and structural conditions that will be completed in 2025, which will further inform the City's goals for a safe, inviting and innovative public realm that reflects the community's vision for corridor growth.