Oak Park has spent the past year working on the biggest change to its zoning rules in decades. The project is called Shape Oak Park, run with the consulting firm Opticos Design, and it would consolidate the village's 21 zoning districts into 13 and legalize "missing middle" housing — two-flats, three-flats and fourplexes — across most of the village.
In late August 2026 the village board voted 5–1 against putting the zoning changes on the November ballot, so residents will not vote on this directly. Public hearings are still required before the zoning code is actually amended — that is the remaining window for public input.
The village has published a tool that shows your property's current zoning, its proposed district, and what could be built on your lot under the new rules: rezoning.yesoakpark.com
Trustee Jim Taglia has raised concerns about entry-level housing stock disappearing as single-family homes are converted to multifamily rentals, and what that does to first-time buyers building equity. Trustee Cory Wesley has argued the plan needs clearer goals — whether the aim is more units or greater equity. Commentary in the Wednesday Journal in August 2026 noted the proposal arrived without a financial feasibility model, rent or sale-price estimates, an affordability covenant, or an anti-displacement assessment.
IDOT is in preliminary design on a future reconstruction of I-290, working with the village and the engineering firm AECOM on a federally funded study of expanded bridge decking over the expressway. Wider decks could carry new development, public plazas or park space above the Ike.
Three crossings are in the current study: East Avenue, Oak Park Avenue and Lombard Street. Oak Park Avenue is our eastern boundary and I-290 is our southern one, so this is the village project that lands most directly on Center West.
The village board has created a local steering committee with representatives from citizen commissions, the Park District, the CTA and the Southtown Business District. A community meeting was held at the Oak Park Conservatory in April 2026; other Oak Park bridges over I-290 are slated for future reconstruction but aren't part of this study.
The village board's 2026 goals include advancing the Oak Park Bike Plan and the village's Vision Zero plan. Both shape what's possible on our residential streets — speed, crossings, and how cut-through traffic gets handled.
Rush Oak Park Hospital provides excellent healthcare, high-quality jobs and economic development to Oak Park and surrounding communities. We want the hospital to continue to grow and prosper. Unfortunately, the hospital has not always been a good neighbor. Over the decades, and especially since 1999, Rush has bought and bulldozed many homes as it has expanded into the neighborhood with rubber-stamp approval from the village. And for any future expansion, Rush enjoys a near automatic right to build up to 125 feet high next to homes on the 600 blocks of Maple and Wisconsin and 80 feet on the 500 and 600 blocks of Wenonah. CWOPNA has been working with the Village to reduce these maximum heights so if Rush believes a taller building near homes is truly necessary, it could make that case publicly before the Village Board. In that case, we would be guaranteed a voice in what could be a win-win process that would allow the hospital to grow and prosper while protecting the integrity of the neighborhood.