Quote:
Originally Posted by tjp
“Under the previous ordinance, the city, in over a decade, created just over 400 units of affordable housing and a few dozen units for families,” said Sigcho-Lopez. “The results are very clear: Over 40,000 Latinx residents left communities like Pilsen, Logan Square, and Humboldt Park, and 280,000 Black residents left the city because of a lack of affordable housing. Today, we tell the City Council that affordable housing is not an option; it is a priority.”
Ah, yes - a lack of affordable housing is the reason people are leaving the south and west sides, not violent crime or anything like that.
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What a ridiculous thing for the Alderperson to say!
Nobody is leaving Chicago "because of a lack of affordable house."
They may leave because of crime, because of a lack of jobs in their preferred industry, or a lack of unskilled jobs. They may leave because of the weather. Or of either (or both) perceived and real racism. Maybe they'd rather leave the city if they can't stay in their preferred neighborhood. But it's patently ridiculous to say, "People are leaving the city because they can't afford Lincoln Park."
I know I'm preaching to the choir (lovely acapella, btw), but if people are willing to *leave the city* rather than just their neighborhood, it's not a problem with the *city*, it's a problem with the perception of where else in the city people feel comfortable living.
The Mayor's work to invest more in the neighborhoods is a good, rational, response to that problem. Taking all the money "invested" in creating "affordable housing" and instead investing it in better policing strategies in high-crime neighborhoods would be another rational response. Forcing a top-down, mandatory enforcement of police practices that foster trust in the communities is easier said than done, but would be another good choice.
So irritating.
Plus, not only do they force builders to build things that are unnecessary and actually contribute to the problem they claim to want to solve, but doing this ALSO contributes to the destruction of classic housing and buildings that many people like to see preserved. So annoying!