The 606 Trail, the 2.7-mile linear park and path built on what used to be elevated train tracks in Chicago, has been proven to reduce crime in the neighborhoods it services: Bucktown, Wicker Park, Humboldt Park, and Logan Square. But as that goes down, home prices and property taxes are going up in those neighborhoods, and that’s causing some unease about gentrification and thoughts on how to manage it. 

According to a study from the institute for Housing Studies at DePaul University cited in an editorial by the Chicago Tribune, housing prices along the trail west of Western Avenue increased 48 percent from 2013, when construction on the trail began, to 2016. In neighborhoods just east of the trail, housing prices went up nearly 14 percent in that same period.

To combat gentrification, two aldermen, Proco "Joe" Moreno of Chicago’s 1st Ward, and Roberto Maldonado of the 26th, are proposing an ordinance that would raise demolition fees for developers in neighborhoods along the trail to discouraging razing old housing to build pricey new homes. It would also charge a “deconversion” fee for redeveloping multifamily housing into single-family housing.

However, the Tribune doesn’t think this proposal will change much:

“Does Maldonado really think that ramping up demolition fees would deter a developer who's angling to make a killing on a teardown? If the price is right, an old two-flat's going to get demolished and replaced by something in the seven-figure range, no matter what demolition fee is charged.” 

The editorial instead proposes that developers should tie affordable housing into Transit-Oriented Developments for the neighborhoods around the 606.

The editorial concludes that the changes happening around the 606—good and bad—are simply part of a city’s life:

“Cities aren't static entities, frozen in time. They evolve, principally because their neighborhoods evolve. People move in and out, businesses and shops come and go. It's a process as natural as evolution itself.”