A new vision for downtown Joliet centered on equity

August 5, 2025

In July 2025, Joliet City Council officially adopted the Downtown Joliet Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (ETOD) Plan, a bold vision that began in 2024. The plan process was facilitated by the RTA as part of the agency’s Community Planning program to create housing opportunities, improved mobility, and access to transit near the Gateway Center, a hub for Amtrak, Metra, and Pace services. Hundreds of resident voices helped to shape the plan through extensive public engagement efforts, both in-person and virtual.

The community-driven initiative focuses on creating accessible and inclusive communities near public transportation. The plan aims to ensure that development around transit stations benefits everyone, including the existing downtown residents and underserved populations. The plan promotes affordable housing, economic opportunities, and access to essential services near transit. It envisions transforming this area into a vibrant, mixed-use district where residents can live, work, and access transit safely and conveniently.

A recent market analysis identified a demand for up to 250 additional housing units within the study area. The plan emphasizes prioritizing existing residents to minimize displacement as housing demand grows. It also calls for the creation of “complete neighborhoods,” where residents can meet most of their daily needs—such as access to fresh food, recreation, healthcare, and transit—within a 15-minute walk from home. Beyond land use recommendations, the plan addresses urban design and multimodal transportation improvements to make traveling without a car easier and safer.

Planning Director Jayne Bernhard, who has led the initiative over the past year, emphasized the plan’s importance to ongoing revitalization efforts and its alignment with the city’s broader comprehensive plan currently in development.

“Adoption of this plan by the council means the city is committed to implementing 73 recommended actions, including a much-needed update to the zoning ordinance to enable the types of development envisioned by the plan,” said Bernhard. “For example, one of the higher priority actions is to update zoning to allow for multi-family and mixed-use development right in the downtown, particularly near the train station. Another recommends working with owners of buildings with underutilized or vacant space to understand owner interest and potential financial, regulatory, and procedural barriers to redevelopment.”

Mayor Terry D’Arcy underscored the importance of attracting more residents to the downtown area to help fuel local economic growth.

“If we have more people living downtown and in surrounding neighborhoods, it supports existing businesses and creates opportunities for new ones in the heart of the city,” D’Arcy said.

Next Steps: Updating Joliet’s Zoning Code

Now that the ETOD plan has been adopted, the City of Joliet is moving forward with implementation. Joliet’s zoning ordinance is the most direct tool in implementing the plan’s recommendations; it guides the nature and design of development throughout the study area. This year, the RTA and the City will develop an ETOD Zoning Code Update project within the agency’s Community Planning program.

The project will update the municipal zoning code in areas surrounding the Gateway Transportation Center in downtown Joliet to allow the types and styles of development envisioned in the ETOD plan. The existing zoning code restricts multi-family housing in portions of the study area without a special use permit and therefore allows only single family homes on large lots with yards in this area of downtown, where the new vision is for a vibrant, mixed-use area with housing and economic vitality for residents.

The update will also consider policies that would require new residential developments to set aside a portion of housing units for low-to-moderate-income households. Necessary zoning code changes include reducing off-street parking requirements, updating building requirements like setbacks, improving design guidelines, and streamlining the permit approval/development review process.

These updates will help remove barriers to equitable development and bring the ETOD vision for a thriving, accessible downtown Joliet closer to reality.

Learn more about the 2025 Community Planning program of projects.