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Chicago launches $10 million equitable transit programme
29 November 2022
by Christopher Carey
Chicago has launched the first phase of its Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (ETOD) grant programme.
The US$10 million initiative, supported by funding from the Chicago Recovery Plan, will finance and support community-led, equitable development near train stations and high-frequency bus corridors.
During the first phase of the scheme, organisations are invited to respond to the request for proposal (RFP) to provide technical assistance to groups that will receive funding in 2023.
The City is looking for an experienced organisation to create support structures for local, grassroots community groups.
The second phase of the programme, launching next month, will provide grants and technical assistance to directly support the type of dense, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented development enabled by the Connected Communities Ordinance approved by the City Council in July.
“In order to realise my administration’s vision for an equitable city, we must redress and improve the ways we invest in our neighbourhoods,” said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
“By putting funding support behind the Connected Communities Ordinance, we are living our values by supporting developments that are accessible to all residents as well as catalytic for their communities. I look forward to seeing the communities’ proposals for more equitable and inclusive development come to reality through this funding.”
Connecting communities
Aligned with the Connected Communities Ordinance and Chicago Recovery Plan, authorities hope the grant initiative will support Chicago’s post-pandemic economic recovery.
The City says its ETOD approach supports a wide range of policies and plans to ensure every resident can live in a ‘healthy and affordable’ community that connects them to transit and makes it easier for them access key services, jobs and schools.
“The grants will help community stakeholders to shape their neighbourhoods by improving walkability to corner stores, transit options, affordable housing, and other pedestrian-oriented amenities,” said Maurice Cox, Commissioner, Chicago Department of Planning and Development.
In October 2021, the City partnered with Elevated Chicago to select 11 community-driven projects to participate in an inaugural ETOD pilot programme for which participants received micro-grant funding and access to technical assistance, the lessons of which have been used in the new US$10 million initiative.
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