Here's the real story about lakefront access
In the Rogers Park neighborhood, from the northern boundary of Chicago to the northern boundary of Loyola University, characterized by FOTP as without public access, here’s the inventory of lakefront parks and beaches, extracted directly from Chicago Park District records, as found on their website: (MOVING NORTH TO SOUTH)
• Juneway Terrace Beach and Park 7800 North
• Fargo Beach and Park 7751 North
• Rogers Beach & Park 7751 North
• Howard Beach & Park 7600 North
• Columbia Beach 7519 North
• Jarvis Ave. Park and Beach 7400 North
• Leone, Touhy or Loyola Park and Beach 7200 North
• Greenleaf Beach 7048 North
• Pratt Beach 6800 North
• Columbia Beach 6726 North
• North Shore Beach 6700 North
Juneway to Pratt is the longest stretch of beach in Chicago
Hartigan aka Pratt.Columbia,Northshore,Albion.
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY BOUNDARIES ARE NORTH SHORE (6700 NORTH) AND DEVON (6400 NORTH) This section definitely has public access and has an uninterrupted walkway along the lakefront. Loyola Beaches (which are continuous all the way to Pratt Ave - Estes, Greenleaf, Lunt, Morse, Farwell).
In the Edgewater neighborhood, spanning 7 blocks from Hollywood to Devon, which has been characterized as without public access by Friends of the Parks, the following access points / beaches / parks are available:
• Berger Park 6200 – 6300 North
• New Park (owned by the Park District, but as yet unnamed) 6171 North
• George Lane Park 5900 North
• Thorndale Beach 5900 North
• Shalman Park 5900 North
• Osterman Beach and Park 5800 North – 5700 North (Hollywood)
Here are the summary statistics for the area that Friends of the Parks characterizes as without public access to Lake Michigan:
• Distance of 21 blocks
• Of that 4 blocks are within the boundaries of Loyola University
• In the remaining 17 blocks, there are a grand total of 15 beaches and parks at or east of Sheridan Road
• The greatest distance anyone would have to walk to get to the beach or park would be slightly over 2 blocks
• The vast majority of the beaches and parks are accessible within one block of each other
How does the existing park layout and inventory NOT satisfy the overarching objective of Daniel Burnham that “If the Plan of Chicago’s proposals are realized, the Lake Front will be opened to those who are now shut away from it by lack of adequate approaches:” ?
It is evident that Friends of the Parks, in their zeal, has clearly perverted the real intent of the Burnham plan. This activist organization has deliberately mischaracterized the objectives of the Chicago plan and has failed to acknowledge that the key objective of lakefront access in the Rogers Park and Edgewater communities has already been met, arguably more so than in any major city in the United States.