U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston is scheduled this afternoon to tour the proposed site of a new low-income housing development that’s the subject of a $2.5 million federal grant request submitted by the city last week.
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Evanston is scheduled this afternoon to tour the proposed site of a new low-income housing development that’s the subject of a $2.5 million federal grant request submitted by the city last week.
The proposal builds in part on an $18 million neighborhood stabilization program grant the city received early this year, which has as its primary goal rehabilitating roughly 100 units of foreclosed housing in two city census tracts.
The new money would be used for property acquisition, environmental remediation and infrastructure development in the area bounded by Foster and Emerson streets and Dewey and Jackson avenues and would be part of a plan to build 67 new housing units on what now is largely vacant industrial property.
The tour for the congresswoman is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. at the Fleetwood-Jourdain Center, 1655 Foster St.
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Why do we need more housing?
I was not aware that the City of Evanston was in dire need of more housing. If housing was in such short supply, then why have the prices of homes and condos fallen so precipitously over the past few years? Under the laws of supply and demand, falling prices indicate that the supply of a good (in this case, housing) exceeds the demand for that good. Hence, the market appears to be saying we don’t need any more housing.
If the objective is to get more low-income housing, then isn’t the market already achieving that by lowering the prices of housing stock in the City?
And can anyone explain to me why more low-income housing is a desirable outcome? Personally, I would prefer more high-income housing because rich people will pay more property taxes and spend more money around town. Maybe Jan can get us a federal grant to build a new exclusive gated community or maybe some more mansions on the lake!
The city does need more low
The city does need more low income housing. When people lose their jobs they have to sell these mansions you love so much and live by more modest means – some of which may qualify for low income housing. The reason property value is going down is because all of your neighbors are selling and it is reflected on the whole community.
I seriously hope you were kidding about "I would prefer more high-income housing because rich people will pay more property taxes and spend more money around town. Maybe Jan can get us a federal grant to build a new exclusive gated community or maybe some more mansions on the lake!"
I don’t even know what to say about such a statement……
Not everyone in Evanston can
Not everyone in Evanston can afford to purchase a home in Evanston… I was born in Evanston and have lived in Evanston all my life.. I work everyday.. If it possible for me and my children to live in a place were the rent is comparable to other units in Evanston. Why not let families move in the area. Evanston is not just for the wealthy people.. There are regular everyday people who live and work and send their children to the Evanston schools and are a part of the Evanston community.
Middle Class NOT welcome in Evanston
Sadly, there will be FEWER "regular everyday people who live and work and send their children to the Evanston schools and are a part of the Evanston community", given the direction of our community. Think about it for a minute – if the Library Board gets their way and is able to increase taxes (which they will) up to the statuatory allowed limits to "stabilize their funding", water and sewer rates go higher (up 10%), parking sticker fees keep going higher, D65 and D202 taxes keep going higher (they’ve been limited due to low inflation #’s but if you have kids in school, fees keep going up) Federal Income taxes are going up, and the Illinois Income tax is going up from 3% to at least 4% and over time is heading to 5% – how is the middle class going to be able to live in Evanston ?? Answer – you can’t afford to. So what will Evanston look like in 5 – 10 years??
Agreed, Low income housing,
Agreed, Low income housing, in a market economy, is former regular income housing. It does not need to be constructed newly
Market economy and housing
The problem is that we don’t have a market economy in housing. All sorts of NIMBYs and their zoning regulations discourage the construction of apartments and housing for lower income people.
Market economy
In a market economy, most developers are not really interested in constructing housing low-income housing. A developer wants to make the most money possible. The only time a developer is interested in building low income housing is if the government subsidizes the practice.
I don’t think government should be in the business of subsidizing housing. If you can’t afford to buy the house of your dreams in Evanston, then you’ll just have to buy something less expensive. If you can’t afford to buy anything, then you should rent. If you can’t afford to rent anything in the City of Evanston, then you’ll have to rent somewhere else or get some roommates.
Where has she been?
It is amazing that all of a sudden our Congresswoman decides to do something. Is it because she has a qualified candidate running against her? Maybe we need to do this for the next election with our City Council?
congratulations to evanston now
vito and i are regular readers of evanston now, and value the up-to-date news about various goings-on about town. the research and background information bill smith provides are always very enlightening, and add immeasurably to the various discussions. lots of different people come up with some really great ideas on local issues, and it stimulates ones thinking to read about these. by and large the comments are issue-oriented and don’t descend into personality clashes very often, another mark of a grown-up bunch of citizens who contribute to the site. i am alway surprised when i ask someone from evanston about such-and-such happening, and they don’t know about it. then i say, "don’t you read evanston now?" if they say no, i urge them to do so. thanks for your great journalistic work, bill. keep it coming and we’ll keep reading!