Pat Healey’s letter really buried the lede [As I see our village …, Viewpoints, April 5]. I have deep respect for the contributions she has made to the community over the last 50 years. However, I strongly believe that being a single-family homeowner is not a prerequisite to being an active and engaged community member. To be the diverse and inclusive village Oak Park strives to be, we need a wide variety of housing types that support families and individuals with a range of incomes and lifestyles.
Renters make up 54.6% of Oak Park residents, and it’s likely the vast majority of those renters live in larger multifamily buildings. These renters are not just represented by the larger high-rises downtown that get much of the attention, but by the many multi-story apartments that can be found all over the village, especially on larger thoroughfares like Washington and Jackson.
Not everyone has the ability or the desire to own and maintain an old, single-family home like the ones Oak Park are famous for — an opportunity that is becoming increasingly inaccessible in this environment of increasing home values and high mortgage rates. Maintaining a commitment to investing in multifamily housing is a critical element of Oak Park’s vision of a village that is affordable, diverse and climate resilient.
Denser multifamily housing in our community means more pedestrian activity and more eyes on the street. It means more people shopping at our local businesses and eating at our local restaurants, which could spur demand for more retail development on commercial corridors like Chicago Avenue. Denser multifamily housing — especially when it is located near transit, as the corner of Ridgeland and Chicago certainly is — is more energy efficient, water efficient, resource efficient and climate friendly than single-family homes.
The historic character of our community will not be undone by replacing vacant lots and underutilized commercial space with new housing. Neither will your property values. These buildings may be a bit taller than we’re used to in order to meet modern codes, be ADA accessible, and accommodate exciting new sustainable design options. That’s OK. Instead of leveling the same tired charges every time a new apartment development is proposed (traffic, check; oversized building, check; my property values, check; historic character, check), let’s engage around village-wide policies that can help maintain access to affordable housing; encourage walking, biking and public transit; and push the development community to incorporate sustainable building and design practices in new construction projects.
And then let’s keep building more housing.
Nicole Chavas
Oak Park