Making Sure You Know What You’ve Got Before It's Gone:  The Lake Forest Character Study

Documenting Change

            The perceived increase in office space was supported by examining the City’s planning records.  Between 1974 and 1999, the amount of office space within Lake Forest’s CBD had dramatically increased 286% to 442,537 square feet.  During this same time period, the square footage of retail space increased by 17.8% to 469,443 square feet.  The percentage of increase in retail square footage more closely reflected the 22.6% increase in Lake Forest’s population during this twenty-five year period.  Conversely, the number of dwelling units within the CBD decreased from 163 to 116 units. 

            The perceived increase in the amount of vehicular traffic within Lake Forest was also confirmed during the study.  Conservative estimates indicate that the ratio of vehicles per Lake Forest resident in 1968 was .42 for every one resident.  This ratio had increased to .78 vehicles per resident in 1999.  The increased presence of the automobile was also reflected in the notable increase in the area of the CBD devoted to parking.  Measuring areas from digitized aerial photographs, the combined areas of off and on-street parking equaled 8.5 acres in 1959.  In 1999, this area had increased to 21.3 acres, occupying 39% of the CBD’s 55 acres.  Traffic engineers from Gewalt-Hamilton & Associates, Inc. conducted a traffic study confirming residents’ perceptions of increasing vehicular congestion.  At key intersections within the CBD, traffic volumes extended waiting periods to unacceptable lengths based on nationally established standards.              Comparing collections of 1965 and 1999 photographs of the CBD illustrated that building facades and streetscape had generally improved over time.  Lake Forest’s planning efforts during that period included revisions to its sign ordinance, establishing a three story height restriction, landscaping surface parking lots and enhancing the streetscape.  A building review committee had been established to evaluate proposed construction and redevelopment of architectural structures in an effort to ensure changes would respect the architectural forms, materials and detailing of existing buildings within the CBD.  

1999

Identifying Character

            If the term character is defined as “attributes or features that make up and distinguish the individual,” (Webster’s Dictionary, 1983) the challenge of this application of the term was selecting an appropriate scale of investigation.  Architectural definitions of character tend to be structure-specific and examine building materials, methods, and design details from a micro-perspective.  Landscape architects expand the definition of character to embrace the context and this macro-perspective includes examinations of regional and cultural influences on settlement patterns.  While both perspectives produce valuable information, the final product of this character study was intended to assist in planning the CBD.  Therefore, Kevin Lynch’s holistic methodology of interpreting character as a combination of identity, structure, and meaning provided an appropriate scale for this urban design investigation.

            In his book, Image of the City (1960), Lynch suggested that each community contains five features: circulation paths, social nodes, landmarks, edges and sub-areas, called districts.  Strengths of Lynch’s method include the recognition of the social as well as the physical landscape and the importance of interpretation through on-site observation.  The observed features were electronically rendered over on a digitized aerial photograph and this highly realistic map formed an important communication tool in the public meetings. 

            Lynch wrote that in a place, “nothing is experienced by itself, but always in relation to its surroundings, the sequences of events leading up to it, [and] the memory of past experiences,”(Image of the City, 1960, p.3). Because character is highly experiential and largely visual, the seven Task Force members, as representatives of Lake Forest residents, were asked to photograph examples of ‘character’ from throughout the community.  This public involvement technique grounded the consultants’ understanding of character in the residents’ perspectives.  The content of 128 photographs was analyzed and divided into three meta-categories.  These meta-categories focused on 1) Market Square, the core of the CBD, and the adjacent structures, 2) the periphery of the CBD, and 3) images from outside the CBD from greater Lake Forest.  

            Many of the photographs illustrated community landmarks, such as the historic Market Square.  Market Square forms the center of the CBD and was designed by Architect Howard Van Doren Shaw, with assistance from Edward Bennett.   Constructed in 1915-6, Market Square is listed as the first planned shopping center in the United States in the National Register of Historic Places.  Defined by three structures, the U-shaped area accommodates vehicular circulation around an interior green space.  Despite the presence of vehicles, Market Square has a predominantly pedestrian character, with inviting small spaces and a sense of civic importance with the common green.  Built to replace an unattractive commercial center dating from 1860's on, much of Lake Forest’s character is derived from this early redevelopment project that combined function with high quality building materials, an appropriate human scale and graceful urban form.  

Howard Van Doren Shaw's  Plan for Market Square

Character of the Community and the Central Business District

            After listening to the comments of the Task Force members and the public, mapping the CBD using Lynch’s methodology, reading accounts of Lake Forest’s history and reviewing the content of the residents’ character photographs, a consensus was reached that the word “village” best described the overall character of Lake Forest.  Lake Forest felt like a “village” consciously established within a beautiful and diverse landscape setting.  The “village” character is embodied by the two-lane roads that entwine through open prairie and wooded landscapes, respecting the natural topography.  The word “village” also reflects Lake Forest’s genteel social spirit. 

