2 weeks ago, on a June Sunday afternoon in 2020, I arrived by train in Riverside. Attending a 3-day conference in downtown Chicago, I had decided to lodge away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and stay in Riverside instead. Various national newspapers had recently covered the Riverside success story, and I decided to get a first-hand impression myself.
My first destination was just steps away from the train station, the Arcade Hotel. This historic landmark building had been meticulously restored by a group of resident investors who had saved it from decay about a decade ago when it was the victim of fraudulent real estate speculation that left it unoccupied for a few years. Now a profitable and thriving enterprise owned and operated by locals, the hotel had become the symbol of Riverside’s new success.
After checking in, I decided to take a walk, and followed the gravel path along the des Plaines River. There must have been 30 to 40 families enjoying a picnic in the area of Swan Pond that is an island again after a portion of the river was rerouted per the Village’s original plan. Ironically, Olmsted had labeled that spot Picnic Island on his map, but for decades picnics were specifically prohibited, evidenced by signage at various locations along the river. Further up the stream I marveled at the activities on the water and the improvements along the shore completed 2 years ago, the fulfillment of Olmsted’s vision of “pretty boatlandings, terraces, balconies overhanging the water, and pavilions at points desirable for observing regattas, mainly of rustic character, and to be half overgrown with vines” from his Preliminary Report to the Riverside Improvement Company.
My Sunday stroll took me back to the Central Business District, where I stopped at the Riverside Historical Museum at the exact time of admission shown on my ticket I purchased ahead of time on the internet. The temporary exhibit on display in the Central Well House, “Riverside and the Chicago Mob”, was so popular that admission had to be carefully managed. I was surprised by how many people arrived at the museum by bicycle, parked in the strikingly modern all glass bicycle transit pavilion adjacent to the museum. I was told that the seamless integration of bike lanes in Riverside into the many surrounding bike paths had created a regional bike network that had become the envy of the entire Chicago-land area. Downtown Riverside had started to draw customers from towns like Berwyn, Brookfield, and LaGrange. After the show, I walked up the many stairs to the top of the Riverside Water Tower, free of charge, to enjoy the view over this National Historic Landmark Village.
The unique small town experience continued at dinner. I was sitting outside at one of the very popular restaurants in the Central Business District, and enjoyed great food in a vibrant and landscaped atmosphere that made me feel like I was home. In order to make the downtown more attractive to residents and visitors and attract more patrons for the many businesses, an ambitious main street redesign had been executed which improved access for all: new permeable parking lots had been built at the perimeter of downtown, approx. half of the existing street parking had been kept to be used only by people with disabilities, expectant mothers, and people over the age of 65, and the other half had been turned into outdoor seating areas and planters. After years of decline, businesses were once again flourishing in Riverside.
How was all this possible? The turning point, according to one of the many residents I got to know during my stay, came when the community started embracing a comprehensive plan for the Village’s downtown some 10 years ago. “A plan was developed that focused on enviro-tourism as the key catalyst to attract new businesses to the central district”, he said, “family-style tourism that is geared towards enjoying nature and culture. The recession ten years ago created an awareness that smarter and longer term investments were needed, and that the only way forward was the sustainable way, environmentally, fiscally, and with regard to human capital. Decades of half-hearted planning ended when the people of Riverside recognized that the Village shall never rightfully claim the full extent of its beauty if it did not proactively offer to share that beauty with all people, near and far.”