Affordable Housing Letter With Logo 2012

7/31/2019 Affordable Housing Letter With Logo 2012

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July 19, 2012

Dear Neighbors,

In recent days, there have been many conversations about multiple developmentprojects in the neighborhood, and unfortunately, there has been confusion about

Northcenter Neighborhood Associations (NNAs) position with respect to theseprojects. We write this letter to clarify our position and to invite you to become part of aseries of conversations to build a strategic plan for housing in our Ward. From itsinception, NNA has been committed to representing our residents voices and values,and therefore we hope that all 47th Ward Residents will participate (or at least weigh in) inour development of a strategic plan for housing. We have scheduled a first in a series ofcommunity meeting next Tuesday, July 24th to create a forum for you to do this.Pleasevisit this event page to RSVP.

In recent weeks, Noah Properties sought a zoning change, from manufacturing toresidential, for a property development on Irving Park Road for market-rate condos [themarket rate condo project]. NNAs Zoning Committee took a look at the plan. Ourposition has always been that for any zoning change to occur, there must be asubstantial community benefit. NNA concluded that because this project was for marketrate condos, there was no community benefit as a result of the zoning change. Thereare already many market rate condos sitting vacant in our neighborhood, mostsignificantly the project on Irving and Western that has been mostly vacant and a messfor a couple of years. We were also concerned that there were not ample opportunitiesfor community input. As a result, we wrote a letter opposing the zoning change for the

market rate condo project. Please click here to view this letter.

At the time, we knew from the aldermans website that another proposal existed;however, the Noah Properties proposal was the only one under contract. This secondproject existed only in theory at this time, because it was not a final proposal and was notunder contract. That project, the affordable project, is a 75-unit building consisting of 1-

NORTHCENTER NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION

PO BOX 180180 CHICAGO, IL 60618Phone: 773- 326-2440 Email:[email protected] www.northcenterneighborhood.org
http://nnaaffordablehousing.eventbrite.com/http://nnaaffordablehousing.eventbrite.com/http://nnaaffordablehousing.eventbrite.com/http://nnaaffordablehousing.eventbrite.com/http://www.scribd.com/doc/100434817/NNA-Final-Noah-Properties-Letterhttp://www.scribd.com/doc/100434817/NNA-Final-Noah-Properties-Lettermailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.scribd.com/doc/100434817/NNA-Final-Noah-Properties-Letterhttp://nnaaffordablehousing.eventbrite.com/http://nnaaffordablehousing.eventbrite.com/


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and 2-bedroom units ranging from $650 to $750 per month. These units would beavailable to qualified renters earning about $40,000 per year. We were aware of

this project because it was listed on the Aldermans website, but because it is not a finalproposal we have not taken a position on it and it was not addressed in our letter. Wesaw this affordable project as having potential to have a substantial community benefit.Residents of our community (and board) are active volunteers or clients at the CommonPantry. Part of the services that are offered is looking for housing for it's clients. Theclients live in our neighborhood, and either because of the recession and job losses or achange in living situations (i.e., divorce), their current living situation is notsustainable. This is a reality of many of these long-term residents of the neighborhoodwhere the majority of people in Northcenter had an average income of between $45-

50,000 in 2008. (See the data)

Because of the swirling conversations about the nature of these projects and NNAssupposed positions on affordable housing, it seems like a good time to clarify NNAsposition in general. Part of NNAs mission and one of our strategic goals for this year isto make sure that our neighborhood remains financially feasible for its long-timeresidents. That means that seniors who raised their families should be able to retire andremain here; that children who are raised in the neighborhood should be able to afford arental apartment on a social worker or teachers salary; and families who feel the harshdisplacement of this economic recession should be able to find an alternative place to

live in the same school district while they put their financial situation backtogether. Northcenter has historically provided this diversity of housing, and NNAbelieves that is one reason we have such a strong and vibrant community of committedresidents. We are not as transient as many "well off" neighborhoods. Diverse housingis able to accommodate people in many different stages of their life, from recentgraduate to family housing to senior housing, whether you're an artist or afinancier. We believe this kind of diversity creates stability in a community.

