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Vacant Properties
PI Original
by Ashlee Rezin
1:56pm
Fri May 17

Englewood Renters Left Without Electricity, Gas Due To Foreclosure: 'We Were Left In The Dark' (VIDEO)

Housing

Eight members of the Shaw family, including a 14 month-old baby, have been living without gas or electricity for nearly a week, according to parents Shantisha and Ezekiel. Late last year the Shaw’s landlord was foreclosed upon and Freedom Mortgage Corp. took over the deed for the building. We talked to the Shaw family about their struggles and what may be next for the family affected by the ongoing foreclosure crisis in Chicago.

Quick Hit
by Ellyn Fortino
5:00pm
Tue Apr 23
1 comment

North Lawndale Residents Say School Closures Will Negatively Affect Local Property Values (VIDEO)

Lisa Pugh, the Local School Council chairwoman at Pope Elementary School, walked down the 1900 block of South Troy Avenue directly behind the school, rattling off at least a dozen of her neighbors’ names.

Pugh has lived in her home, which was built in 1909, for more than 12 years. Other homes on the block are also more than a century old, and the residents work hard to keep them well maintained, she said on a windy Friday afternoon.

But the Chicago Public Schools plan to shut down Pope in June has left Pugh and other nearby residents wondering what will happen to their property values and their North Lawndale neighborhood if the building is left vacant.

“Like me, a lot of the property owners don’t want it to close because their property taxes are going into the school, and it’s ridiculous to see (CPS) want to close it down,” she said. Read more »

Quick Hit
by Ashlee Rezin
7:45pm
Thu Feb 7

Foreclosure Crisis Is Far From Over In Chicago Area, Report Finds

Chicago has not reached the other side of the foreclosure crisis, a new report from the Woodstock Institute has revealed. But with new ordinances like the Cook County Land Bank Authority, the Windy City may be headed in the right direction.

Last year, Chicago’s six county region saw the highest year-over-year growth in completed foreclosure auctions since the beginning of the foreclosure crisis in 2008, according to the Woodstock Institute report. Foreclosure auctions, which indicate the foreclosure process is finished, grew by 73.8 percent, from 20,281 auctions in 2011 to 35,244 auctions in 2012.

Read more »

Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
6:27pm
Mon Oct 29, 2012

City Touts Building Demolitions In Crime Prevention, But Is There A Connection?

Today, the city of Chicago demolished its “200th dangerous building” since July 12, according to the office of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The mayor stated in a press release that demolitions are “preventing criminal activity in our neighborhoods.”

Is this true? “We’ve been knocking down houses since the 1930’s and it’s not clear if this has a significant effect on crime rates,” says Bradford Hunt, a sociology professor at Roosevelt University who studies Chicago housing issues.

Also in question: How does the city determine what properties see the wrecking ball? Read more »

Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
4:49pm
Tue Jul 24, 2012

Board Takes First Step Toward Cook County Land Bank

The Cook County Board passed a resolution today setting up a committee that has 60 days to devise a model for a county land bank, an ambitious proposal that board President Toni Preckwinkle called a “critical tool to help combat the foreclosure crisis and eradicate blight in our communities.”

As we have reported, a land bank is a quasi-governmental organization intended to seize and manage properties until they can be put into productive use. Read more »

Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
10:52am
Thu Jun 28, 2012
1 comment

Advocacy Group Wants Infrastructure Trust Used For Vacant Properties

The Infrastructure Trust ordinance, a plan where private investors will fund public infrastructure, passed City Council over two months ago, but the city has not identified Trust projects, besides an initial plan to retrofit municipal buildings.

So the Chicago advocacy group Action Now, which previously opposed the Trust, unveiled their own detailed proposal yesterday, calling for the Trust and developers to turn vacant city properties into affordable rental homes. Read more »

PI Original
by Matthew Blake
5:45pm
Wed Jun 20, 2012
1 comment

Cook County Commissioner Lays Out Plan For Vacant Properties

Housing

Government has tried, with limited success, to address each new wave of the foreclosure crisis. In Chicago and Cook County, the focus is increasingly on the surging number of properties vacated because of foreclosure. Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer (D-Chicago) proposed in May an ambitious way to deal with the problem.