Chicago Leaders Seek to Improve Housing Equity

Chicago is composed of 9 areas, and eight of them are predominantly Black communities; coincidentally, the housing prices in these neighborhoods have the highest prices in the entire city. However, this phenomenon is not new, as for many years, Black residents have been marginalized and are the ones most affected by this price increase.

In an effort to fight for equality and improve the conditions of the real estate market, the Chicago City Council has been creating measures and supporting various housing strategies that allow low-income individuals to access the right to decent housing in a more equitable and fair manner.

Supporters of improving conditions for low-income residents believe that for access to housing to be fair and balanced, all policies and laws that benefit higher-income residents must be restructured.

One of the proposals that may best fit the city’s infrastructure and the economic capabilities of Chicago’s population, according to those advocating for the rights of the less fortunate, is for Chicago authorities to create a law or legal provision that allows homes located in all neighborhoods of low-income residents to modify their property by adding another dwelling within their own lot.

The ADU housing program allows garages, attics, or other areas of a lot occupied by a home to be built or modified to create new spaces that can be occupied by other people. This could be a significant strategy to significantly improve housing equity for all low-income Black individuals.

If authorities allowed the modification of homes to add another dwelling in all areas equally, in addition to making the right to housing more affordable, they would be facilitating that all less-favored families in Chicago could obtain additional economic resources by renting out these new spaces.

These ADU properties or extra homes are currently one of the most used and effective real estate strategies that increase affordable housing options in various American cities. The ease of modifying a property, the cost-effectiveness of building a new living space, and the ease of finding tenants in the same area provide more income options and better housing conditions than the construction of new properties, which often becomes an almost impossible challenge, especially for residents of the city of Chicago.

Although Chicago implemented this extra housing measure a couple of years ago, only a few areas of the city, where mostly white people live, benefited. However, in areas where Black people live, and where there is more capacity for the construction of these ADUs, their construction was not approved, unfairly affecting thousands of people who also want access to affordable housing.

Other factors that hinder the normal development of the right to housing, experts say, are the limits on the issuance of building permits for most Black neighborhoods, as in these areas, only the construction of two homes per block is allowed, while the North and Northwest sides of Chicago have no permit limits.

According to leaders of Black rights, limiting this population’s ability to create extra homes or ADUs is particularly prohibiting them from the right that every person has to create their own wealth.

Therefore, they insist that Chicago authorities should improve the conditions and facilities for Black or less-favored populations to access this program by eliminating restrictions on the issuance of permits for construction depending on the areas and allowing all property owners equally and fairly to build an extra property that allows them to obtain additional economic resources, as long as the property complies with the city’s housing codes, of course.

Available Foreclosure:

Chicago: 1,200 homes available

North Side: 300 homes available

South Side: 600 homes available

West Side: 250 homes available

Northwest Side: 50 homes available

Southeast Side: 100 homes available

By Elías DaSilva | 15 de Noviembre de 2024.