As part of our environmental efforts, we also realize that living near your work is part of a"smart growth" plan. For our shop owners and businesses in the neighborhood, havingstable employees who can live where they work is an idea that should be promotedenvironmentally. Therefore, we feel an opportunity like this would create a more stableneighborhood because it would offer diversity in housing choices to be able toaccommodate lifestyle changes and growth.
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When asked, NNA via its Board, Social Justice Committee and Zoning Committee will

share and champion this priority for diversity in housing. That said we also have manyother important values that weigh in on a project of this sort. We are committed toprotecting and improving our neighborhood schools so we take a look at how a projectwill impact the affected schools. We are committed to open green spaces andenvironmental responsibility so we take a look at how the project will change ourenvironmental health and impact the availability of green spaces. We are committed togiving a voice to the neighbors directly adjacent to properties so we are mindful of howthe neighbors most impacted feel about the project. In rendering an opinion on anyparticular project, these are some of our values and priorities. Additionally, we are

committed to seeking community input from you. Therefore, though we have notrendered an opinion on this affordable project, we hope this gives you an idea of how wewould approach it and other similar projects in the future.

After the Aldermans zoning committee rejected the Noah Properties market rate condoszoning change, NNA believed that the seller might become interested in the affordableproject instead. We also realized that the project was likely to be poorly understood (forexample, many were unaware it targeted families making $40,000 per year and was notsubsidized housing) and therefore we pushed for community meetings to explain how anysuch proposal might work. We did and continue to believe that our neighborhood must

come together, take ownership and make choices about how we want our neighborhoodto look. We have from our inception been committed most to the idea that this is ourcommunity and our residents should have the decisive voice. We therefore scheduledour own zoning committee meetings and an open community meeting for this Tuesday,July 24th at Paul Revere Park in order to fully discuss the idea of affordable projects, aswell as this particular affordable project.

We have since learned from the alderman that TIF funds are unavailable at themoment because they have been used for Clark Park, Coonley and Lakeview High

School. Therefore, this affordable project cannot move forward and no otherproject is likely to be funded anytime soon.

The tenor of our communitys conversation on this topic hasmade NNA realize that welack consensus on what to work towards in terms of a housing policy in ourneighborhood. Therefore, we will be hosting a series of meetings acrossthe next


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several months to fully discuss and learn about housing issues in our Ward, to listen toneighbors many values and opinions on the topic, and to facilitate neighbors development of aconsensus strategic plan that prescribes housing policy for our neighborhood. If you have anopinion about housing in our neighborhood, this is for you, so join us!

Next Tuesday, July 24, 2012 we will begin this discussion witha meeting at Paul Revere Parkat 7:00 to 8:30 pm. We have invited the Alderman to be a guest at the meeting, as well as ourneighbor, Peter Skosey of the Metropolitan Planning Council. We hope you will join us for thisinformal, but important and timely discussion about housing values in Northcenter, and moregenerally, that you will join in the work to develop a strategic plan for housing.

Moreover, we invite you to participate in NNAs Zoning and Social Justice Committees, whichhave been meeting for well over a year to tackle issues just like these. These Committees aremade up of people who stated an interest in these issues, voluntarily joined the committees,and have attended meetings for over a year to develop plans and consider projects just likethese. They are always looking for more ideas and hands, and so we hope that any residentswith an interest in these issues will join them on these committees. Pleasecontact usif you areinterested.

Please mark your calendars forTuesday, July 24th, Paul Revere Park 7-8:30pm where we willbegin visioning about housing opportunities in our neighborhood.

Sincerely,

Julie HobertPresident, NNA
http://nnaaffordablehousing.eventbrite.com/http://nnaaffordablehousing.eventbrite.com/http://nnaaffordablehousing.eventbrite.com/http://nnaaffordablehousing.eventbrite.com/mailto:[email protected]?subject=committee%20interestmailto:[email protected]?subject=committee%20interestmailto:[email protected]?subject=committee%20interestmailto:[email protected]?subject=committee%20interesthttp://nnaaffordablehousing.eventbrite.com/http://nnaaffordablehousing.eventbrite.com/

Affordable Housing Letter With Logo 2012

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