The NYTimes has a long form piece on the the ongoing housing crisis and how it's impacting places we don't usually associate with dramatic spikes in rent and housing prices. They take a deep dive into Kalamazoo, my home town. Kalamazoo County’s home prices have
Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), sometimes know as 'granny flats' have been legalized in MA by state level legislation that prevents localities from interfering with permitting on many common grounds. In Massachusetts, Your In-Law Apartment No Longer Makes You An OutlawAs has been widely reported, Governor Maura Healey on
Tim Walz is a YIMBY. He’s supported a ton of new housing that’s kept rents down in Minnesota.Minneapolis has become a national leader on housing policy reform that’s helped the city build lots of new housing and keep rents way down.AOLEliza Relman Tim Walz, the
Though many of these buildings go far beyond what's doable in Oak Park, there are some great architectural examples in here, some of which would fit in just fine in downtown Oak Park. I'm very glad to see that Chicago is still adding new housing at
The National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials has published a list of zoning modifications recommended to promote affordable housing: Recommendation 1: Eliminate Single Family Zoning Recommendation 2: Bundle Zoning Reforms Recommendation 3: Increase Density Near Transit Recommendation 4: Eliminate Off-site Parking Requirements This is very similar to our own
On July 30th, 2024, the Oak Park Village Board approved the affordable housing project at 1106 Madison. This will be a five story, 36 unit building. It's being built by the folks who did the Sugar Beet Co-op building and will be run by Housing Forward. It'
The Big Zoning Battle of BerkeleyThis is very important, readers.The Discourse LoungeDarrell Owens Even highly-educated Americans in Berkeley, California are so culturally addicted to suburban living that going back to the normal ways of housing density appears extremely radical to them. So those who want to keep the status-quo
During the July 23rd Village Board meeting, village staff presented a number of re-zoning options to the board. The asterisk in the title above represents that fact that all of these options are quite preliminary, and lacking in specifics. Option 1 - Remove the single family only zoning district entirely,
United Center owners planning massive $7 billion mixed-use campus around the arenaPlans call for a music hall, housing, park and pedestrian-friendly spaces as part of a 10-year development project that could start as early as 2025.Chicago Sun-TimesAbby Miller
Village staff will present zoning options to the board during the July 23rd meeting. They put forth the following 'strategic vision': Modify Oak Park’s Zoning Ordinance to Allow “Missing Middle Housing”: 1. Build consensus on intended goals of missing middle housing and zoning changes necessary to achieve
Thomas Ptacek is doing some historical research on Oak Park zoning codes. I will leave the details to him, but he found that our zoning code was penned by none other than Harland Bartholomew and Associates, who entered into a contract to amend our code in the 1940s. Harland Bartholomew
The super PAC, Abundant New York, is the electoral arm of Open New York,a nonprofit group formed in 2016 that advocates more development. The PAC is a more aggressive attempt by the group to make politicians feel consequences for not doing enough to address a worsening housing crisis.