In the September issue of New Homes, Peter Skosey of the Metropolitan Planning Council reminds buyers to look beyond the price of a new home and to consider all the additional costs that home's location could create.

When most people shop for a home, their minds are on financing and floor plans, not the details of their daily commute. They’ll look up the local school system’s report card, but they probably won’t test drive the area roads at rush hour. Many will value a garage or indoor parking spot, but never consider that the bottom-line cost of their new home includes what they’ll spend driving to and from work, the grocery store, and soccer practice every year.

The reality is each rush-hour driver in Chicagoland loses nearly $1,700 a year while sitting in traffic, according to a new report from the nonprofit Metropolitan Planning Council. Rising gas prices snag the headlines, but wasted time accounts for almost $1,600 of the price tag.

Homeowners who look beyond the picket fence – and down their driveway – can see growing gridlock means more time, fuel and, ultimately, money out of their pockets. For the first time in modern society, transportation and housing are neck-and-neck for the top two household expenses.

Read all of Peter Skosey's column for New Homes.

Bus rapid transit is not your grandfather’s bus service – or your current service, for that matter, writes Peter Skosey. In a column for the July issue of New Homes, Skosey explains the differences between Chicago's current bus system and the bus rapid transit system Mayor Richard M. Daley and the Chicago Transit Authority announced earlier this year. A bus rapid transity system should attract new storefronts, increase the land value around stations, and bring new life to the streets and neighborhoods along planned routes, Skosey writes.

Among urban home buyers, access to transit is among the top selling points. Bus rapid transit improves the reliability of mass transit by 25 to 30 percent and is also faster than buses, thanks to its dedicated lanes and signal priority. Some 5,400 new residential units have developed along Cleveland’s Healthline, a testament to transit’s draw.

It may seem counterintuitive that bus rapid transit will relieve traffic congestion when, by design, it brings new development to communities. Indeed, communities thrive when a certain level of congestion exists; bustling streets and sidewalks are a sign that a community has much to offer. On the other hand, bumper-to-bumper traffic, shoulder-to-shoulder pedestrians, and overcrowded buses and ‘L’ trains gum up the works. Bus rapid transit can help strike the delicate balance between too much and too little traffic by attracting new development while giving people faster, more convenient options for getting to, from and around their neighborhood.

Read the entire column here.

My writeup on River North's parking options for luxury homes didn't make mention of The Huron at 8 E Huron St, but now I've got the skinny on the available options.

Because the 28-story high-rise was originally designed for 74 homes, the layout still calls for a similar number of parking spots, according to Tricia Fox, the marketing agent for the development.

That means buyers of the 47 larger homes have the option of purchasing more than one spot.

Parking starts at $55,000 for a deeded spot, and the homes start around $1 million.

About 25 percent of all Americans shopping for a home in the next 20 years will want to live within a half-mile of a public transit stop, and people who give up cars completely can trim more than $6,000 from their annual household budgets.

That's the word from Peter Skosey, vice president of external relations for the Metropolitan Planning Council. Skosey wrote about public transportation's benefits to home owners in the March issue of New Homes Magazine (available now at these locations).

After college, Chicago resident Ariel Diamond chose to settle just two blocks from the Sheridan Red Line station on the North Side. She quickly discovered that the city’s streets are laid out on a grid, making it a no-brainer to get just about anywhere on a bus. And she was thrilled to discover what she calls “the magical grocery store” located adjacent to “her” train station. Alta Vista Foods carries an abundance of fresh foods, including meats and produce, all packed neatly into a tiny storefront just steps from the Sheridan stop.

Diamond’s experience illustrates why more developers and homebuyers are embracing “transit-oriented development.” TOD is pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use development built around – and shaped by – transit stations. Typically focused on capturing residential and retail opportunities within a half-mile of a transit station, TOD combines rental and for-sale homes with restaurants, grocery stores, office buildings and other commercial uses.

Read the rest of Skosey's column here.

FitzGerald Associates Architects recently received a 2008 Charter Award from the Congress for the New Urbanism for its work on the Oakwood Shores development in Bronzeville.

