The Blog

Mick, Please watch Channel 2 News about fire hydrants. Tonight Dave Savini Investigative Reporter.

A recurring theme in Chicago Reader Blogs is "someone else should pay for my housing and transportation, but the government doesn't really care enough to take good care of me" At some point, wouldn't you just fold up your knuckleheaded political stance and realize that that you are mostly responsible for yourself? Perhaps notice that the swindlers in politics are in their chosen carnival trade because they have no concerns with much of anybody. JBP

Nice article Mike! Although you forgot to ask SUAREZ how is his mortgage company doing. Also does he help elderly residents of his ward,whom are being pushed out of their homes by the City Building Department.

Kozicki says: "If ... people don't like the Mayor and other elected official,then simply run against them---period." Great idea. HAVE NO DOUBT, VOTE INCUMBENTS OUT

I slighty disagree ,with your premise the " the wealthy will pay a city income tax".Chicago will never become San Francisco, or New York. Policies resulting in pushing the middle class and poor, to the outer suburbs,will destroy the dynamic character of Chicago. In most third world countries, the poor and middle class live outside the urban core.I do believe the "Olypmics fraud" will definitely serve as a catalyst, in pricing moderate income residents out of their homes. The recent controversy involving the Children's museum, also proves my point. The relocation of the Museum to Grant park, will create room for the Gambling Casino at Navy pier.

Without disagreeing with you, I must point out the obvious. This town is already heavily segregated, by race, by economic condition, by ethnicity and by political persuasion. There are so many tangled webs being woven, by the insects that pass themselves off as servants of the public, (no offense intended to the web-weavers of the insect world), that it's understandably difficult to separate one from another. I failed to mention that, relevant to an income tax, the web-weavers don't really need a city income tax, all they need is to solidify their influences over the state government, to gain benefits from the increases in state income tax revenues that an increase in wealthy residents of this city would bring. Destroying the dynamic character of Chicago is certainly one of the risks these schemers appear to be willing to take. The sad state of our public transportation systems makes one wonder if the goal is to reduce the availability of open access, for some citizens, to certain areas of the city, ie., is this the beginning of a transformation of the system into a limited shuttle service, from the areas where the working poor reside, to the areas where the working poor labor, with few stops in between? Racial, ethnic and economic 'cleansing' can be a subtle process, hardly noticed until it is an accomplished fact. The web-weavers don't need direct force to do this, economic forces are working all too well.

Most of these comments are completely ridiculous. The city is VERY far from becoming a yuppie ghetto, and the vast majority of land area is actually TOO affordable. Even with the gentrification that has occurred on the North Side and around the Loop, white flight continues and neighborhoods are falling deeper into ghettos of poverty and despair. The econommic conditions that made the city OVERLY affordable were a nationwide disaster, and Chicago still desperately needs many more middle and upper class residents to survive in the long term. The old post-war model of rich suburbs and poor city is not sustainable, and is the largest cause of housing segregation.

I don't part of the city you are observing ,but many so-called hard core ghetto areas are being rapidly gentified as we speak. The White flight you are referring to,consist of lower middle income ,and retirees.35TH AND State just opened a new starbucks outlet. The South and West suburbs,have more BlacK BUSINESSES than Chicago proper. What do you mean by affordable? Someone making $10 per hour,servicing the upper crust, cannot afford a $200 mortgage. Get into your car and ride around the city, you may be surprised.One thing I may agree with you on , Chicago cannot subtain itself as an upper class paradise.

