Flashback: The State Street Mall, billed as a car-free shopping mecca, started with high hopes but ended in failure and bus fumes

Forty years ago this October, Chicago put on a party to celebrate the new State Street Mall, intended as a car-free shopping paradise. Mayor Jane Byrne was there on Oct. 29, 1979, to lay a ceremonial paving stone, and a week of celebrations featured a polka band, dancing Dalmatians, trick unicyclists and members of the … Continue reading Flashback: The State Street Mall, billed as a car-free shopping mecca, started with high hopes but ended in failure and bus fumes