A prominent real estate developer, Sterling Bay, has proposed a new Metra station in the West Loop, near the office buildings it’s erected. The rationale: make it more convenient for people to disembark near their jobs in the new office node a couple of blocks west of Halsted St rather than at either Ogilvie or Union stations a couple of blocks east of Halsted St. Many of those workers then take ride hail vehicles or shuttle buses operated by their employer or the property manager. A new station would put them two blocks away from work.
A new Metra station in the West Loop is a great idea. There should also be more infill stations on Metra’s citywide network to take advantage of their regional reach, and to fill in gaps in the CTA’s ‘L’ and slow bus networks.
Humboldt Park is another area in Chicago that could benefit from a new Metra station, over in Humboldt Park. I looked at two potential locations:
Chicago/Kedzie, in the Humboldt Park community area, and near the East Garfield Park community area
Division/Grand/Central Park, four blocks west of the park
Both potential locations are where three lines— Milwaukee District-North (MD-N), Milwaukee District-West (MD-W), and North Central Service (NCS)– share tracks before they split near the western end of the Bloomingdale Trail.
Benefits of building a new Metra station
There are two main benefits for building any new Metra station:
I agree with Alder Ramirez-Rosa that “ADU” is not the best term for the kind of “additional” or “accessory” housing that Chicago has banned since 1957 [1]. I prefer “casita”, or “little house” in Spanish. But the headline rhymes!
I want to formally register my dislike for the term ADU. It's a coach house. It's a garden apartment. Build them. Legalize them. Preserve and build upon the gentle density that brings character and greatness to our Chicago neighborhoods. But can we please not call them ADUs?
My 2020 goal is to keep ADUs in the news every week until an ordinance to re-legalize them is passed by Chicago City Council. Then, after passage, ADUS will still need to be discussed in the news media, because adoption and construction is going to take awhile.
Where are we at on January 7, 2020? 48th Ward Alder Harry Osterman, Chair of the Housing Committee said in December that he’d like to see a draft (from the mayor’s office) of an ADU ordinance this month to pass in the spring.
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