Strengthening Transit Through Community Partnerships
Chicago has more than two-dozen mostly upscale transit-oriented projects in the works or completed — including by the Paulina stop on the Brown Line and by the old Dunkin' Donuts — referred to as "Punkin' Donuts" for its onetime punker clientele — site at Belmont and Clark.
Transit-oriented development supporters say affordability has become a hot topic nationwide — and that more needs to be done to both build and preserve transit-friendly housing and retail for a variety of incomes.
"Every city is grappling with the same problem," said Kyle Smith, TOD manager at the Center for Neighborhood Technology, a Chicago-based urban research group. Smith said public funding — including Chicago Housing Authority vouchers — is needed to supplement what's being done by private developers to serve low- and middle-income people.