By Guest Author- March 12, 2009
I would have liked to have seen greater emphasis upon the definition of "affordable" housing, and a greater effort to develop concepts that would be affordable to local residents. The median household income for North Lawndale residents as of 2000 was $18,000. People in this income bracket can afford to spend $450 per month on rent, or to purchse homes in the $64,000 range. However, the affordable housing concepts that were proposed were affordable to households earning 80% of the area median income for the Chicago Metropolitan Area (AMI). AMI for the Chicago Metropolitan area in 2008 was approximately $75,000 for a 4-person household. Eighty-percent of this is approximately $60,000. It should be noted that the majority of the proposed concepts would have been for market rate homes.
While meeting participants seemed to prefer a development concept that included either 10% or 20% of the units as affordable (I'm writing this based on recollection of a conversation that occurre several months ago), it is not clear to me that they would have chosen this option if they fully understood what definition of affordability was being used. I say this because one of the greatest complaints I've heard in recent years is lack of affordable housing. I've also heard many complaints about housing being "affordable", not "not for residents who live here." Given the fact that the local sponsoring agency is also one of the sponsors of the Ogden-Pulaski TIF, there is a strong likelihood that any new development in this corridor will use TIF funds. It would be unfortunate to use funds from low-moderate income tax payers to build housing they cannot afford.
Finally, I am concerned that the design concepts presented did not blend in with the character of the existing buildings in the surrounding area, which include historic greystones and other architecturally significant styles. Any new development should be done in a way that complements these beautiful buildings.
Valerie F. Leonard