"Most of these comments are completely ridiculous." Wow. What a way to start off a comment, ridiculing the comments of others. And I guess you now expect others to take your comment seriously? It's one thing, to specifically criticize comments of others, it's another, to call them ridiculous, sans any specificity whatsoever. As for the reasons and causes of the lack of 'affordable' housing, let's look at both ends of the problem. Housing is affordable when: 1) one earns enough to pay the cost, (and still have enough to buy food, pay utilities, etc.) 2) the cost is compatible with one's income. So, since it's not always true that 'you get what you pay for', (sometimes you get far less than you pay for, rarely far more), the rise in property values results in both higher property tax bills and fewer residents being able to afford living in the city, at least in those areas of the city where property values have risen. What the person of limited means is faced with, is the choice between living in those areas that their means permits them to afford, (not usually the most desirable areas to live in), or to move to those areas outside of the city that they can afford. The statement that "The economic conditions that made the city OVERLY affordable..." implies that the costs of living in the city has been low, obviously, not the fact. The 'affordability' you are referring to has actually been the availability of large amounts of borrowed money, at artificially and temporarily lower interest rates, thus, enabling those who would not be able to borrow these higher sums of money, at market interest rates, without the artificially low rates being made available to them. The widespread foreclosures on these loans, once their 'adjustable' rates were 'adjusted', showed us all how fragile a house of cards had been built. Housing is all simple mathematics and a study in basic human nature. Everyone generally wants more for less. Everyone, generally, wants to give less and get more. On both sides of the consumer/producer equation. The main complaint seems to be the apparent excessive greed exhibited by those on the supply side of the housing equation. How about addressing that greed?

I'm not as articulate as most on this blog. I do not speak for all the people of Chicago. My opinions are from people I see and talk to on the street. Last night I was at a wedding in Chicago. The crowd was mostly white (Irish, German Polish and some Italians) from Chicago people in between the ages of 29 to 50ish(most college educated). Natuarlly we got into the conversation of the Mayor.(I naturally brought him up) The subject turned to the Mayors spending habbits and affordable housing.They all agreed he is mis-managing our (taxpayers) money.But the majority of the males who vote said they don't care about the corruption as long as he keeps pushing the blacks out of Chicago. (they all used more colorful words). I was sort of surprised , because I thought things have changed. Not overwhelmingly, but some of the HATRED. But as I just witnessed, NOTHING has changed when it comes to insecurity and ingnorance.

I AGREE DALEY IS BENT ON RACIAL AND ECONOMIC CLEANSING OF CHICAGO,AND THE 2016 OLYPMICS IS THE PERFECT VECHICLE TO ACHIEVE THIS END. A LOT OF POOR AND MIDDLE INCOME WHITES WILL GO ALSO.

I guess one could say that the sentiments you relate hearing are the dark side of democracy. The thing to ponder is that the Constitution and Bill of Rights, as well as the theoretical checks-and-balances of our form of democracy, can, if honestly adhered to, in spirit and in word, provide us all with something far better than mere, majority-rules democracy. So, the fact that there are still an abundance of assholes among those of European descent, while not all that surprising, doesn't mean that their asinine views must be the rule of the land. Granted, there are some very real and valid criticisms that can be appropriately directed at those not of European descent. The traditional 'minorities' have shown, time and time again, that they are often their own worst enemies. Just like those 'white' citizens who don't vote, don't register to vote and don't exercise the power of their pocketbooks, however meager that power may seem to be, those not of European descent have failed to act in unity for their own benefit. There are many true things that can be said, as well as many false things. None are without faults, none are innocent, none are perfect, or anything close to perfect. To be honest with ones' self is very difficult, especially when the truth is not what one wants it to be. Divided we fall, united we stand. How can we ever be united by our distinct differences? Thus, we must fall, every last one of us, of whatever heritage.

Housing prices are too high Too much luxury housing PROPERTY TAXES ARE TOO HIGH Substandard new construction by politically connected builders Too much regulation, fees, fines, housing court, building inspectors--it is like a totalitarian state--it is sick

The breaking story,regarding THE DALEY induced pension fraud ,proves my point. The Olypmics is being used as a vehicle to racial cleansed Chicago. poor and lower income citizens will be forced out of the Chicago. Daley is personally profitting from these scams. Daley's trailer trash family, is in every department in City Hall, and the Crook County.The upper class will never accept Daley,as one of their own. Free tax money for Daley's friends and family. Now he and his minions are using the Children of all races to convert NAVY PIER INTO A GAMBLING CASINO, AT THE TAX PAYERS EXPENSE

