{"id":88304,"date":"2020-03-23T14:52:11","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T19:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=88304"},"modified":"2020-03-30T13:44:12","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T18:44:12","slug":"the-fight-for-affordability-woodlawns-response-to-the-mayors-affordable-housing-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/the-fight-for-affordability-woodlawns-response-to-the-mayors-affordable-housing-plan\/","title":{"rendered":"The fight for affordability: Woodlawn\u2019s demands for the Mayor\u2019s housing plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Sidnee King<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Medill Reports<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"dropcap\">\u201cI am writing to personally and directly share with you the City\u2019s proposals to take advantage of this historic moment, reflect what we heard and partner with you to transform Woodlawn into an even stronger, safer, and more equitable place to call home.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These are the words of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, penned in a Feb. 25 letter addressed to the entire Woodlawn community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Earlier this year, the Department of Housing released a draft ordinance addressing affordable housing protection in the neighborhood after months of stakeholder meetings and public outcry from Woodlawn residents. According to DOH Commissioner Marisa Novara, the aims of the ordinance are to \u201cprotect existing residents from displacement and to promote housing options to support equitable and inclusive income diversity in Woodlawn.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While it has been nearly a month since the draft was released, there are no announced next steps on the horizon. During a community meeting at Hyde Park High School, where DOH officials discussed the draft plan with residents, Deputy Commissioner Anthony Simpkins said that the plan will not move to a City Council vote until \u201cit has the support of the community.\u201d<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Now that the city has presented its anticipated plan, responses from the community are pouring in. And the proposed ordinance has been received with exuberant applause, deep criticism and a range of attitudes falling in between. Hear the responses to DOH\u2019s proposed ordinance and the mayor\u2019s address as you navigate the map below.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/uploads.knightlab.com\/storymapjs\/3a3da9c909673ca3e9bab04e6e937238\/woodlawn-cba\/index.html\" width=\"100%\" height=\"800\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<b><i>Woodlawn and the Obama Presidential Center<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chicago\u2019s economic landscape has long been described as a Tale of Two Cities, the story of a downtown overflowing with investment contrasted by South and West side neighborhoods whose residents have longed for the same financial attention. Today, Woodlawn, a historic community just a 20-minute drive from the Loop, finds itself in the throes of its own tale. But, as long-awaited investment opportunities arise, city officials and residents are divided on how to write Woodlawn\u2019s way forward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2016, former President Barack Obama\u2019s foundation announced Jackson Park as the selected site to break ground on his $500 million Obama Presidential Center. The stretch of land located at 6401 S. Stony Island Ave. extends into three South Side neighborhoods: Hyde Park, South Shore, and Woodlawn. Of these three, Woodlawn has the highest number of residents vulnerable to potential displacement &#8212; a result of the influx of residential and commercial investment expected to roll in with\u00a0 the center. That\u2019s when calls for a housing plan to protect residents from displacement began to take shape, resulting in the current <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicago.gov\/content\/dam\/city\/depts\/doh\/general\/woodlawn\/Woodlawn%20Housing%20Preservation%20Ordinance.pdf\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">proposed city ordinance <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">that many in Woodlawn argue falls short. Community organizers and local officials are fighting for more protection in an alternative <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scribd.com\/document\/419645777\/ordinance-cba-2019-housing?secret_password=96dRmhiHa5xxnw9rVelB#from_embed\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">proposed housing plan.\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While development industry professionals are excited about the prospect of new opportunities in the neighborhood, the fear of rent hikes and raised property taxes has overwhelmed many of the individuals who have stayed in Woodlawn through decades of disinvestment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Following the Obama Foundation\u2019s announcement, grassroots groups came together as the CBA (Community Benefits Agreement) Coalition and partnered with the University of Illinois at\u00a0 Chicago in a year-long survey of the community. The results of the survey revealed that 9,900 households in Woodlawn are vulnerable to displacement with the investments and development expected to result from the presidential center.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward), a community organizer at the time, worked with South Side Together Organizing for Power and other groups to draft an ordinance presenting what they think could be solutions to this problem. Suggestions made in the proposal include a set aside of 30% of city-owned vacant land for affordable housing in Woodlawn, a community trust to assist long-term residents in-home repairs, and protections for residents within 2 miles of Jackson Park.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The coalition shared their proposed ordinance with home-owners, renters, business owners and students in Woodlawn. After garnering enough community suppor and, after Taylor\u2019s election to as alderman in May 2019, the coalition presented their proposal to City Council last June.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This isn\u2019t the first time a plan for financial investment in Woodlawn has been presented to the city. There have been 15 other plans drafted by past aldermen and other community groups that have failed to make their way through a City Council vote.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"featurecaption\">Photo at top: CBA Coalition protesters shut down traffic outside of the Thompson Center in downtown Chicago. (Reporter Name\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Sidnee King Medill Reports \u201cI am writing to personally and directly share with you the City\u2019s proposals to take advantage of this historic moment, reflect what we heard and partner with you to transform Woodlawn into an even stronger, safer, and more equitable place to call home.\u201d These are the words of Chicago Mayor [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":674,"featured_media":88959,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,2951,675,4892],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-interest","category-politicsnational-security","category-social-justice","category-winter-2020"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The fight for affordability: Woodlawn\u2019s demands for the Mayor\u2019s housing plan - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/the-fight-for-affordability-woodlawns-response-to-the-mayors-affordable-housing-plan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The fight for affordability: Woodlawn\u2019s demands for the Mayor\u2019s housing plan - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Sidnee King Medill Reports \u201cI am writing to personally and directly share with you the City\u2019s proposals to take advantage of this historic moment, reflect what we heard and partner with you to transform Woodlawn into an even stronger, safer, and more equitable place to call home.\u201d These are the words of Chicago Mayor [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/the-fight-for-affordability-woodlawns-response-to-the-mayors-affordable-housing-plan\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-03-23T19:52:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-03-30T18:44:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/WP%20Media%20Folder%20-%20medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/03\/IMG_9272.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2048\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"sidneeking2020\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"sidneeking2020\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/the-fight-for-affordability-woodlawns-response-to-the-mayors-affordable-housing-plan\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/the-fight-for-affordability-woodlawns-response-to-the-mayors-affordable-housing-plan\/\",\"name\":\"The fight for affordability: Woodlawn\u2019s demands for the Mayor\u2019s housing plan - 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