Edgewater Needs a Plan for Broadway, Not Just Upzoning—Tribune Opinion

By Todd Baish | January 20, 2026
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Chicago faces numerous overlapping challenges: an affordable housing shortage, climate volatility, declining transit ridership, struggling small businesses and streets still designed more for cars than people. These challenges are evident in Edgewater, especially along Broadway. Yet at this pivotal moment, the city of Chicago is failing to do what cities must do when change is inevitable: plan for it.

The Department of Planning and Development and Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, 48th, recently pushed through a major upzoning of Broadway despite neighborhood opposition calling for basic corridor planning. City leaders asserted that the zoning change would facilitate affordability, economic vitality and a more livable neighborhood. But they have put the cart before the horse. Zoning alone is not a vision, and it will not deliver those outcomes.

The city’s zoning windfall for developers fails to address the fundamental questions that shape successful urban places, especially near transit: Where should density be concentrated? How should people walk, bike, drive and access transit? How do we preserve valuable historic districts and buildings while accommodating growth? And how do we improve upon the development pattern that has defined Broadway for decades? Many smaller developers who dominate Chicago’s commercial streets are structured for one-off projects. They do not assemble land, plan multisite districts or invest in shared infrastructure unless the city establishes a clear framework and participates financially. Transit-oriented hubs will not emerge simply by layering on zoning bonuses.

The city has said it is not pursuing further planning along the Broadway corridor, citing a 2018 CTA plan created to secure federal funding. This is despite the fact that the Department of Planning and Development has produced detailed corridor plans in many other parts of Chicago, providing clear direction for developers and translating community priorities into built form. Planning Commissioner Ciere Boatright has championed vision-driven planning. From the Edgewater community’s perspective, it is unclear why that leadership is not being applied here, particularly after the city’s massive investment in rebuilding the Red and Purple lines.

Edgewater’s opportunity is unique. No other location along the Red Line north of downtown has as much underused land adjacent to multiple rebuilt CTA stations. Nearly 1 million square feet of underused land near three modernized stations (within a tax increment financing district) could accommodate roughly 3,200 new homes along with much-needed retail. This rare opportunity warrants thoughtful planning and should not be left to the whims of the marketplace alone.

The most glaring example is the CTA’s pending disposition of three parcels near the Bryn Mawr station without a master plan. One large site is earmarked for Chicago’s green social housing initiative. At the same time, adjacent late 19th-century buildings along Bryn Mawr Avenue remain unprotected and vulnerable to demolition. These buildings could anchor a vibrant retail district similar to the successful Armitage Avenue corridor near the Brown Line. Without a coordinated vision, new development risks becoming a series of isolated projects that do little to revitalize the district or set a strong precedent for the corridor. Projects of this scale require city leadership, including tools such as tax increment financing to support infrastructure, public space, historic preservation and small business retention.

This failure is especially troubling given the city’s more than $2 billion investment in rebuilding the Red and Purple lines. Ridership remains below prepandemic levels, and the CTA faces a serious fiscal shortfall. Development near stations is essential to restoring transit use, but only if it is guided by intentional planning, not just upzoning.

Design quality is also at stake. Much of the development along the Red Line follows an economics-driven formula: lot-filling buildings yielding basic apartments and minimal street engagement. Few create destinations or a strong sense of place. Edgewater has the opportunity, and responsibility, to do more.

This is a once-in-a-generation moment. The community cannot do this alone, and broader planning is not being advanced locally. That responsibility rests with the city of Chicago.

Chicago has planned corridors such as Clark Street and Western Avenue. Broadway deserves the same. If we get this wrong, we lock in mediocrity for decades. If we get it right, Edgewater can become a model for how Chicago grows, intentionally, equitably and with vision to establish a new Broadway. Chicago should choose planning over shortcuts.

Todd Baisch is a 36-year Edgewater resident, architect and design strategist.