Parking Requirements Reduced in Chicago
TOD Ordinance is Spurring New Mixed-Use Development
Submitted on 09/9/2014. Tags for this image:An ordinance passed last fall in Chicago allows any residential building going up within 600 ft. of a transit station to have 50% less parking than is usually required in the city. Chris Bentley in the Architect's Newspaper investigated whether this new ordinance is having an effect and found several mixed-use, transit-oriented developments taking advantage of the reduced parking requirements. One building near the Division Blue Line stop is slated to have 40 apartments, 2,500 square feet of commercial space, and only 21 parking spaces.
“The relationship between location efficiency and parking demand is clear,” said CNU Board Member and President of the Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) Scott Bernstein. “When we develop with convenience and connectivity in mind, we are prioritizing people over parking. When we allow developers to decide the appropriate amount of parking for a project, we are reducing construction costs, which can make units more abundant and affordable. Though Chicago hasn’t been as successful as its peer cities in promoting TOD over the years, and its TOD ordinance could be better, these developments offer some hope that the trend is reversing.”