Tag:Affordable Housing
Will Chicago’s Northwest Side Ordinance Protect Affordable Housing Along “The 606”?
On September 19th, 2024, the Chicago City Council passed the Northwest Side Housing Preservation Ordinance “Northwest Side Ordinance” by a vote of 44-3. The ordinance is designed to fight gentrification and preserve affordable housing in a set area near “The 606” recreation trail that includes parts of the Avondale, Hermosa, Humboldt Park, Logan Square and West Town neighborhoods. The DePaul Institute for Housing Studies found that, between 2013 and 2018, communities on the western end of The 606 lost almost 60% of their two to six flat buildings. To address this, Chicago City Council passed two ordinances in 2021 that changed zoning regulations to reduce displacement in both Pilsen and communities near The 606. These regulations proved to be very successful in slowing demolitions and deconversions within the boundaries of the study area and resulted in the permanent Northwest Side ordinance passed by City Council last month.
Can Cutting Red Tape Improve Chicago’s Affordable Housing Crisis?
On April 5th, 2024, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson published the Cut the Tape Report as part of his administration’s focus on confronting Chicago’s affordable housing shortage. The report marks the completion of the first step in the process put in place by Mayor Johnson’s Executive Order 2023-21. The order aimed to identify inefficiencies and redundancies in the city’s administrative processes to shorten Chicago’s residential and commercial development timelines. The report resulted from collaboration between fourteen city departments, numerous external stakeholders, and six peer cities, identifying over 100 recommendations for improvements to the development process.