A reader sends in the following link and info:"Jamiko Rose of O.N.E. was on Eight Forty-Eight yesterday morning. She starts talking about Wilson Yard at about the 2:45 mark of the segment below. I was only able to listen to a few minutes in the car but was pretty offended by what I heard."
Click here to listen
Yeah, it kinda offended me too...I'm not against affordable housing...but we have enough already in the 46th ward. If mentioning Cabrini Green is coded talk...it has nothing to do with race and everything to do with gang violence. Its not my fault that most of the gangs are Latino or African American in makeup.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, O.N.E. is trying to co-mingle "mixed income" and "affordable" housing. Neighbors of the Wilson Yard site were told the housing would be mixed income - which to most real estate professionals (and Chicago citizens) means both market-rate and affordable housing. The community was very supportive of plans to include housing options for people of all economic classes. What was delivered was two buildings entirely of affordable housing (one for families and one for seniors). As Uptown currently has one of the highest concentration of affordable housing on the northside of Chicago, HUD best practices would not include development of a building entirely of affordable housing.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, neighbors were very frustrated with the process as they were openly lied to about the project. If the Alderman and her Wilson Yard committee was open and honest to the community about the development site, there would not have been so much frustration and anger from the community.
What scares me most about Jamiko's interview was her mention of housing ex-cons in our neighborhood. We already have buildings such as the Lawrence House and Wilson Men's Club with ex-cons, and those are some of the most problematic buildings in our ward. We need to address the safety of our residents and our currently processes for housing released criminals into our neighborhood before we open our streets and homes to more crime.
Couldn't have said it better myself Cub Reporter. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone have any figures, by ward, of "affordable housing" rates? Can anyone tell me why we call it "affordable housing" instead of subsidized housing? Is it not subsidized?
ReplyDeleteWhen Jamiko brings up Cabrini Green I think her context is incorrect. While many tie Cabrini to race there are others, such as myself, who have followed this failed public housing model. Attempting to put the poorest, least educated and those least likely to have access to private transportation in a condensed space simply doesn’t work. It leaves them in a situation where they are fighting for low earning jobs in a discrete geographic region. Scholars have shown that the Cabrini public housing model was a complete disaster on multiple levels. Now, Wilson Yard is 100% affordable housing. Will Chicago ever learn from its mistakes?
ReplyDeleteNo, Justin, it's that you're a closet racist!
ReplyDelete(this response brought to you by the O.N.E./Kaplan/Shiller playbook)
I told an out of towner about Lawrence House, the Lorelai and the Wilson's Mens club and they were horrified at the existence of such places. They don't have stuff like that in their city.
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