The city of Chicago is focusing its development incentives around transit stations, but the people moving into those neighborhoods tend to be wealthier than previous residents.
"Some Logan Square residents are worried that new high-end apartments being built under a city ordinance aimed at promoting development near transit may be accelerating gentrification and pushing lower-income people farther away from the trains," according to an article by Mary Wisniewski.
According to the narrative arc of the article, Chicago is failing to live up the example in transit oriented development set by cities like New York, Philadelphia, Boston and San Francisco. "The Chicago area, meanwhile, saw a decline in development near transit relative to growth in the larger region, the study found." Further limiting the potential of the city's new transit oriented development to be a source of social equity is the growing affluence of new transit area residents as new projects come online. "[The] average household income in transit zones increased by 27 percent from 2000 to 2010," according to Wisniewski.
The article also allows Yonah Freemark to explain how new developments in the area of transit tends to be more expensive because they are new, also arguing that displacement might have been much worse if not for the new development. Freemark is quoted directly: "Displacement occurs more often when there's no construction at all — if you don't build new housing, all the wealthy people will move into existing housing stock….That's what we saw in Wicker Park and Lincoln Park."
The city of Chicago has thrown a fair amount of policy resources at transit oriented development (TOD) in recent years. The city expanded its TOD Ordinance in September 2015, and the Metropolitan Planning Council released a new "TOD Calculator" earlier this year.
FULL STORY: New buildings near 'L' mostly aimed at well-to-do
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Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood is the scene for a very contemporary land use policy debate: how much affordable housing can cultivated from the development opportunities in proximity to transit lines?
New Developments Lower Rents in Surrounding Neighborhoods, Study Says
A study that made the rounds as a working paper at the beginning of 2019 has now been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Displacement Concerns Grow Along With Residential Developments in Vancouver
In its efforts to build a more environmentally sustainable region by prioritizing transit and transit-oriented development, cities in the Vancouver region also create displacement risks for people who already use and depend on transit.
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Google Maps Introduces New Transit, EV Features
It will now be easier to find electric car charging stations and transit options.
Ohio Lawmakers Propose Incentivizing Housing Production
A proposed bill would take a carrot approach to stimulating housing production through a grant program that would reward cities that implement pro-housing policies.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
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