Nearly 14,000 Chicagoans are petitioning to permanently change the name of one of the most recognizable streets in the Loop.
A Change.org campaign, started by Bryce Jones, 25, of the Little Village neighborhood, seeks to rename North Wabash Avenue to “Barack Hussein Obama Avenue” to honor the legacy of the former president. Petitioners also want to change the address of Trump Tower, which currently sits at 401 N. Wabash Ave.
Jones, who has lived in the Chicago area for the past five years, says the charge to rename Wabash Avenue was inspired by President Donald Trump himself. The idea came to Jones about two months ago, in protest of the president and the privately owned Chicago skyscraper.
“There is nothing a single man can build that the people of this country can not tear down, cannot change,” Jones said.
The campaign officially launched in early May, but saw expeditious traction in early June. As of Thursday afternoon, 13,916 people had endorsed the name change, according to Change.org. Jones said he wants to have more than 30,000 signatures, or around 1% of the city’s population, pledge support before formally petitioning the City Council, or Ald. Brendan Reilly, 42nd. The alderman did not return the Tribune’s request for comment.
Jones calls the increased support over the last 72 hours, when the rate of signatures expedited, both “joyful” and a “relief.”
“When I first started, I thought people maybe wouldn’t want to do this, but seeing that this is an idea that really connects with people is really great.”
This is not the first time Chicagoans have proposed naming a street after Obama. A near-identical petition to rename Wabash Avenue surfaced on moveon.org back in 2019. Other similar proposals on Change.org happened in 2025 and 2020.
Permanent street name changes are rare in the city of Chicago. A most recent Chicago example of this was the name shift from “Outer Lake Shore Drive” to “Jean Baptiste Point DuSable Lake Shore Drive,” which became official in 2021. The reality of changing street names is that it can be a lengthy process. Any full street name changes must pass through the City Council and with mayoral approval.
Honorary name changes are more common. A total of 24 streets in Chicago received brown honorary designation signs in the first six months of 2025, according to Honorary Chicago.
Should an official name change not be recognized, Jones hopes that Chicagoans will still call Willis Tower “Sears Tower” and adopt the new street name.
“In Chicago, we have a history of not calling buildings by their official names, so I hope people would take up the fact that this tower says Trump on it, but we decided to call it ‘401 N. Barack Hussein Obama Ave. Tower,’” Jones said.
Chicago’s Department of Transportation did not respond for comment.
The move to rename the street for the former president comes ahead of the grand opening for Obama’s namesake presidential center in the Woodlawn neighborhood, set for June 19.
