By Deron Lovaas
September 2000

Market Street (Willow Springs) Greenery and Public Space Revitalize Suburb

Can smart growth help a community get in touch with its inner self? In the mid-1990s, Willow Springs, a suburb near Chicago, fell into sprawl-induced identity crisis. Looking increasingly

like its neighbors and choking in traffic, the town embarked on an innovative smart-growth development to build a downtown that makes transit more accessible, creates spaces for residents to gather, and provides a blend of shops, housing and jobs.

Begun as a purely residential community, Willow Springs lacked a central space. Developers and town planners engaged the community to seek out ideas, and then pledged to take the history of the area and the context of the site into account. The developer, Heritage Renaissance Partners, and the architects, Yas/Fischel Partnership, built in a historically appropriate style, and took advantage of the town’s location on the Illinois-Lake Michigan Canal. They used traditional touches, like placing parking behind residences, to make the area walkable.

The other critical decision was moving the town’s rail stop to the new downtown and integrating it with a new village hall. The developers were able to move the rail station and add key extras to the civic spaces in part because they had access to up-to-date public/private financing tools.