The CNU, a San Francisco-based nonprofit, hands out 15 Charter Awards annually to firms that "set the gold standard for urban design and development and serve as powerful examples for future development," according to the group's Web site.

Granite Partners for Oakwood Boulevard LLC is building more than 3,000 homes on land owned by the Chicago Housing Authority, including the former sites of the Madden Park, Ida B. Wells and Darrow Homes. The project includes both rental and for-sale units in six- and nine-flat buildings, townhouses and single-family homes.

Mid-rise condos at Oakwood Shores start in the $170s, townhouses start in the $370s, and single-family homes start in the $690s.

In YoChicago's recent interview with Sharon Rizzo, she discussed the relative scarcity of parking in River North.

At the Park Kingsbury, a 40-unit loft conversion that Sharon's marketing at 660 N Kingsbury St, the indoor parking spots aren't provided on a one-to-one basis - meaning late buyers may not be able to snag an indoor spot with their new loft home.

Park Kingsbury's indoor parking spots are available from $40,000, and it got me wondering about the varying price points for indoor parking around River North. Here's some comparative data from a few nearby projects:

• Superior 110 - parking from $42,000
• 757 Orleans - parking from $35,000
• Walton on the Park - parking from $50,000
• Canyon Ranch Living - $50,000, but that gets you 24-hour valet service - not a deeded spot

Finally, a little sunshine! We snapped this shot of Catalpa Gardens, 1122 W Catalpa Ave, from the Bryn Mawr Red Line station this morning.

As you can see, construction is all but complete. We checked in with the @properties sales team earlier this month; prices for the 46 available one-, two- and three-bedroom units started around $200,000 and topped out near $400,000. Buyers also benefit from a one-year warranty on all construction-related issues.

Curious how this project looks on the inside? We've got photos from a tour of the model last June.

"Chicago's run down, inadequate public transportation system will be a major obstacle to getting the Olympics. The visitors from all over the world will need to rely on public transporation to move around the city. Even though doomsday has been averted, the capital funds to really upgrade the system are not there. Some of the major competing cities have much better public transportation systems. For example, Madrid has a high-speed rail line from the airport to the center of the city."

- CaptainVideo, commenting on yesterday's post about Chicago's $1 billion Olympics bid.

Even with the recent $530-million transit bailout, the CTA is still lacking sufficient funds for necessary improvements and upgrades. In recent years, the Chicago Reader has done an admirable job raking the muck surrounding the CTA's seesawing budget crises, including this item from September 2007 questioning the viability of the Block 37 superstation. Wonder if it'll be completed by 2016?

Not sure how unique this is, but it's certainly interesting, especially for Edgewater.

We learned earlier this week that one full floor of parking spaces at Catalpa Gardens, the yellow-and-blue mid-rise at 1122 W Catalpa Ave, is available for the public (non-residents) to purchase.

This is an interesting move by the developer, to say the least. Edgewater is quite dense, and parking east of Broadway Street is chronically unreliable. Moreover, the initiative dovetails well with the transit-oriented nature of the development; with the Red Line so close, Catalpa Gardens residents might not need all the available parking spaces. Why not sell them off to the neighborhood?

As of last Monday, spaces were priced at $28,900, and 17 had already sold to non-residents. Pictured above is a shot from the balcony of Catalpa Gardens' model overlooking the Bryn Mawr Red Line station.

In this video (a companion to last week's entry on car sharing), we discuss how the innovative program fits into Lakeshore East, a master-planned high-rise development at 400 E South Water St.

Vanessa Casciano, community relations director with Magellan Development Group, joins Rich Kosmacher, business development manager with I-GO Car Sharing, to discuss the genesis of the partnership.

Magellan incorporated I-GO, the Chicago-based nonprofit car sharing service that operates about 165 fuel-efficient cars around the city, into its Magellan Rewards program. This initiative - extended to both homeowners and apartment renters at Lakeshore East - provides incentives and discounts to dozens of stores and services around the city.