Last week, City Council eliminated parking mandates for most new residential properties. The vote was unanimous, as alders hope to spur residential construction and ease Chicago’s affordable housing strain.
What Do Parking Mandates Have to Do With Housing?
When developers build a new apartment or condo building, they’re usually required to add in parking spaces — up to two spaces per unit depending on property type.
Until last week’s vote, developers could ask for an exemption if they were building close to CTA or Metra stops. But housing advocates argue that step presents a barrier to new construction, especially when over 70% of the city is technically transit-served. (See breakdown on this advocate’s interactive map.)
Meanwhile, Chicago is short more than 119,000 affordable units, and more than half of Chicagoans spend over 30% of income on rent and utilities.
What’s Changed?
Now, with the exception of downtown and Metra-only zones, builders don’t need special permission to skip parking. That opens up more than half of the city to new residential development with less red tape.
While drivers in some neighborhoods may worry about increased competition for street parking, Chicago’s “apartment building parking glut” stretches back for years. A 2016 study found that Chicago apartment parking exceeded demand, especially near public transit.
Hopefully, those transit hubs remain. Illinoisans are currently awaiting lawmakers’ answer to the CTA’s looming fiscal cliff.
