Framework for the Housing 2016 Event
With many decades of community development success as their guide, particularly in neighborhoods where foreclosure crises are not new, Chicago's leading housing practitioners and policy experts met to discuss solutions for how to right the nation's housing sector -- and the national economy along with it.
Trickle-down market approaches and over-zealous ownership initiatives have destroyed the historical stability and prosperity of middle class home ownership. To restore stability and prosperity many feel that a bottom-up approach that recognizes affordability as the linchpin is required.
Chicago has been particularly hard hit by the housing crisis. More that 1,000 foreclosure filings are recorded each month and the rental housing inventory, a mainstay for Chicago's workforce, has accounted for a third of foreclosed households.
Housing 2016: What Can Be Accomplished in the Next 8 Years drew more than 200 guests to its panel discussion and update from Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-9th) on January 12, 2009. This page will be the clearinghouse for information on that forum, future events, and opportunities for action.
Call to Action
While the seeds of this forum were still germinating in the minds of all the experienced and creative community developers that attended, with bold and positive ideas later springing forward, one immediate opportunity for action presented itself. As Congresswoman Schakowsky mentioned at the conference, details on the Economic Recovery program were not yet set in stone. CRN provided next steps by encouraging attendees to call their representatives and tell them to make funding for Affordable Rental Housing the center of any Economic Recovery Program.
- Letter to then Speaker Pelosi
- Letter to Congress encouraging inclusion of housing in Economic Stimulus Package
Forum Materials
The Housing 2016 forum featured a number of housing fact posters, bringing CRN's research and policy assets to the front by providing impactful and easy-to-understand analysis and comparison from the 2009 housing environment.
- Invitational Flyer
- Olympics and Affordable Housing
- Keeping Chicago Affordable
- Formerly Affordable Rental Properties
- Home Sales and Recessions Since 1963
- Single and Multi-family Home Starts Since 1963
- Chicago and Area Median Income (AMI)
- Chicago's Housing Cost Burden
- Who Can Afford Chicago?
Follow-up Event
The Chicago Rehab Network hosted a Workshop to Prepare for Federal Stimulus Dollars to prepare and inform CDCs and CBOs for the impact the funds could have on our communities. Nearly fifty participants representing a wide range of CDCs and CBOs added their voices to this important discussion. Thank you to the Renaissance Collaborative for sharing its space within the historic Wabash YMCA. The workshop speakers shared the highlights of the Stimulus Bill and it was clear that the work is not yet over. We urged attendees to use the information generated in the workshop to get in contact with their Congressional Representatives and to prepare your own “shovel ready” projects.
Housing 2016 Panelists
MODERATOR
Thom Clark Community Media Workshop
FIRST PANEL
- Peter Fugiel, Real Estate Consultant
- Jeff Bartow, Southwest Organizing Project
- Joy Arugete, Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation
- Andy Geer, Heartland Housing
- Teresa Prim, Prim, Lawrence and Associates
- Dennis Rodkin, Chicago Magazine
FEATURED SPEAKER
Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-9), US House of Representatives
SECOND PANEL
- Jack Markowski, Community Investment Corporation
- Ben Applegate, Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen
- John Bartlett, Metropolitan Tenants Organization
- Steven McCullough, Bethel New Life
