Transforming Pullman into a national park

An artist’s rendering of the Pullman visitors center at night – ADRIAN SMITH + GORDON GILL ARCHITECTURE

The Positioning Pullman project aims to ease the south-side neighborhood’s transition.

Back in the 1880s, railroad magnate George Pullman became a pioneer urban planner of sorts when he decided to design and build a model town where his employees could live and build railway cars without having to face the crime and temptations of the city or a long commute. With the help of architect Solon Spencer Beman and landscape architect Nathan F. Barrett, he created an entire town from scratch on 300 acres near Lake Calumet, just south of what was then Chicago’s southern border.

Now, nearly 150 years later, Pullman, which has since been absorbed by the city of Chicago, continues to be a model for urban development…Please click here to read Aimee Levitt’s story in the Reader.