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 »
Foreclosure filings increased by exactly one percent in the city of
Chicago between the first six months of 2011 and first half of 2012,
according to data
compiled by the Woodstock Institute. But the jump in foreclosures was
more dramatic in a handful of struggling, mostly black neighborhoods on
the South Side.
Filings in West Pullman were up 58.7 percent from
155 to 246 in the first half of this year compared to 2011. The number
of foreclosures jumped in Englewood 24.1 percent from 141 to 175 and
climbed in Calumet Heights 54 percent from 50 to 77. Read more »
Housing advocates in Chicago and across the country have begun to
channel their frustration with the sprawling foreclosure crisis toward
one man: Ed DeMarco (pictured), acting director of the Federal Housing Finance
Agency (FHFA).
The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), which includes several Chicago groups, fired off a letter
yesterday to President Barack Obama demanding that he make a
recess appointment for a new FHFA director. Meanwhile, the Chicago area
foreclosure rate is on the rise. Read more »
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.
Crain's Chicago Business reports on data released by the Chicago Department of Buildings that vacant
properties are concentrated in low-income cmmunities on the South Side, and are far less prevalent in North Side lakefront
neighborhoods.
Rockford and the Chicago area are experiencing some of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation, with Chicago's figure being more twice that of the national average at one in 107 housing units, according to data released by Realty Trac last week.
As foreclosures continue to plague the city and surrounding areas, the vacant properties left in their wake are wreaking havoc on the safety and security of their respective neighborhoods. In April, a dead body was found in a vacant house in Humboldt Park, leaving neighbors wondering why the property wasn’t maintained -- and prompting Action Now to hold a rally in front of the building.
Action Now continued its aggressive pursuit for banks to maintain
foreclosed properties Tuesday morning, when they protested outside
Fannie Mae’s regional headquarters and demanded a meeting with Federal
Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Edward DeMarco.
Last week, FHFA
filed a lawsuit to exempt Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from Chicago’s
Vacant Property Ordinance, which requires that banks clean up and secure
the properties banks own due to foreclosure.
Today, the city of Chicago demolished its “200th dangerous building” since July 12, 
Foreclosure filings increased by exactly one percent in the city of
Chicago between the first six months of 2011 and first half of 2012,
according to 
Housing advocates in Chicago and across the country have begun to
channel their frustration with the sprawling foreclosure crisis toward
one man: Ed DeMarco (pictured), acting director of the Federal Housing Finance
Agency (FHFA).
Rockford and the Chicago area are experiencing some of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation, with Chicago's figure being more twice that of the national average at one in 107 housing units, according to 
Action Now continued its aggressive pursuit for banks to maintain
foreclosed properties Tuesday morning, when they protested outside
Fannie Mae’s regional headquarters and demanded a meeting with Federal
Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) Director Edward DeMarco. 