Link to full article at The Loyola Phoenix
The proposal to upzone 2.6 miles of Broadway Avenue in Edgewater and Uptown will be voted on Oct. 14 by the City Council Committee on Zoning. In response to the proposal, residents on both sides of the contentious proposal are ramping up support, from making posters and organizing rallies to buying billboards and taking legal action.
The upzoning ordinance was first introduced in early 2024 with the support of 48th Ward Alderwoman Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth. The most recent zoning change was in 2006, which restricted the size and uses of buildings on Broadway. When Edgewater and Uptown residents expressed their desire for affordability to Alderwoman Manaa-Hoppenworth (48th), upzoning came to the forefront of discussion.
“We have to undo some structures that were put into place because they have had long term impacts,” Manaa-Hoppenworth said. “The impact of that vote 20 years ago is that our rents are spiking faster and higher than other neighborhoods in this area.”
This call to action is echoed by Chicago resident Steven Vance, one of the organizing members of Abundant Housing Illinois and founder of the development data website Chicago Cityscape. Abundant Housing Illinois is an organization focused on increasing affordable housing and supporting upzoning throughout Chicago.
“Chicago and Illinois both have housing shortages and rapidly rising rents, and new housing is necessary to help bring rents down,” Vance said. “In my own analysis, the housing capacity based on the zoning districts in the project area would increase from about 8,000 units possible to about 18,000 units possible.”
Some residents worry the proposed upzoning will have a negative impact on the community. The Edgewater Residents for Responsible Development (ERRD), formally opposes the upzoning, claiming their concerns aren’t being addressed.
In a March 2025 mission statement, ERRD said upzoning without extensive planning is a mistake that will endanger the character of Broadway and the quality of life in Edgewater.
ERRD said the upzoning process has been rushed and done without the proper planning required for such a drastic change. However, Manaa-Hoppenworth said the city has been working with the community through public hearings, surveys and open board nights. She also expressed the need to upzone amidst the Red Line’s recent construction and added stations.
“I think it’s important for people to express their opinions, but also to understand that this is an opportunity that we have been sweeping under the rug for 20 years,” Manaa-Hoppenworth said. “We can’t do that with this huge $2 billion investment in our transit system wherein we have no vacancies and spikes in rents.”
Other residents have expressed this same sentiment about the importance of building more housing around Chicago’s transit system, especially amidst its recent improvements.
“We are in one of the most transit-rich places in the entire United States, but it doesn’t get a whole lot better than where we all live along the red line here,” Edgewater resident Neville Hemming said. “It’s one of the few places in this country you can not only survive but thrive without a car.”
Hemming is one of the founding members of Neighbors of Edgewater and Uptown, a grassroots organization formed in early 2025 to support the proposed upzoning. Hemming said although most residents use public transit, EERD has raised concerns over how the possible increase in residents from upzoning will impact traffic for those who do have a car.
To promote their message, ERRD has raised money to fund two billboards on Broadway Avenue. One billboard the group sponsors reads “Stuck in traffic? Can’t find parking? 15,000 new residents won’t help! Say no to upzoning.”
Another concern raised by the group is the impact upzoning might have on local businesses. In a video organized by ERRD, multiple local business owners voice their opposition to upzoning and asserting it will raise rents and threaten their businesses. However, Vance said the outcome on businesses will be more nuanced.
“Just because you upzone, it isn’t going to cause business rents to rise,” Vance said. “I think the outcome that is more likely is that some businesses might get displaced through the redevelopment of the property. But, I also think the type of building that is most likely to have that sort of transformation are the many strip malls on Broadway.”
Vance said upzoning may also have a positive effect on local businesses.
“When new housing gets built, there are more homes available and the population should increase,” Vance said. “Those new residents will then shop at local businesses.”
The possible effects of upzoning have alarmed residents on both sides of the issue, but Hemming notes the dangers of misrepresenting the outcomes of upzoning.
“I think there has been a bit of misinformation from those that are organizing the opposition,” Hemming said. “I think that they are intentionally misinforming some of these small businesses. They make it sound like the government is going to come and knock down their building and kick them out, and that’s just not how this works at all.”
Apart from the concern for local businesses, EERD said the upzoning plan will also endanger legacy buildings. In the proposal, only “Orange Rated” properties — buildings with proven historical or architectural significance — would have a hold on demolition to undergo community review. The vast majority of buildings in Edgewater, including “Neighborhood Character Buildings,” which is unique to the neighborhood’s design or culture, would have no protection against demolition.
“Absolutely we must protect those precious buildings that are character buildings of neighborhoods, but at the same time it needs to be balanced with thoughtful and responsible development,” Manaa-Hoppenworth said.
In the time leading up to the final votes on the upzoning proposal, ERRD held a public meeting with over 250 residents Sept. 17 to discuss their “Win-Win” compromise, according to Andrea Raila, a EERD speaker at the event and Sr. Tax Analyst at Raila & Associates, P.C..
The forum was tense and devolved into yelling several times as the generally younger pro-upzoning crowd argued with the speakers.
“There were 280 people here,” Raila said. “18 were probably in their thirties or younger that stood up and said ‘This is ridiculous. You’re not making sense,’ and walking out.”
Raila said Edgewater residents should be respectful of the diversity of opinions presented by their neighbors.
“I would love to have a magic wand and upzone one and a half miles and have affordable housing,” Raila said. “But it’s not necessarily going to happen, and I think we had good speakers, but it’s dividing the community, and I hate that.”
Edgewater resident Ben Carbery said he was disappointed by the way the forum went.
“It felt like they just rehashed classic NIMBY talking points,” Carbery said. “They said more apartment construction does not increase housing affordability and avoided confronting the facts.”
Carbery said his friends and neighbors were being priced out of Chicago and believed the upzoning would help bring down the price of housing, which he said was his number one priority.
Under their compromise, the EERD said they will use blanket upzoning in certain parts of Edgewater while handling other areas on a case-by-case basis. The plan also emphasizes differences between the east and west sides of Broadway.
“Taller, denser buildings are not suitable on the west side given small lot sizes and nearby low-density homes with shared alleys,” ERRD said.
However, Menaa-Hoppenworth said she doesn’t believe a distinction between the east and west sides of the street is necessary.
“Broadway has been used as a buffer for so long between the East and the West sides of Edgewater, and really it’s an artificial barrier that doesn’t make sense,” Manaa-Hoppenworth said.
There’s no indication the “Win-Win” compromise is being formally considered by the city, but this hasn’t stopped the ERRD from gaining support from residents, including raising funds for a lawyer they claim to have hired to fight the upzoning if it passes.
In a Sep. 8 letter to Mayor Brandon Johnson, EERD President Patricia Sharkley wrote “Your action in the next few weeks can help avoid a contentious lawsuit which will delay implementation of the DPD upzoning proposal for years, during which time Edgewater residents and businesses will only become more alienated.”
EERD reiterated their threat to sue at their community forum Sept. 17. Though no lawsuit has been brought against the city yet, Manaa-Hoppenworth said her intention is to stand by the upzoning.
“The city needs to be ready for anything. I need to be ready for anything,” Manaa-Hoppenworth said. “What I can say is the process that we have gone through has been transparent, has been with integrity, and with thoughtfulness for the future of not just the people who are living today but for generations to come. And that I’m proud of.”