Fewer Booths, Busier Square: Logan Square's First Market Season on the New Plaza Wraps Up

This year the Logan Square Farmers Market had 24 fewer booths than in past seasons, and several vendors still told reporters business was up. That says a lot about how the redesigned square around the Illinois Centennial Monument works. In almost every way the new layout asks people to slow down: smaller crowds at the stalls, longer waits at the lights, more steps to cross the street. In its first summer, slowing down filled the square.

Sunday, Oct. 25, is the last outdoor market of that first season. The market runs 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2620 N. Milwaukee Ave., according to the Logan Square Farmers Market. Here's what the season showed about the new square, where Sunday shopping moves for the winter, and what's opening or being built nearby.

A smaller market that sold more

The market moved to its permanent home on the redesigned square in May, after several years of moving around because of construction. The plaza fits fewer stalls. Block Club Chicago reported that the market lost 24 booths to space limits. That left 103 rotating farmers and food vendors in the plaza and along Logan Boulevard, including 44 farmers who come every week. There are also 14 rotating vintage vendors set up at La Placita, in front of Reno, Same Day Cafe and other Kedzie Avenue businesses.

Fewer stalls did not mean fewer shoppers. Market producer Nilda Esparza, who is also president of the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce, said in June that more than 80,000 visitors had come through since the market opened in its new home, per Block Club. That figure is from early summer, not a full-season count.

Vendors explained why the smaller layout helped. Kyle Washington, founder of Frogtown Juice Co., told Block Club that in past years there was "a little bit of paralysis by analysis" with so many vendors, while the new layout "allows people to be more intentional." He said he sells about 1,000 bottles of juice a week. Between 40 and 50 percent of his customers are repeat buyers who get a discount for returning their glass bottles. Kevin Gorman, co-owner of Gorman Farm Fresh Produce, told the same outlet his stand was "up a little bit in business" and credited the better visibility.

There was a trade-off. One shopper told Block Club that parking was harder to find than when the market ran along Kedzie Boulevard the year before, though she liked the extra seating and being close to other businesses. Vintage vendor Camila Forero, who sells under the name I Find Cool Stuff, said the plaza is "walkable, shoppable now," and that a guaranteed, affordable spot is a big change from showing up and hoping there was room.

The same trade-off on the streets

The street design follows the same logic as the market. The $27 million redesign was declared complete on June 22. It added two plazas, nearly an acre of park space, wider sidewalks, new lighting and bike facilities, and it made the roads around the square two-way. It also added pedestrian refuge islands, five new crosswalks with separate bike crosswalks, and a mixed-use path that loops around the monument park.

All of that makes the lights longer. A Chicago Department of Transportation spokesperson told Block Club in July that the longer signal times were needed for the bigger plazas, and that the project shortened crossing distances and reduced the number of points where pedestrians and cars can collide. One neighbor who lives near Lula Cafe told the outlet the new route takes her out of her way but "definitely feels safer."

As of that July reporting, here's how different groups were finding it:

• Pedestrians generally said crossing was clearer and safer, even with more crosswalks and longer waits.
• Drivers heading north on Kedzie described a clear improvement. Southbound Kedzie, where turning right on red is banned, can back up toward the light at the circle's Milwaukee entrance. CDOT said the ban is there to reinforce the new signal and give priority to people crossing Kedzie.
• Cyclists were split. Some liked the marked lanes. Others told Block Club the shared loop gets crowded with strollers and dogs on weekends, and that the bike crossings don't follow the route a rider would naturally take.

Ald. Anthony Quezada (35th) said his office was working with CDOT engineers on possible changes such as clearer signs, better wayfinding and new pavement markings, and CDOT said it would keep making minor adjustments as needed. A neighbor group called "Refine the Redesign" has been collecting comments on what is working, according to Streetsblog Chicago. The same rule held for streets and stalls this year. When the square slowed things down for cars and gave the space to people on foot, people on foot came.

Where your weekend market goes next

The outdoor season ends Sunday, Oct. 25, and the market changes day, hours and location for the winter. After a four-week break it reopens indoors on Saturday, Nov. 28, the weekend after Thanksgiving.

The market's site says the indoor market is open on holidays. The Logan Square Chamber of Commerce event listing shows the same dates. For anyone who walks to the market, the new spot is a short way up the same stretch of Milwaukee.

Before the season ends, the weekend has one more event. Unity Park Pumpkin Fest runs Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Unity Park, 2636 N. Kimball Ave. It's free and includes a pumpkin patch, a DJ, a costume parade, face painting, pumpkin decorating and a Día de los Muertos ofrenda, according to Block Club's Halloween guide. Pumpkins on Saturday and the last outdoor market on Sunday make a full weekend close to home.

Three new places to eat and drink nearby

The foot traffic is coming as several new spots open within walking distance of the square.

Logan Inn, 2001 N. California Ave. The cafe and bar on the ground floor of the hotel at 2003 N. California opened Sept. 11, Block Club reported. The cafe serves coffee, pastries, salads and sandwiches from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. The bar takes over at 4 p.m., serving cocktails, beer and nonalcoholic drinks until 11 p.m. on weeknights and from noon to 1 a.m. on weekends.

Hooligan, 2528 N. California Ave. Chef Christian Hunter, a 2023 Michelin Young Chef Award winner, and restaurateur Tyrone Redic Jr. opened this 50-seat neo-Midwestern bistro in early October in the former Good Fortune space. Eater Chicago describes the cooking as French technique applied to ingredients from the Great Lakes region, with hours of 5 to 10 p.m., Thursday through Monday. Hooligan was first planned for the Time Out Market food hall in Fulton Market before that hall closed.

Siete Azul, 2333 N. Milwaukee Ave. This Mexican mariscos restaurant is taking over the former Chicago Diner space. As of Block Club's Oct. 14 report, it was set to open later in October, with no exact date announced. Planned hours are 4 to 10 p.m. Thursday and Sunday and 4 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It will be BYOB until its liquor license is approved. Check before you go.

The next piece is going up across Milwaukee

The square still has more to come. Construction has started on a new public plaza at 2550 N. Milwaukee Ave., across the street from the rebuilt park, Chicago YIMBY reported on Sept. 28. City Council approved the plan in 2022. The roughly 14,000-square-foot lot has been empty for years and sits over the CTA Blue Line tunnel leading to the Logan Square station.

The working name is the Logan Square Megamall Plaza, after the Discount Mega Mall that stood on the site from 1995 to 2017. YIMBY described the name as possible, not final, and estimated that construction will take about a year from the early groundwork done this summer. According to the city's project page, the plaza will include seating, custom pavers, new lighting, trees and landscaping, a pavilion and performance area, a children's play area and a community identifier.

If that schedule holds, the market's second outdoor season on the square will open across Milwaukee from a plaza still under construction, with seating, a play area and a covered performance stage planned for the same block.

To follow the area's changes up close, Logan Square Preservation holds public membership meetings at 7 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at Minnekirken, 2614 N. Kedzie Ave., according to its website. The next two fall on Nov. 19 and Dec. 17.

Curious how the new square and the Megamall Plaza project could affect your corner of Logan Square, whether you're thinking about renting, buying or listing nearby? Quentin Green and The Green Team are happy to talk it through over coffee, maybe somewhere along Milwaukee. Let's Connect.