Bikes
Survey Closes Tomorrow — Last Call for Portage Park
If you haven't taken the three-minute Portage Park Neighborhood Bike Network survey, today is your last full day: it closes Sunday, March 15. CDOT is proposing bike lanes on Central, Laramie, and Montrose and five neighborhood greenways across the 30th, 38th, and 45th wards, with installation slated for late 2026 or early 2027. The March 5 community meeting drew more than 200 people; the survey is at chicago.gov in English and Spanish.
HB 2454: Advocates Push Back Harder
A Streetsblog Chicago story published Friday puts the advocacy community's position bluntly: ignore the City of Chicago's lobbying and pass HB 2454. Ride Illinois Executive Director Dave Simmons reiterated that Illinois remains the country's only state where cyclists are "permitted but not intended" road users on undesignated streets — a legacy of the 1998 Boub v. Wayne ruling — and that this legal anomaly has direct, documented consequences for injured riders.
The city's argument, that the bill would cost "millions" in annual liability, continues to invite skepticism. Chicago's own road-condition injury claims data suggests the real exposure is a fraction of that figure. Cycling advocates would prefer a city government that fixes dangerous roads rather than one that legally immunizes itself against the consequences of not fixing them.
The bill is still in committee. Tuesday's primary is a useful opportunity to signal support for legislators who back it — the Active Transportation Alliance publishes district-by-district candidate assessments.
A Bright Spot: Blackstone Bicycle Works Earns USA Cycling Grant
Worth noting amid the ongoing policy fights: Blackstone Bicycle Works, the South Side youth cycling program based at the Experimental Station in Woodlawn, received a USA Cycling Everyone Rides Community Impact Grant. The funds offset race registration fees and kit costs for the BBW Youth Cyclocross Team — two of the biggest financial barriers for new competitors. Two riders earned category wins in their first competitive season. Starting this month, the program also launches its Earn-a-Bike track for 9–11 year olds on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Wildlife
Spring Is the Test for the Rat Contraceptive Pilot
The Lincoln Park rat contraceptive pilot — now in its seventh month — is entering its most consequential phase. Rats overwinter and re-emerge in force when temperatures rise, making spring the real-world exam for whether WISDOM Good Bites™ has meaningfully reduced the reproductive population on the eight monitored blocks. Ald. Knudsen's rough timeline ("six to eight months... then they go down drastically") points to precisely now. Maureen Murray's team at Lincoln Park Zoo's Urban Wildlife Institute will be watching, as will anyone who has watched a hawk die of secondary poisoning.
Full data is expected this summer. If numbers confirm what Knudsen is predicting, a citywide ordinance giving all 50 wards access to the contraceptive program would be the next step. Chicago has been Orkin's rattiest city ten straight years — the spring numbers will determine whether that streak has a credible challenger.
Housing & Abundance
BUILD vs. The Suburbs: Pritzker's Zoning Plan Hits Resistance
Gov. Pritzker's BUILD (Building Up Illinois Developments) plan, which would limit municipal authority to block multi-unit housing on residentially zoned land, is drawing predictable opposition. Peoria Mayor Rita Ali traveled to Springfield to call it "an unprecedented use of state power," arguing that land-use decisions belong at the local level.
She's not wrong that it's a significant preemption. But the case for state intervention is fairly straightforward: Illinois has a shortage of roughly 142,000 housing units, the second-strictest zoning regime in the Midwest, and a history of municipalities using local control to exclude density rather than serve residents. The governor's tiered framework — up to four units by right on lots between 2,500 and 5,000 square feet, up to eight on lots over 7,500 square feet — is not radical by national standards. Minneapolis, Honolulu, and Montana have gone further.
The $250 million capital package ($100M for site prep grants, $100M for middle housing development, $50M for first-time homebuyer assistance) requires General Assembly approval, and specific thresholds will be subject to negotiation. The Tribune editorial board backed the plan's direction; the spring legislative session is where it lives or dies.
The Other Half of the Housing Problem
A March 11 Tribune op-ed makes a point worth holding alongside the BUILD conversation: Chicago loses roughly 5,000 naturally occurring affordable units per year to upscale conversion and abandonment. The city's affordable rental stock has dropped from 45% of all rentals in 2012 to 37% in 2023, per DePaul's Institute for Housing Studies — a loss that outpaces much of what new construction can recover.
The two insights aren't in conflict: Chicago needs more supply and better protection of existing affordable housing. The abundance agenda tends to focus on the former; a full account of the housing shortage requires taking the latter seriously too.
ADU Countdown: 18 Days
April 1 is 18 days out. If you're planning an ADU in a single-family zone, the key question is still whether your alderperson has opted in. Full information at chicago.gov/adu. Permit tracker: Chicago Cityscape.
Vegan
A Small Evanston Bright Spot
The vegan dining contraction continues (Kitchen 17, Bloom, XMarket, and others are gone), but there's a small sign of life just north of the city. Restaurant 17, a fully plant-based concept with 17 seats and 17 dishes, opened in January at the Hilton Orrington in Evanston. The origin story is unusual: owner Stephan Outrequin went vegan after a near-fatal surfing accident and a medically-induced coma, and eventually channeled that transformation into a restaurant where diners watch their food prepared in an open kitchen. His other Evanston venture, Land & Lake Cafe, is slated to open this spring.
The Chicago Tribune's January 2026 post-mortem on the closure wave is probably required reading for anyone in the space: the consensus is that survival going forward requires a reason to exist beyond the word "vegan" on the sign. Two cozy, tightly edited family-run restaurants in Evanston seem like a reasonable interpretation of that lesson.
Portage Park Bike Network survey closes tomorrow, March 15. Illinois primary: Tuesday, March 17 — check Active Transportation Alliance candidate assessments. City Council meets March 18. ADU ordinance effective April 1 (18 days).