Shape Oak Park is a reasonable and thoughtful improvement to Oak Park’s zoning. The revision allows greater freedom to homeowners selling their homes and, in the long run, will improve housing choices and vitality in our community. These are practical updates that will foster more vibrant business districts and eventually ease accelerating housing costs. Moreover, the increases in active businesses and housing units will gradually reduce the reliance on property taxes from homeowners.
Opponents baselessly claim that the updates will result in significant changes to the character of single-family zoned neighborhoods. Putting aside the veiled implications of that sort of opposition, the argument doesn’t hold water anyway. There are over 10,000 single family homes in Oak Park. An average of 2 single-family properties are torn down annually. So, it would take 50 years to make a difference of only 1% in the number of single-family homes in Oak Park. That isn’t going to affect any neighborhood in any significant way.
Regardless, there is no reason to be concerned about living in a neighborhood with multi-family housing. Our neighborhood has benefited from a variety of housing types from single-family homes to apartment and condo buildings. For the past 20 years, my family has lived next door to a two-flat that has had five different tenants. Each of them has been a friendly neighbor, just as the two owners of the single-family home on our other side have been. We’ve been grateful for the neighborhood and the people surrounding us.
The alarmists opposing Shape Oak Park are overstating its probable impact, scaremongering about spurious effects, and denying that the principles behind these changes bring us closer to our community’s core values. Their tactics are an echo of the arguments against Oak Park’s fair housing ordinance in 1968. Opponents at that time made unfounded claims of presumed negative effects to the community. The village board rightly declined to regard the fearmongering and voted in favor of our core principles then. It should do so again now.
Sources:
[1] For the number of single-family homes – 9,862 single-family detached, 811 single-family attached. The link is at: https://www.cmap.illinois.gov/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/Oak-Park.pdf
[2] Teardowns: I used the number of residential structures that are included in the Demolition – Structure item. You click on Demolition – Structure (66 properties in the right column) then look at the number that are Residential (54 in the left column): https://app.powerbigov.us/view?
Rob Breymaier
Oak Park
