Real estate developers beware: Armed with a new zoning code, Chicago and its
famously picky mayor are out to ban building styles seen as a blight on the
city.
The new zoning codes, which take effect Nov. 1, update rules that were last
rewritten when Eisenhower was president.
The city is conferring endangered-species status on many features of the
urban landscape that planners have come to hate, like street-facing garages in
residential neighborhoods. Or billboards, which will be tougher to put up in
some areas. More green space, more windows. Less concrete, less visual clutter.
"There were a lot of people who said you'll never get (the zoning rewrite)
done because of Chicago politics," says Edward J. Kus, former executive director
of the mayor's Zoning Reform Commission. "I guess the biggest surprise is that
we actually accomplished it."
Yet what's already been done can't be undone. Here's a sampling of some
design "features" that become don'ts under the new zoning rules.
No more blank walls
It could pass for a medium-security prison, but this building is actually
part of the Dearborn Park residential development in the South Loop. Too much
brick and not enough windows, say planning experts. "As a pedestrian, you have a
great sense of isolation," says
Peter Skosey
, vice-president
for external relations of the Chicago-based regional advisory group
Metropolitan Planning Council
. He cites studies showing that
many pedestrians won't walk along blank walls of 100 feet or more. Under the new
code, windows or doors must cover a minimum of 17.5% of a building's walls that
face a sidewalk