For all the ballpark?s charms, its integration with the neighborhood may be its best feature Tonight, a miracle for Chicago Cubs fans will occur on the hallowed ground of Wrigley Field, the nation?s second-oldest major league ballpark: a World Series game between the Cubs and the Cleveland Indians under the lights of the Friendly Confines.
It?s not hard to see how Wrigley, a classic ballpark built in 1914 on Chicago?s north side, earned such a congenial nickname: intimate seating, ivy-covered outfield walls, an iconic hand-operated scoreboard designed by Holabird & Root, and mobs of fans packed in the outfield bleachers combine to create the platonic ideal of live baseball.
But the blessing of Wrigley Field extends far beyond the field. Writer George Will observed that for many years, fans had to accept that ?Wrigley Field is lovelier than the game played on its field.? Long-suffering Cubs fans, whose team has spent decades failing to make it back to the World Series, have been blessed not only with one of baseball?s greatest parks, but one of the best examples of a stadium as an anchor for a thriving, walkable neighborhood. Outside of the Boston Red Sox?s Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and the surrounding area stand as the best case study of stadium urbanism in the country.

Daniel Gillaspia: Flickr/Creative Commons
Wrigley Field, taken May 29, 2016

The park?s great integration with its surroundings comes from the timing of its construct...