A set of recommendations from the Chicago mayor’s office calls for streamlining city processes to stimulate more residential and commercial development.

A report from the Chicago Mayor’s office outlines more than one hundred recommendations to streamline the development process in the city that include eliminating parking requirements and removing barriers to development.
Dubbed Cut the Tape, the report aims to make development faster and more affordable, reports Melody Mercado in Block Club Chicago. “The report highlights three priorities: build faster, build everywhere and build together. This encompasses speeding up development timelines, allowing more housing and businesses to be developed in more places and partnering with a variety of stakeholders to make that happen.”
Among the top 10 recommendations:
- Adopt “transformational” zoning changes that would eliminate minimum parking requirements, streamline special use permits and more.
- Streamline design and construction requirements.
- Reduce the number of design review meetings within the Department of Planning and Development from three to one, and reassess the role of the Committee on Design.
The report also focuses on upgrading and modernizing technology in city departments and digitizing processes to make information more centralized. For the Department of Buildings, “The city has already created an online permit application system and is working on creating a permitting and licensing portal.”
FULL STORY: Mayor Plans To Boost Housing, Business Development By Cutting Red Tape

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
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Texas Bills Could Push More People Into Homelessness
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USGS Water Science Centers Targeted for Closure
If their work is suspended, states could lose a valuable resource for monitoring, understanding, and managing water resources.

Driving Equity and Clean Air: California Invests in Greener School Transportation
California has awarded $500 million to fund 1,000 zero-emission school buses and chargers for educational agencies as part of its effort to reduce pollution, improve student health, and accelerate the transition to clean transportation.
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