Chicago Politics and Urbanism Daily
Upzoning Meets Chicago’s Hidden Veto Points
Wednesday, June 24, 2026 · 6 min
Chicago zoning reform gets a hard look through Yonah Freemark’s upzoning research, a City Hall explainer on aldermanic prerogative’s hidden vetoes, and CPS’s hybrid school board as reform promises collide with who actually controls permits, services, and schools.
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Show notes
Chicago zoning reform gets a hard look through Yonah Freemark’s upzoning research, a City Hall explainer on aldermanic prerogative’s hidden vetoes, and CPS’s hybrid school board as reform promises collide with who actually controls permits, services, and schools.
In this episode
- [PDF] Upzoning Chicago: Impacts of a Zoning Reform on Property Values and Housing Construction | Semantic Scholar — Urban Affairs Review
* DOI:[10.1177/1078087418824672](https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087418824672) * Corpus ID: 159317550 # Upzoning Chicago: Impacts of a Zoning Reform on Property Values and Housing Construction ``` @article{Freemark2020UpzoningCI, title={Upzoning Chicago: Impacts of a Zoning Reform on Property Values and Housing Construction}, author={Yonah Slifkin Freemark}, journal={Urban Affairs Review}, …
- Step Back — Chicago mayors have promised to curb aldermanic prerogative, but outside the headline zoning fights, where do alderpeople still have de facto veto power over permits, licenses, city services, or contracts — and how can residents tell whether an executive order has actually changed that?
Background sources
- Key City Panel Rejects Bid to Ban Video Gambling in 6 Chicago Wards, Defying Local Alderpeople | Chicago News | WTTW — WTTW
- Chicago's 311 system turns into a 'black hole' for residents' nonemergency complaints - Chicago Sun-Times — Suntimes
- New Zoning chair Villegas begins chipping away at backlog of stalled projects - Chicago Sun-Times — Suntimes
- Federal investigation into affordable housing, aldermanic prerogative in Chicago fizzles - Chicago Sun-Times — Suntimes
- Executive Orders | Office of the City Clerk — Office of the City Clerk
- Chicago Board of Education | Chicago Public Schools — Chicago Public Schools
Top of Page [Skip to Content](#main) Main 1. [Home](/) / 2. [About CPS](/about/) 3. Chicago Board of Education # Chicago Board of Education The Chicago Board of Education ("Board") is a hybrid governing body with 11 members appointed by the mayor and 10 elected members. The Board is responsible for the oversight of Chicago Public Schools (CPS). CPS is committed to transparency, and working…