“Chicago doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel” as it revises its creaky old zoning code, writes Peter Skosey of the Metropolitan Planning Council in its newsletter “Regional Connection” (Winter). “Several cities, from distant San Diego to nearby Elmhurst, have encouraged walkable neighborhoods using special zoning districts around transit/train stations. Other cities have ‘legalized’ the way people live today by zoning for buildings that combine residential and business uses, corner groceries and live/work lofts. Land uses which require lots of space, or bring in lots of cars (like car washes or vast parking lots) can be positioned so as not to break up walkable business districts…. Downtown, meanwhile, the city is awarding density bonuses for amenities it wants (river-edge improvements, sidewalk display windows) instead of things it stopped wanting long ago (shadowy ‘arcades’ along the sides of skyscrapers, empty plazas).”
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“The entrenched gaming industry is stuffing the campaign coffers of state lawmakers,” notes downstate reporter Dominic Jesse in the Illinois Times (January 18-24), and it looks like they have reason to keep on stuffing. In January lawmakers passed a bill granting up to $100,000 in legal assistance for individuals being sued over land titles downstate by the Miami tribe of Oklahoma. “While this bill helps individuals defend themselves in court against the Miami tribe [which claims it was cheated out of 2.6 million acres], it also helps protect existing gambling interests from competition by any upstart tribes.”
