Politics
City Introduces Equitable Transit-Oriented Development Plan
This week the city released an ambitious plan to create equity-based transit-oriented developments for residents.
There has been criticism that over the years, previous plans largely targeted Chicago’s North and Northwest sides.
However, officials say this plan will focus on bringing equitable transit-oriented developments to the South and West sides.
Equitable transit-oriented developments take on a number of different forms, said Jacky Grimshaw, vice president of government affairs for the Center for Neighborhood Technology. Part of it is better access to jobs paired with better job opportunities in neighborhoods.
“What we want to see in these communities is there is a walkable opportunity for people to do their shopping, to go to day care, and at the same time not have to rely on cars,” said Grimshaw.
Other transit-oriented development plans haven’t been as equitable as this one plans to be. Nearly 90% of previous developments have gone to the North and Northwest sides.
Dan Lurie, the chief of policy for Mayor Lightfoot, said to create a truly equitable plan this time, they’ll use government resources to attract banks to invest in communities. They’ll also do performance checks to see how the mayor is implementing the plan.
“Chicago is very segregated by race so as a result we’re talking about very different strategies depending on where these investments need to be made,” Lurie said. “But we need to make sure we’re consistent in outcomes like wealth-building.”
