I have been trying to understand the Oak Park Village Board’s proposed single-family zoning change in support of its initiative for more “missing middle housing.” It took some searching to discover https://engageoakpark.com/shape, a whole website devoted to the issue that neither I nor many other Oak Parkers were aware of. Why does it have to be so difficult to get information? A document of further interest was “Shape Oak Park Engagement Summary” (Jan. 2026).
I started my attempt at self-education with several questions: What percent of increase in density is the board aiming for? How does it plan to manage it? Why would variances to zoning laws not be enough? If the goal is also to increase diversity, what is the evidence that eliminating single-family zoning will lead to greater diversity in Oak Park? Are there other like communities that serve as a model? How is eliminating single-family zoning going to make Oak Park more affordable for all?
The information referenced above did not provide answers. In fact, some of the Shape Oak Park stakeholder discussions in the “Engagement Summary” noted challenges that are echoed in my own questions. What is the village board’s thinking on the challenges of preserving neighborhood character; making missing middle housing financially workable without subsidies; accommodating increased density with existing infrastructure, such as traffic, parking, schools, public services?
Affordability and diversity have been cited as major goals in wanting to change the single-family zoning code. If about half of the village’s current housing units are multifamily, mostly rentals, as Dan Haley’s column in Wednesday Journal (June 24) noted, and Oak Park’s property taxes are notoriously high as we know, how are taller multifamily units going to make living in the village more affordable? According to the Institute of Housing Studies at DePaul University, the share of owner-occupied households in Oak Park that are cost-burdened (more than 30 percent of household income spent on mortgage, rent, or other housing needs) is a shocking 25.1%. The share of cost-burdened renter-occupied households is 43.9% (https://www.housingstudies.org/data-portal/geography/oak-park/#cost-burdened-households).
What will new Missing Middle Housing by itself do for these Oak Parkers? As Robert Milstein pointed out in his excellent letter in these pages, significant change in affordability and reduction of racial as well as economic disparities take a broader range of measures than zoning reform alone.
I appreciate and respect the work VOP trustees selflessly do. However, to say that because they were elected to office they have a mandate to make such a consequential decision without voter input is hubristic. I wish the trustees would engage with their constituents, respond to our many unanswered questions, and make their evidence-based case to us before moving forward.
If they don’t feel the need to, we deserve a referendum.
Zarine Weil
Longtime Oak Park resident