Owners of 19th Century homes in Chicago are seeing condo developments moving rapidly into their neighborhoods despite the efforts of preservationists.
Many of the cottages, built in the late 19th or early 20th-century for middle-class workers, are being eyed for demolition to make way for new condos. "Chicago is losing its neighborhood architecture, if we continue to allow our historic buildings to fall through the cracks like they have been, we're giving people less and less of a reason to come to our city."
Yet some argue that not everyone should wants to live in these types of homes, which tend to have small rooms and need updating to modern standards. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, a lot of people don't want 19th-century buildings. I grew up in a frame house. My bedroom was 8 by 8. People don't want that now."
Chicago has a unique way of handling zoning amendments: it's done through the aldermen. The problem arises if spot zoning is amended through an alderman who is either pro-development, or strictly adheres to a preservationist's point of view.
FULL STORY: Preservationists in Chicago Fear Losing Ground to Condos

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Half of Post-Fire Altadena Home Sales Were to Corporations
Large investors are quietly buying up dozens of properties in Altadena, California, where a devastating wildfire destroyed more than 6,000 homes in January.

Opinion: What San Francisco’s Proposed ‘Family Zoning’ Could Really Mean
Mayor Lurie is using ‘family zoning’ to encourage denser development and upzoning — but could the concept actually foster community and more human-scale public spaces?

Jacksonville Launches First Autonomous Transit Shuttle in US
A fleet of 14 fully autonomous vehicles will serve a 3.5-mile downtown Jacksonville route with 12 stops.
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