Chicago Leading The Way in Green Alleys

The city of Chicago, in its continual quest to be at the forefront of the implementation of green features, has launched the Green Alley Program.  In a city with almost 2,000 miles of alleyways, this is a huge step.  Nearly 50 alleys have already been built, with many more to come.  The pavement allows water to drain into the water table instead of puddling and running to the sewer system.  This obviously reduces the strain on the sewer systems, but there are other benefits to the program.  The pavement reflects more heat, reducing the urban heat island affect that plagues urban areas in the summer.  Dark-sky lighting fixtures are also installed that are not only more energy efficient, but eliminate the waste of light shining into the sky all night long.  This keeps the alleys well-lit, while at the same reducing the light pollution that comes with life in a big city.  Costs will continue to drop as more of the porous pavement is produced by cement companies and more of the dark-sky lighting fixtures are installed.

The Chicago Green Alley Program properly bundles a series of efficiency and environmental improvements that are helping fuel a renewal in the quality of urban life.  While programs like this go largely unnoticed now, down the road they’re going to be part of the decision process when you choose where you want to live (not the program itself, but the results).  Cities that invest now are only adding to their bottom lines long-term, through both a probable reduction in costs and an increased tax base in neighbors that have the improvements.

MSOE has a permeable pavement parking lot, which aside from being good for keeping water out of the sewer system keeps the surface of the lot a lot more dry during the rain and therefore a lot more pleasurable and safer to walk on (no puddles or slick spots).  Permeable pavement is one of those things that the first time you see it in action, you wonder why it isn’t required in new buildings.

It would be a true shame if Milwaukee does not adopt this same program in the next year or so, especially for a city that faces sewage discharges into Lake Michigan on a regular basis during periods of high rain.  Milwaukee would be wise to at the very least make permeable pavement a requirement in all new construction in the Park East neighborhood.

Special thanks to Jason Varone at the NYC-centric Streetsblog for drawing my attention to this development.