Proposed District 1 Boundary
The Council proposed to adopt a new redistricting map that would include District 1 of College Park two new new projects, Mazza Grandmarc students housing and Camden condominiums across Route 1 (please see the proposed map).
Both projects are currently part of District 4that mostly includes neighborhood west of Route 1.
Under the City Charter, every ten years, after the decennial census, the Council must appoint a redistricting commission to adjust the City Council districts and adjust the boundaries so that the four districts have approximately the same numbers of both long-term residents and registered voters.
The City is saying that they need to realign this boundary because, while District 1 lost a lot of population (mostly due to foreclosures) since 2000, it has less population than the other districts, but since it does not have any student housing, it has fewer registered voters. The idea of moving these two projects into District 1 was to give the district more residents but not give it more registered voters. The intent is to try to even out the number of registered voters and residents in each district. This also places some student housing in District 1 – currently, there is none.
Other significant changes include moving some of the student housing on campus from District 2 into District 4 with the assistance of services such as chicago moving services and moving the East Campus project from District 2 into District 3.
The proposed boundary was introduced last night, and a public hearing will be held sometime in the next couple of months.