chicagodads

Affordable housing’s become all the rage in Chicago recently. As in, some people get angry about it. They feel that since they put a lot of money down for their property under the auspices that it is an “upcoming” neighborhood, that setting aside new buildings for low-income families means that the undeserving get to steal a piece of the retail pie. Meanwhile, those who just invested a lot of money into the fledgling area are losing their investment, or so some would have them believe.

First off, just a wee bit of education: Affordable housing is not giving away space to lazy, worthless, freeloading individuals or families. Everybody who applies for affordable housing needs to have steady income. They are already contributing members of society. Second, just because they do not make as much money as some others does not mean that they should be pushed and shoved at the whim of greedy people who can afford to buy and sell houses as if they were dealing in bread.

But then the opponent of affordable housing must further be asked: What of the people who have put down family and history and community and business in this area and have invested in it for decades? What if they worked their tails off day-after-day to just be able to get by, just to pay rent or mortgage and have barely enough money left over for essentials? What happens when they are forced out of their living arrangements because the area around them is moving in such a rate that they (or their landlords) cannot afford to keep up with, say, the new taxes on their property. So, owners are forced to sell their properties or up their rents and all of a sudden, a whole slew of people are looking for housing that they can afford and that has the type of infrastructure that is needed for their families.

So, what these hard-working families are left with are a volatile cocktail of any of the following options:

• Live even closer to the edge of financial ruin by pulling money out of a safety-net (retirement savings, college savings, insurance, car, etc.)
• Pull oldest children out of school so that they can earn extra money for family.
• Move to an area where it is difficult or impossible to get to present, living-wage jobs.
• Move to an area without social, societal, and scholastic infrastructure.
• Declare bankruptcy and default on loans.
• Become homeless. Which also may happen as a result of the items listed above over time.

I’ve had the responsibility and shared in the burden of seeing many of my students, friends and their families wrestle with these realities. What’s more, any of the above puts more burden on the community and society. A homeless family is primarily concerned about getting basic needs met now, for instance. Contributing to society is not a practical option by the way, Time magazine just ran an article on how 1 out of 50 children is now homeless . That includes a more than 20% jump of Chicago Public Schools students in the last three years that are deemed homeless - with total numbers well above the national average). Bankruptcy and financial ruin means less money. Kids being pulled out of college, high school and sometimes grade school may be necessary in the short-run, but is economically disastrous in the long-haul. Also, when families are cast out of their neighborhoods to other areas, existing school buildings lose students. As they lose students, they lose finances and function (this is happening at an incredible rate here in Logan Square). Soon, the schools have to close down. In the meantime, the new neighborhoods that the families are thrown into do not have the resources to school all of the new children. So, while the one school is being torn down, new schools - and social networks - are going to have to be built in entirely different areas. Not only does this not make financial sense, it doesn’t make ecological sense.

Save the planet, support affordable housing.

And, if you live in or around Logan Square neighborhood in Chicago, come Wednesday at 6pm to Funston Elementary School (one of those schools affected, by the way) on Armitage to voice your support for affordable housing, specifically for the Zapata Apartments. See previous post for more information on this one.

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