            Serving as the “village” center, Lake Forest’s CBD contains a high degree of visual variety due to the presence of seven districts.  These districts vary in scale and produce a distinct quality or atmosphere of place.  Differences in scale were due to building heights, the distance of the pedestrian path from the building face, the width of the street and the buildings’ architectural detail at the pedestrian eye-level.  In analyzing the floor area ratios (FAR) of each block in the CBD, the identification of the seven districts illustrated clusters of structures with similar FAR values.

Another element contributing to the CBD’s character was the presence of green space and vegetation nestled within the CBD. This presence of green space and vegetation helped knit the CBD into the surrounding, highly vegetated residential community.  Market Square focuses on a rectilinear green space.  This placement of the communal green space in the most desirable location of the retail district conveys a sense of civic purpose that is consistent with Lake Forest’s history of educational institutions and social improvement activities.

            Another key to the character of the CBD is the location of small outdoor spaces that invite informal socializing.  Areas within Market Square and other small open spaces, such as pedestrian alleys, are extremely important to the community as they provide settings for informal social interactions.  Many of these small outdoor spaces are near to or adjacent to coffee shops and take-out food stores.  Therefore, as urban sociologist William Whyte often noted, food contributes to the life of a public space and increases users’ comfort and length of tenure within the space.

Development Implications

            The next step required relating the elements that contributed to the CBD’s character to future development.  Because the amount and location of future development arose as a contentious issue in the public meetings, future scenarios were presented in 100,000 square foot increments of new building floor area.  As with any projection or model, a list of assumptions was stated.  Several key assumptions were that future development would conform to the three story height restriction and be composed of retail space on the ground floor and office space on the second and third floor.  Parking requirements were assessed at a rate of 4 spaces per 1,000 square feet for both residential and office development.  The implications of each 100,000 square foot increase in space (FAR) and its parking requirements were compared to existing structures and parking areas so that the numbers translated into understandable physical results Task Force members and the public could understand.

            One limiting factor to future development is surface parking.  As previously stated, 39% of the CBD is currently occupied by surface parking scattered around the periphery.  Lengthy discussions of above ground parking structures were generally considered incongruent with the character of the Lake Forest CBD.  Little area within the CBD exists for additional surface parking and parking requirements may serve as a planning tool by which to limit future development.

Outcomes, Opportunities and Application of the Character Study

            The findings and recommendations of the Task Force and the completed character study were submitted to the Lake Forest City Council early this year.  The City Council has directed the Plan Commission to consider revisions to the Lake Forest Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinances as they relate development controls regarding the CBD.  This process of revision is currently underway.

            The character study and its public process increased residents’ interest in Lake Forest’s preservation.  Many people saw that the charm of their CBD could be significantly diminished, if not lost, if a larger collective vision did not direct growth.  While not all participants agreed with how growth might be contained (and this discussion continues under the direction of the Plan Commission), the vast majority recognized that the incremental piece-meal planning process would ultimately yield unwanted results.  Many communities elect to establish design guidelines.  Lake Forest’s efforts are innovative because they undertook a process to define its authentic character and from this information shape future physical changes.  In June, the Illinois Chapter of the American Planning Association awarded Lake Forest the Special Community Initiative Award for this effort.

            Public involvement, while present within the character study, could be increased.  The process was extremely educational and the character study was enriched by public comment.  While increasing the amount of public involvement would extend the study’s time line, it would strengthen the product of the study by increasing public dialogue.  One obvious opportunity for expanding input would be to increase the number and diversity of residents who contributed photographs depicting example of community character.  Working with teachers to integrate the public process into the local curriculum could demonstrate the importance of planning and history in a familiar, dynamic setting to the community’s youngest residents.

            In searching for the CBD’s authentic character, an introspective process was undertaken.  Conceptualizing how to translate preservation methods into the planning realm now requires a step back to recognize how the CBD functions within the regional and economic context of this time.  One recommendation of this process was to maintain a balance between the presence of retail, office and encourage the presence of dwelling units within the CBD.  Current trends were disproportionally increasing the presence of office space.  This recommendation for diversity and balance is consistent with multi-use development trends popular at this time and planning tools exist to insure the mixture.  However, more difficult to cultivate is a economically viable mixture of stores within the retail sector.  Over time, the range of goods and services offered with Lake Forest’s CBD has  diminished and many study participants mourned the loss of the local hardware store.  Many residents now leave Lake Forest to acquire basic goods from ‘big-box’ retailers in adjacent communities.  The majority of the CBD’s stores might be categorized as speciality or boutique shops.  These larger market forces present challenges that extend beyond the community’s control and preservation efforts must be forged within twenty-first century realities.