When the Obama Presidential Center was announced in 2015, organizers raised the alarm that the project could raise rents, potentially forcing residents out of surrounding neighborhoods. Organizers spent years advocating for protections and the Lightfoot Administration eventually passed the Woodlawn Housing Preservation Ordinance.
But an investigation from the Illinois Answers Project finds that $2 million in two programs for affordable housing went unspent. It also found that developers didn’t follow a pilot program to offer tenants an opportunity to buy their apartment, nor did the city enforce it.
In the Loop learns more about the backstory in pushing for this ordinance, why it hasn’t been enforced, and the ongoing community organizing to prevent displacement.
GUESTS: Sidnee King Pineda, journalist, Illinois Answers Project
Infiniti Gant, housing organizer, Southside Together