As the Chicago Bears, White Sox, and Fire all push for brand-new stadiums, a new report provided some advice about what teams can do to be successful.
The Chicago Architecture Center is behind the research, and offered suggestions about what has worked best and what has not.
The final report is called "Win/Win: The New Game Plan for Urban Stadiums."
The report outlined what it called "The Chicago Model," in which stadium and community development are "inseparable and planed together from the start," rather than stadiums being developed in a vacuum.
The report said stadiums should not be treated as standalone facilities that require public support, but rather as anchors of neighborhoods to help them thrive.
The report held up Wrigley Field and its symbiosis with the surrounding Lakeview community as the best example of the Chicago Model.
"Streets run directly to the stadium entrance. Crowds gather on Waveland and Sheffield before first pitch, the energy building as game time approaches. Tourists photograph the marquee in winter when there's no baseball for months. Neighbors grab drinks at Murphy's Bleachers whether there's a game or not," the report said. "While it's surely not for everyone, more than 5,000 people live in Wrigleyville year-round because they do find it a desirable neighborhood, not because their lives require proximity to the ballpark."
The report calls for a dramatic rethinking of the way the current White Sox campus in the Bridgeport/Armour Square area is used.
While the White Sox' lease on Rate Field expires in 2029, the Chicago Architecture Center proposes transforming the acres of parking surrounding the stadium into a mixed-use neighborhood.
The report suggested decking over the Dan Ryan Expressway nearby to create public space near the ballpark.
Meanwhile, with the Bears likely to move out of Soldier Field, the report suggests making the area more inviting by adding enhanced pedestrian and water taxi connections to the stadium.
The report also suggested development along the nearby Bronzeville lakefront, in particular the long-vacant former Michael Reese Hospital site.
The report also praises the 1901 Project, the redevelopment work under way around the United Center. The Chicago Architecture Center believes adding a new Chicago Transit Authority Pink Line station to complement the Green Line stop that opened last year at Damen Avenue would better connect the thousands of new homes and hotel rooms expected in the area.