If you're not already familiar with the term "transit-oriented development" yet, there's a good chance that you'll be hearing a lot about it in the coming months. Also known simply as TOD, the type of development allows builders to propose and develop dense residential projects with reduced parking when they build near transit hubs or city-sanctioned commercial corridors called pedestrian streets. A new ordinance regarding TOD heads to the City Council today for a vote on expanding the radius where developers can propose these types of residential projects. The City Council is expected to vote in favor of the plan which would allow developers to build within a 1,320 foot radius of a transit station or 2,640 feet from a designated pedestrian street.
KIG Analytics has created an interactive map tool that allows users to see exactly where developers can build TODs according to the updated ordinance. Essentially, the new rules opens up nearly the entire North Side for developers who want to build the dense (and profitable) buildings. However, the situation looks a lot different in the transit-poor South Side. Pedestrian streets are essentially nonexistent throughout the South Side and the area's 'L' stations are spread out. It's not to say that developers won't build TODs on the South Side, but the total area where they are allowed to build these projects is much, much greater in the North Side.
The yellow space represents the places that are on-limits for TODs. The green lines are designated pedestrian streets and blue dots are CTA stations.
UPDATE: The TOD ordinance is a little more complex than this map currently illustrates. Steven Vance of Chicago Cityscape and Streetsblog Chicago has written Curbed to clarify some of the issues presented:
1. The yellow areas show where only parking requirements would be eliminated (provided the zone is B, C, D, M), and not where FAR/density bonus would apply.
2. The FAR/density bonus still applies only in B/C/D -3 zones, which the map cannot show because it doesn't distinguish zoning districts.
3. The yellow areas are drawn around ALL parts of ALL Pedestrian Streets, but the rule only applies to the portion of a P-Street that's ALSO within 2,640 feet of a train station.
·TOD map [KIG Analytics]
·Expect to See Many More Transit-Oriented Projects in Chicago [Curbed Chicago]
·Big Changes Coming to Chicago's Transit-Oriented Development Ordinance [Curbed Chicago]
·All previous TOD coverage [Curbed Chicago]
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