Amazing, isn't it, how effective economic forces can be, on controlling and leveraging human behaviors. Add the old standards of manipulation, appeal to the worst in human nature, toss in a little prejudice, a bit of fear, a dash of envy, frustration and resentment, and, presto, you've got the recipe for the flesh and blood version of purgatory. Enforce the draconian laws you use to control and exploit the populace, (a populace well conditioned to comply with the rule of law, without questioning the nature or purpose of that law), and you have an effective totalitarian state, without the need for use of blatant and egregious government directed violence. The only minor threat to this state that remains is the unused power of the citizens' Right to Vote. Will enough citizens ever experience sufficient misery to motivate themselves to exercise their Right to Vote in such a way as to force, at the ballot box, the end to this effectively totalitarian condition?

Listen to government inaction Link to agenda & audio courtesy of AlderTrack http://aldertrack.typepad.com/aldertrack2/2007/09/housing-and-rea.html

I am working for tenant rights social justice. I am a tenant’s advocate. I have rented bad property. Building safety regarding structure and tenant safety, currently are non-issues. The only improvement I saw in the landlord conduct and cosmetic changes to the property was when I got the city to act. I found that using tenant groups and tenant attorneys to have been a costly waste of time. Only the city can force an owner to bring the building and unit up to code. The Chicago Landlord Tenant Ordinance is not being enforced. A good landlord is protected from bad tenants as good tenants are protected from bad landlords. Currently, when a tenant withholds rent for a loud and or bad unit and building, the eviction court judge kicks the tenant out. No proof from the city building department to the tenant nor the judge showing that the issues exist or not is shown nor providing a report from a public repairperson. How is this fair? Everything is turning condo and what is left to rent, is nowhere near being safe nor in code compliance. I want to let people know that unless the city is forced to answer to what has been done to tenants and how bad buildings are allowed to remain open and collect rent money, nothing will change. The city is not building new apartments and the city is not bringing existing apartments up to code. Illegal conversions get rented and buildings are left in horrid conditions. Units are not being shown vacant and the next tenant has to endure what the previous tenant accepted. Why is the city missing all of these fund raising opportunities when property has to have city building annual inspections and tenants are free to call the city for unit and building inspections? Mayor Daley is not providing new housing for renters and Mayor Daley is not responding to tenants about building and unit and management complaints. My goal Is to have the city show us respect. HUD can not intervene. I hope that if more people question the double standards and the lack of code enforcement, the city will be forced to act. I can not do this alone. I am good at this but I need some funding. We have to have a home as our foundation. The home is our sanctuary and sadly today, housing needs take a back seat. I think I can do something. I want to publish easy to interpret guidelines as to what should be provided, what should not be happening, and let people understand what Mutual respect means. I want to save our rental housing and not lose out to what we can have due to lack of city response (that is the corruption) and tenants who impose what they compromise. Right now renters are stuck with an unresponsive city when the owner is lame or they are dealing with resentment from tenants. As soon as a tenant has a need; a bad owner decides to provide less. What is not being provided starts to spread in the entire building. This is not fair. I would rather have safe affordable heated housing and have mutual respect amongst tenants and the owners then what is happening now. What I want to do from a housing point is to showcase publicly what has to be provided and what should have never been allowed. I have constantly questioned the double standards and why the city was not collecting money from the fines. The city to a police officer to the building manager to a tenant have no right to take away your rights when a place has to follow the city codes and ordinances. The more you learn, the more you question, and hopefully changes will result. The Mayor’s Office is claiming that more rental housing will be provided. This is not happening. And why not bring up to code property that is salvageable? Mayor Daley’s office has said that 10 percent of the new condo buildings would be for affordable renting. If an apartment slum or not, had say 100 units (think about the illegal conversions and include no separation between the units) yet the place still housed, badly at that, 100 units, folks still had a place to call home. And then to due payoffs and things, the city allows the apartment to close (funny how a place is found dismal by the city when convenient) a company builds a place that has let us say 40 condo units, or even 86 condo units, - how does setting aside the claimed 10 percent for renters to rent, cover what was taken? I want renters to stop being gullible about the lack of remedies and lack of building and code enforcement. I want to get people to work together. We need a guarantee that our housing will not disappear. Renters and owners who are following the codes and ordinance need to know that laws matters and they work. Thank you. Renee McManus

