Growth, Teardowns in Naperville's Future
Recent Chicago Planning Agency releases study on Naperville.

What do you see for Naperville in 2040?

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning recently released a comprehensive plan of the Chicago land area for 2040. The goal of their Go to 2040 campaign is to get residents thinking of what they want their area to look like in the year 2040.

According to CMAP, DuPage County has the highest risk of teardowns in all of Northeastern Illinois. Suzanne Thorsen, The Planning Services Operation Manager for the City of Naperville, attributes that to the fact that DuPage County, for the most part, is built out and there is not a lot of land left for new businesses and homes to be built on.

In CMAP's regional infill report they did a case study on Naperville that
focused on the infill and teardowns that have occurred in the area,
specifically around the downtown area.

One reason the report specifies for teardowns in Naperville is that the
value of some of the older homes in the downtown area are lower than the
value of the land. These older homes are now being replaced by much larger
homes with a significant increase in value.

Another reason is thriving community assets. The accessibility to trains,
shopping and cultural amenities makes downtown Naperville a desirable place
to live.

According to the City of Naperville, teardowns make up 1/4 of single family
development activity.

That's where grass roots organizations like Community First come in.
Community First was started to help ease the transition with all the
rebuilding occurring in Naperville. Their goal is to help sustain the
character of a neighborhood with the continuous improvement and gradual
evolution in Naperville.

"Does the house fit in with the other houses on the neighborhood, are we
respecting our neighbors? We try to make sure the house isn't too big," said
Tom Ryan, President of Community First.

The organization has created a workbook to help builders and homeowners with
their rebuilding.

"After extensive consideration of proposed 'bulk' regulations, in the form
of footprints and/or ratios, and numerical limits on height and yard set
backs, etc., we have concluded that such restraints cannot help us achieve
the vision we have for continuous improvement and gradual evolution of
Naperville's neighborhoods," (Community First website).

For more information on Community First visit www.communityfirstinc.org.

Caroline Rowland reports.