Abundant Housing Illinois

Link to full article on Streetsblog Chicago

A potential land use plan for Broadway in Edgewater and Uptown would be good news for these neighborhoods, sustainable transportation, and the city at large. Building off the CTA’s nearly finished Red and Purple Modernization project, the proposal that's now being considered would support greater density and pedestrian-friendly streetscapes on the 2.6 mile stretch of Broadway between Devon and Montrose avenues. Full details are available on DPD’s website.

The planning discussion is being led by local alderpersons Angela Clay (46th), Matt Martin (47th), and Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th), along with the Chicago Department of Planning and Development. In addition to building off prior planning in Edgewater and Uptown, officials held a pair of community meetings on the proposal late last year.

There are a bunch of reasons to be excited about this project. By adding pedestrian street designations to parts of Broadway that don’t yet have them, the city would enhance walkability and prohibit new curb cuts for car-centric land uses like strip malls, drive-throughs, and car washes. But the biggest change would be the upzoning, which would could result in more affordable housing options, increased transit ridership, more customers for local businesses, and more tax revenue for the City.

More, and more affordable, housing

The proposed upzoning, which would shift much of the corridor to the B3-5 zoning designation, would make it possible to add significantly more housing to the corridor. According to calculations by Steven Vance, founder of the development data website Chicago Cityscape and cofounder of Streetsblog Chicago, about 18,000 new housing units would be allowed under the zoning revisions. That does not mean that we’ll see an immediate flood of units. There is already a fair bit of unused zoning capacity on Broadway today. But it would mean that the street could expect to see housing built at a faster rate over the next couple of years.

Broad upzoning ensures that every property has an equal shot at adding density. Not every property owner will have the desire or capability to build, and the city shouldn't be in the business of regulating which properties or owners have the privilege to do so. "The current zoning regime has so many ways for an alderperson to intervene," Steven says. "That raises costs, delays housing, and sustains segregation. Broad upzoning cuts out a few of those ways."