Should Chicago open the floodgates?

There is a lot of friggin vacant post-industrial land on the south and southwest sides. Sure, we should secure some of it as planned-manufacturing districts. But come on, lets face it--manufacturing probably isn't gonna come back. So why hold back? I propose that the city free up huge swaths of land, attach it to the city street grid, and sell it at cheap prices to developers. Let's create huge neighborhoods, but even bigger than what has been built now. Burnham once said "Make no small plans", but that doesn't just pertain to Millennium Park or the the bridges, etc. This would certainly be a major plan in revitalizing the city--perhaps bigger than any other in Chicago's recent history. Just like the great bungalow-building craze of an earlier generation, Chicago should shoot for large numbers of housing--perhaps 50,000 to 80,000 units. The city could then break the land down into smaller regions and put them up for bid to, perhaps, 15-20 developers. The ultimate goal would be to create a mix of single-family homes, townhomes, apartments/condominiums, offices, and commercial space. In this way, the city could have a lot of control. They could appoint a committee to oversee the project, a committee related to the Dept of Planning and Development, and perhaps hire a company (SOM, anyone?) to draw up a master plan. That master plan would address the following things, for example: Pedestrian-orientation Parking issues Density issues Street orientation Creating higher density around transit stops and creating more transit stops Creating more mid-rise mixed-use districts around certain designated boulevards to create commercial boulevards that rival those seen on the north side (ie Clark St, Lincoln Ave, Halsted, etc) Affordability Architectural variability (ie requiring external brick as a major component of most structures, requiring a variation of styles) etc, etc, etc. Why not? I think by creating massive amounts of tract-housing the city will be able to improve affordability, increase its population, and bring those vacant acres of land back into the tax rolls. It can also boost transit usership, provide more housing for its downtown workers, and ultimately make downtown a more attractive place to locate a business. After all, isn't the north side too saturated now? Perhaps that is why it's so unaffordable, and transit on the north side is become quite congested. Anyway, if I could share my 2 cents with the mayor and city council, that's what I would suggest>