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Originally Posted by Bonsai Tree
Sorry Mr. FOT Parking Lot Representative,
But I don't think that's the problem. The problem is that the aldermen have too much power, and they abuse their power frequently. If the aldermen had less power then the city could create a truly powerful planning committee.Then we could get rid of NIMBYism once and for all.
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I share your goals, and there are many problems associated with the amount of power we have granted Alsermen over zoning. But I have to push back against the idea that taking away that power would reduce NIMBY power.
If zoning was really controlled by the urban planners, we might end up following the lead of other major US cities which end up zoning almost everything too tightly. The advantage of Chicago’s locally-controlled, parcel-by-parcel zoning is that it allows experimentation and a case-by-case evaluation of the costs and benefits.
And, most importantly, it allows for more lobbying by developers. Some people call that a form of corruption, but democracy requires that all stakeholders’ voices be heard. If the benefits to society of a dense development are sufficiently large, it’s tbe developer’s lobbying that helps gain the Alderman’s approval over the voices of a handful of NIMBYs. It’s unlikely that developers would lobby sufficiently for more relaxed zoning if it was controlled centrally.