Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about transit-oriented development

2015 Was a Great Year for Chicago Transportation and Public Spaces

By John Greenfield | Dec 28, 2015 | No Comments

[The Chicago Reader recently launched a new weekly transportation column written by Streetsblog Chicago editor John Greenfield. This partnership will allow Streetsblog to extend the reach of our livable streets advocacy. We’ll be syndicating a portion of the column on the day it comes out online; you can read the remainder on the Reader’s website […]

Sorry Reilly, 71 Units Plus 128 Parking Spaces Does Not Equal TOD

By John Greenfield | Dec 3, 2015 | 12 Comments

As Steven Vance wrote last month, downtown alderman Brendan Reilly has a good record when it comes to promoting residential building projects with sensible amounts of car parking, and he’s made smart comments about this issue in the past. For example, he recently got the developer of an apartment tower at Kinzie and Desplaines to […]

3 Bright Prospects for a Better Transportation Bill

By Angie Schmitt | Nov 3, 2015 | No Comments

Yesterday we reported on some of the terrible amendments that might get tacked on to the House transportation bill this week. But there are also some good ideas with bipartisan support among the hundreds of amendments submitted by members of the House. Here are three amendments that have the potential to improve transportation policy in the U.S. — should legislators give […]

Dense Thinking: CNT Staffers Discuss the TOD Reform Ordinance

By John Greenfield | Aug 24, 2015 | 2 Comments

[This piece also appears in Checkerboard City, John’s column in Newcity magazine, which hits the streets on Wednesday evenings.] Believe it or not, back in the early nineties, ex-mayor Richard M. Daley was planning to tear out an entire branch of the El system. “The Lake Street branch of what’s now the Green Line had terrible slow […]

How the New TOD Ordinance Could Save a Rejected Jeff Park Development

By Michael Podgers and John Greenfield | Aug 19, 2015 | 10 Comments

Last Tuesday, the city’s Community Development Commission put the brakes on Mega Realty’s plan to build a housing and retail development on two vacant lots located a five-minute walk from the Jefferson Park Transit Center. One of the parcels is city-owned, and the commission voted against a proposal to give the land, valued at $530,000, to the developer […]

No Bike or Walking Goals in Rahm’s New Transition Plan, But TOD Is a Priority

By John Greenfield | Aug 17, 2015 | 2 Comments

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s Chicago 2011 Transition Plan set several bold goals for sustainable transportation, many of which have already been achieved. Emanuel’s first transition team included a number of heavy-hitters from the local transportation advocacy scene, including representatives of the Active Transportation Alliance, the Metropolitan Planning Council, the Center for Neighborhood Technology, and the SRAM Cycling […]

MPC’s “Grow Chicago” Campaign Calls for Beefing Up the TOD Ordinance

By John Greenfield | Jul 23, 2015 | 6 Comments

Yesterday, the Metropolitan Planning Council launched “Grow Chicago,” a new policy change initiative to unleash growth in the city by leveraging our public transportation assets and promoting transit-oriented development. The push includes a report penned by MPC and the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy recommending broader zoning and financial incentives to attract more development […]

Major MARTA Expansion Could Transform the Atlanta Region

By Tanya Snyder | Jul 22, 2015 | No Comments

Transit planners in the Atlanta area are getting serious about the largest expansion in MARTA’s history. MARTA officials have proposed new, high-capacity service into North Fulton County and east into DeKalb County that could link important job centers by rail for the first time. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says it could “change the face of Atlanta.” The new […]

New Jersey Squanders Transit By Surrounding Stations With Sprawl

By Tanya Snyder | Jul 9, 2015 | No Comments

New Jersey is the most population-dense state in the country, and many residents get to work via one of its several transit systems. But too many of New Jersey’s transit stations are surrounded by single-family housing, severely limiting the number of people — especially low-income people — with convenient, walkable access to transit. Some entire transit lines […]

Pritzker Park Sale Is a Chance to Create New Transfer from ‘L’ to Subway

By Steven Vance | May 8, 2015 | 37 Comments

There are several pros and cons of the city’s controversial plan to sell the Pritzker Park site for development. One important and urgent aspect is that it would be an unparalleled – and potentially free – opportunity to create the first enclosed, wheelchair-accessible transfer between the CTA’s Loop elevated lines and the Red and Blue Line subways. […]

Join Us for a Bike Tour of Transit-Oriented Development Sites on April 11

By Steven Vance | Mar 24, 2015 | 4 Comments

Want to hear developers talk about why they’ve chosen to build “parking-lite” residential projects near ‘L’ stops? We’re leading a bike ride around the city to visit sites where firms are taking advantage of Chicago’s 2013 transit-oriented development ordinance. Here’s the skinny: Streetsblog Chicago’s TOD Bike Tour Saturday, April 11 1-4 p.m. Leaving from Daley Plaza, 50 West […]

Another 207 Parking-Lite Residences Sprouting In Wicker Park

By Steven Vance | Dec 30, 2014 | 6 Comments

Way back in 2012, one developer proposed what was then a radical idea: tearing down what had been a cheesy restaurant and a moat of parking overlooking a faded corner, and replacing them with a gleaming tower housing 99 apartments, two shops, and just 16 car parking spaces. Ever since 1611 W. Division Street showed […]

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