Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about transit-oriented development

MPC’s TOD Tool Advises Developers About Train Station Bonuses

By Steven Vance | Mar 27, 2014 | 13 Comments

Many developers haven’t yet investigated how last year’s transit oriented development ordinance, passed to encourage development near transit, can make their work easier and possibly more lucrative. Under the TOD ordinance, developers can build bonus density — more floors, taller buildings, smaller units – and fewer parking spaces on sites near Chicago Transit Authority and […]

Transit-Oriented Development Around Metra Isn’t Always About “Density”

By Steven Vance | Mar 21, 2014 | 24 Comments

The Chicago Department of Planning and Development wants to dispel the notion that “transit-oriented development” only means high-rises. The agency will host two public meetings to gather ideas from residents who live near the city’s 77 Metra stations on the kinds of development and station changes they’d like to see in their neighborhoods. The meetings are part […]

South Shore Residents Resist Demolition of Walkable Retail Block

By Steven Vance | Mar 20, 2014 | 36 Comments

South Shore residents have launched a campaign to rescue their neighborhood’s walkable retail core. Reclaiming South Shore for All, together with The Planning Coalition (representing over 70 neighborhood groups and block clubs), is urging developers to retain a block of buildings at the busy transit junction of 71st Street and Jeffery Boulevard rather than allowing them […]

A Lot of Contention: Residents Rebel Against the Masada Car Park

By John Greenfield | Mar 13, 2014 | 55 Comments

Masada is an ancient fort located on a rock plateau near the border of Jordan and Israel where, according to legend, Roman troops laid siege to Jewish rebels who committed mass suicide rather than give themselves up to their enemies. A battle is also brewing over the fort’s namesake Middle Eastern eatery, slated to open […]

To Grow Transit Ridership, Chicagoland Needs to Build Near Transit

By John Greenfield | Mar 4, 2014 | 26 Comments

Testifying before the Northeastern Illinois Public Transit Task Force Friday, the Metropolitan Planning Council’s Peter Skosey argued that the region could significantly increase transit ridership by encouraging jobs and development near existing stations. Governor Pat Quinn created the 15-member task force last summer in the wake of the controversial ouster of Metra CEO Alex Clifford. […]

Why Would a Developer Choose to Include Fewer Parking Spots?

By John Greenfield | Feb 27, 2014 | 16 Comments

For years Chicago’s zoning ordinance, which requires large amount of off-street car parking as part of most new residential buildings, has prevented developers from taking full advantage of transit-friendly locations. However, a transit-oriented development ordinance that passed last year lowers the required number of parking spaces for buildings near transit stations. As Steven Vance reported, […]

How Parking Requirements Get in the Way of New Chicago Businesses

By Steven Vance | Aug 6, 2013 | 32 Comments

A proposal to legalize transit-oriented development would make it easier to build walkable and bikeable neighborhoods, in part by halving the car parking requirement for residences and eliminating it for non-residential uses near train stations. The ordinance is set to go before aldermen at the zoning committee’s next meeting in September. Right now, without the ordinance, […]

Chicago Can Do Much More to Legalize Transit-Oriented Development

By Steven Vance | Jul 31, 2013 | 23 Comments

Mayor Rahm Emanuel introduced an ordinance last Wednesday that would reduce some barriers to transit-oriented development in Chicago, lowering parking requirements and allowing more density near transit stations. While the proposal is a step forward, there’s much more the city can do to ensure that future growth leads to more walking and transit use, not […]

Rumor Mill: New Ordinance Seeks to Legalize Transit-Oriented Development

By Steven Vance | Jul 16, 2013 | 28 Comments

Last week I interviewed Jacky Grimshaw about the Center for Neighborhood Technology’s recent report on Chicago’s lack of transit-oriented development compared to our peer cities. Afterward, I was thinking about the reconstruction of the entire Red Line south of Roosevelt, which will replace tracks and renovate many stations. This project is going to significantly speed up transit, […]

Can Chicagoland Fix Its Sprawl Problem?

By Steven Vance | Jul 12, 2013 | 83 Comments

Earlier this week we wrote up the Center for Neighborhood Technology’s report about how the Chicagoland region is falling behind other major American metro areas when it comes to focusing growth near transit stations. In Philadelphia, San Francisco, DC, and New York, most new housing is being built close to transit, but not in Chicago. Here, most growth […]

Report: Chicago Falling Behind Peer Cities on Transit-Oriented Growth

By Steven Vance | Jul 9, 2013 | 20 Comments

Transit-oriented development in the Chicago region is falling behind cities like Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco, according to a report released in May by the Center for Neighborhood Technology, a local “think and do tank.” In “Transit-Oriented Development in the Chicago Region” [PDF], CNT warns that Chicago’s failure to focus housing and jobs near transit is […]

Yes, It Can Be Done: 99 New Apartments With No Parking

By Steven Vance | Feb 21, 2013 | No Comments

While I was browsing Andrew Salzberg’s map showing how much development is allowed near transit stops, I noticed a dark spot — a site where a taller building is allowed — at the southwest corner of Ashland Avenue and Division Street. Then I remembered the development underway there, the “1601 Tower,” on the site of a […]

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