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Despite Progress, Chicago’s Transit-Oriented Developments Remain Uneven, New Report Finds
It’s nearly the fifth anniversary of Chicago’s Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (ETOD) Policy Plan.
The 2021 strategy made between the city and Elevated Chicago was devised to increase the number of developments built near public transit while prioritizing affordability, accessibility, anti-displacement efforts and community leadership.
A new report by Elevated Chicago examined the last five years of ETOD policy and found the city has made significant progress in its push to increase the number of ETODs, but warned investment remains deeply uneven with many South and West Side neighborhoods still lacking the same benefits as their northern counterparts.
Previous transit-oriented development policies disproportionately benefited wealthier, mostly white neighborhoods, according to the report. Between 2016 and 2020, nearly 90% of traditional transit-oriented developments were on the North Side.
“When we’re thinking about neighborhoods that have been structurally put out of place or disinvested in, we’re thinking of Black and Brown neighborhoods,” said Nina Idemudia, CEO of the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT). “Depending on the ZIP code, a bank won’t make a loan to you or an investor won’t take a chance on you just because of where you want to put your business, which puts the vulnerable communities that CNT and Elevated Chicago cares about at a disadvantage.”
The report cites the 2022 Connected Communities Ordinance as the city’s greatest reform to equitable transit-oriented developments. It’s reduced, or eliminated in some cases, parking minimums near transit; incentivized the creation of affordable housing units; and promoted pedestrian-friendly designs, among other structural changes.
“We co-convened with the city and that really has been the driver of all of this success,” said Juan Sebastian Arias, executive director at Elevated Chicago. “There are some barriers that we still see, challenges we see in our zoning and how our city is zoned and what kind of developments we allow to have near transit.”
Arias sees opportunities for greater expansion along the upcoming CTA Red Line extension project and around the Orange Line on the Southwest Side of the city.
“Just as we’re investing so much money into the expansion of transit, we need to put that matching investment into the community’s assets and amenities — in affordable housing, in small business supports — and we need to put in place some strong policies to make sure that as this development is coming that there is not displacement,” Arias said.
In support of emerging developers, Chicago invested $10 million in an Elevated Works technical assistance program to help developers navigate zoning, financing and planning hurdles.
Oji Eggleston, a community developer and executive director at the Renaissance Collaborative, received support from the program for his housing development Abrams Intergenerational Village in Washington Park, which recently broke ground.
He said the program provided additional funding, helped establish and maintain important partnerships and provided branding and marketing assistance.
“What’s important for every community are various assets and resources within the community,” Eggleston said. “For ETOD, what’s very important are the businesses around public transportation. … As you add those additional assets to the community, it allows residents to not have to travel far and have the ability to travel within their own community.”
