Build the City We Want
July 28, 2025
Letter to the Editor by Alec Schwengler
Link to full article at The Chicago Tribune
Steve Weinshel, president of the Denifer Condominium Association, claims in his op-ed that we should slow down Broadway’s upzoning until there’s enough parking for everyone, assuming that everyone moving into new, parking-light buildings will bring 1.3 cars per household.
When our family searched for a new apartment two years ago, we deliberately chose a home near good transit and amenities without a dedicated parking spot. We don’t own a car — and many others moving into transit-oriented buildings won’t, either. It doesn’t make sense to hold future housing hostage to parking fears in a transit-rich neighborhood.
If there’s truly concern about spillover parking, the solution isn’t to stop building new homes and drive rents even higher. The city can manage parking demand with tools such as limiting street parking permits for transit-oriented developments or reallocating street space from long-term parking to drop-off or delivery zones.
We should build for the Chicago we want — one with more homes and fewer cars — not for a suburban model in which parking dictates what can be built.
— Alec Schwengler, Chicago
