1-6: Berwyn In-Flow, Out-Flow, and Circularity of Jobs

Cermak Road Corridor

What is it?

Cermak Road is the primary east-west artery for Berwyn that holds sociopolitical influence from being the dividing line between north and south areas of the city.

Existing Conditions

Zoning

Spanning the entire city width, all but one parcel on Cermak are zoned as C-2 Traditional Mixed-Use District. The one remaining parcel is designated P Public Areas District and is where a post office is located. The C-2 zoning allows for standard mixed-use developments that host retail and commercial services on the ground level and primarily multi-family housing on upper floors. As with other Berwyn corridors, the minimum lot area for C-2 is 3,000 square feet, with minimum lot widths of 25 feet and 10-foot front and corner side setbacks. Height is limited to 65 feet and five stories and street frontage must cover 75%, at minimum. There are currently no buildings that surpass or meet this limit. Most exemplary mixed-use buildings along Cermak are two- and three-story multifamily structures.

Transect Type

Cermak Road is a contained example of an evolving transect. Parcels along the road are seemingly transitioning from typical T4 General Urban Zone to T5 Urban Center Zone urban form classifications. Both identify mixed-uses, but T5 areas identify places of slightly higher density of uses, including retail, apartments, wider sidewalks, and buildings with small setbacks—common for Cermak Road. Other parts of Cermak, however, including its cross-streets and alleyway sections, are more T4, identified by primarily residential uses with single-family houses, rowhouses, and smaller apartment buildings. Cermak

Legend:

Retail - Commercial Multifamily Education

Single-Family Other Office

Industrial Hospitals Civic Facilities

Parks & Recreation Mixed Use Commerical Rec.

Plaza represents the corridor’s only SD Special District zone on the transect. This area is characterized by nonconforming setbacks, parking areas, and large parcels that accommodate high traffic volumes with special purpose. Framing these areas are Berwyn’s residential districts, mostly T3 Sub-Urban Zones that are low-density and walkable.

Transportation Both CTA and Pace bus routes service the corridor throughout. The 21 CTA bus transports riders from Mercy Hospital in Chicago’s South Loop to North Riverside Mall. The 322 Pace bus provides regular service from the 54th/Cermak CTA Pink Line stop in Cicero to Yorktown Center in Lombard. Landmarks/Physical Characteristics By far, the largest parcel along Cermak is on its far west end, containing Cermak Plaza, a large big-box strip mall with several parking spaces that form a continual retail complex with the neighboring North Riverside Plaza and North Riverside Park Mall across Lombard Street. Cermak Plaza occupies the equivalent of four frontage blocks. Parcel sizes range along the street, with some blocks with ten frontage parcels and others where parcels have grown to occupy up to 80% of the available street frontage.

Cermak Road has an inconsistent design standard for its right of way. Its west end intersection with Harlem Avenue is vehicle-dominant to accommodate six-