CREDITS: 2 CM

ABSTRACT

Traffic! Diminished community standards! Renters! This mobile tour explores the developments that once signaled the "end times" for their neighbors. By touring a compact pocket neighborhood, an affordable transit-oriented apartment building, a brownfield redevelopment, stadium, and market-rate "towers", attendees will see firsthand how these controversial projects are actually performing. We will discuss the strategies used to secure approval despite heavy opposition, and examine the real-world impact on their respective neighborhoods. This tour showcases how navigating controversy ultimately connects diverse populations to housing, equity to economics, and resilient ideas to the built environment.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 

1. Analyze the strategies used to secure entitlements for controversial projects, exploring how planners connect ambitious City Council goals to the built environment by bridging the gap between restrictive zoning frameworks and fierce NIMBY opposition.
2. Evaluate the real-world performance and neighborhood impact of diverse housing typologies—from 100% affordable transit-oriented apartments to compact pocket neighborhoods—assessing how these developments successfully connect diverse populations to a wide range of housing options despite initial fears of "diminished standards.
3. Formulate strategies for utilizing targeted infill, market-rate buildings, and brownfield redevelopments as economic catalysts, demonstrating how linking new residential density to transit oriented neighborhood business districts and downtown Evanston, strengthens the broader community.