Housing Grades

Housing Grades

2007 Grade	2007 Grade Prediction for the Future	2010 Grade
D +	D-	F

While the City espouses a priority on affordable housing, its housing policies still seem to primarily benefit developers. In some cases, affordable housing practices have benefitted individuals who have turned the affordable housing opportunities into profit-making ventures, and have done so with impunity. The city has done an appalling job of replacing the scores of public housing units that have been destroyed, leaving thousands of residents and former residents without the housing they were promised. Furthermore, many former public housing residents have been further deemed ineligible for CHA assistance as a result of modification to CHA policy. As CHA’s Plan for Transformation comes to an end, there is an impending danger that public housing building will be left semi destroyed and that Chicago residents will be left semi homeless, living in subhuman conditions. Finally, with only two years left in the city's 10-yr plan to end homelessness, there is still no city investment in creating permanent housing for homeless people. Recommendations:

1. Pass the Sweet Home Chicago Coalition ordinance to require 20% of TIF funding be spent on affordable housing.
2. Target more of the city’s housing resources towards households earning less than 50% of AMI and less than 30% of AMI.
3. Remove barriers for public housing residents to access new units in mixed-income developments. Rather than denying access, provide services to help them gain employment.
4. Change Chicago's Vacant Properties Ordinance so that it requires mortgage servicers to register their properties. Registration fees could fund foreclosure outreach for the Cook County Courts' Foreclosure Mediation Program.
5. Encourage collaboration between relevant city departments – such as the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities and the Department of Community Development – and disability rights organization to provide project- and tenant-based assistance options for people with disabilities who earn less than 10% of the AMI.
6. Expand Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and HOME dollars in the creation of affordable housing cooperatives in Chicago.
7. Strongly encourage all CHA’s PBHCV partners to set aside at least 10% of their units for people with disabilities earning less than 10% of the AMI.