<p>Chicago has made substantial progress in encouraging more development near public transit in the South and West sides — five years after adopting a plan aimed to do just that.</p><p>In 2021, city leaders created an Equitable Transit-Oriented Development, or ETOD, plan. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at the time that the plan would “expand … access and give our most disinvested neighborhoods the long overdue opportunity to enjoy these benefits while not being forced out of the community they call home.”</p><p>The city had long pushed for transit-oriented development, or TOD, projects near CTA bus or rail stops but shifted its framework to ensure more development in historically disinvested neighborhoods.</p><p>There’s been “substantial progress” on more than half of the 42 recommendations the city of Chicago laid out in its 2021 policy, though more work needs to be done, according to a <a class="Link" href="https://elevatedchicago.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/State-of-ETOD-Report-FINAL.pdf" target="_blank" >May report</a> from Elevated Chicago, a coalition of community-based organizations, artists, developers and civic leaders.</p><p>“It's a huge amount of progress. I think we should be collectively proud as a city that we have made so much progress in intentionally investing in more projects, investing resources and technical assistance,” Juan Sebastian Arias, executive director of Elevated Chicago, said.