I am working for tenant rights social justice. I am a tenant’s advocate. I have rented bad property. Building safety regarding structure and tenant safety, currently are non-issues. The only improvement I saw in the landlord conduct and cosmetic changes to the property was when I got the city to act. I found that using tenant groups and tenant attorneys to have been a costly waste of time. Only the city can force an owner to bring the building and unit up to code. The Chicago Landlord Tenant Ordinance is not being enforced. A good landlord is protected from bad tenants as good tenants are protected from bad landlords. Currently, when a tenant withholds rent for a loud and or bad unit and building, the eviction court judge kicks the tenant out. No proof from the city building department to the tenant nor the judge showing that the issues exist or not is shown nor providing a report from a public repair person. How is this fair? Everything is turning condo and what is left to rent, is nowhere near being safe nor in code compliance. I want to let people know that unless the city is forced to answer to what has been done to tenants and how bad buildings are allowed to remain open and collect rent money, nothing will change. The city is not building new apartments and the city is not bringing existing apartments up to code. Illegal conversions get rented and buildings are left in horrid conditions. Units are not being shown vacant and the next tenant has to endure what the previous tenant accepted. Why is the city missing all of these fund raising opportunities when property has to have city building annual inspections and tenants are free to call the city for unit and building inspections? Mayor Daley is not providing new housing for renters and Mayor Daley is not responding to tenants about building and unit and management complaints. My goal is to have the city show us respect. HUD cannot intervene. I hope that if more people question the double standards and the lack of code enforcement, the city will be forced to act. I can not do this alone. I am good at this but I need some funding. We have to have a home as our foundation. The home is our sanctuary and sadly today, housing needs take a back seat. I think I can do something. I want to publish easy to interpret guidelines as to what should be provided, what should not be happening, and let people understand what Mutual respect means. I want to save our rental housing and not lose out to what we can have due to lack of city response, (that is the corruption), and tenants who impose what they compromise. Right now renters are stuck with an unresponsive city when the owner is lame or they are dealing with resentment from tenants. As soon as a tenant has a need, a bad owner decides to provide less. What is not being provided starts to spread in the entire building. This is not fair. I would rather have safe affordable heated housing and have mutual respect amongst tenants and the owners then what is happening now. What I want to do from a housing point is to showcase publicly what has to be provided and what should have never been allowed. I have constantly questioned the double standards and why the city was not collecting money from the fines. The city is a police officer to the building manager, to a tenant have no right to take away your rights when a place has to follow the city codes and ordinances. The more you learn, the more you question, and hopefully changes will result. The Mayor’s Office is claiming that more rental housing will be provided. This is not happening. And why not bring up to code property that is salvageable? Mayor Daley’s office has said that 10 percent of the new condo buildings would be for affordable renting. If an apartment, slum or not, had, say, 100 units, (think about the illegal conversions and include no separation between the units), yet the place still housed, badly at that, 100 units, folks still had a place to call home. And then, due to payoffs and things, the city allows the apartment to close, (funny how a place is found dismal by the city when convenient), a company builds a place that has, let us say, 40 condo units, or even 86 condo units, - how does setting aside the claimed 10 percent for renters to rent, cover what was taken? I want renters to stop being gullible about the lack of remedies and lack of building and code enforcement. I want to get people to work together. We need a guarantee that our housing will not disappear. Renters and owners who are following the codes and ordinance need to know that laws matters and they work. Thank you. Renee McManus

As a landlord over the past 8 years, I have never raised a single tenants rent. As my tenants moved, I have now had to raise the rents on 3 apartments above $1000. How can I continue to provide affordable housing ($350-$900) to working class Chicagoans when tax rates are through the roof and inspectors are so picky and are so quick to fine? Chicago (RTLO) and high taxes will eventually elimanate all but the biggest/more expensive landlords.