Edgewater redevelopment, affordable housing and my worries about gentrification
Over the years, I attended a lot of community meetings about new residential and commercial developments. But tonight was the first time I didn't attend it as a reporter.
A few days ago, I saw a notice taped to the door. There was going to be a meeting at Edgewater library about a proposal for some kind of housing building on Broadway Street. It would replace what is now an auto shop that's located on the other side of the 'L' tracks, not that far from where my building was.
The meeting didn't conflict with any of my journalism commitments, and it was held at my local branch library, one of the places where I usually write, so it was a no-brainer.
The first thing that struck was that there were a lot of people. The second thing that stuck me was that all of them were white.
Edgewater isn't Rogers Park, where no racial group makes up more then 40% of the population, but we are not Edison Park, either. Especially east of the 'L' tracks. And since I know my building isn't the only building east of the tracks that got the notice... I couldn't help but wonder what that said about the crowd that attended. And the relative level of civic participation.
As the presentation went on, the developer outlined his vision. The idea was to create transit-orientated development, with fewer parking spots then there were apartments because, well, it was pretty close to the Granville 'L' station. While the plan did call for some one-bedroom apartments, most of them would be studios, not much bigger from my own studio apartment. Except [quite a bit pricier]...Let's put it this way. If you divide my rent by half, round it off to the nearest 100 and multiply that by three, you'll get what they are planning to charge.
The developer was pretty candid about why he planned to do it that way - it would be the easiest way to make his money back.
In fairness, it includes some amenities my building doesn't have - a common fitness center and a washer and dryer in every unit. But then, my building also has rehearsal space, and it used to have a common lounge that doubled as a second rehearsal space (but that's a whole other sad tangent). So other then the brand-new structure, I'm not sure it's that much of an upgrade.
Also, to the developer's credit, he is following the Chicago's affordable housing requirement [the way it was intended](to make a long story short, developers can either make at least 10% of their units affordable (1/3 of the average rent in the city) or pay the money that would go into the fund to (at least in theory) build more affordable housing. The overwhelming majority of developers choose the later).
I admit that the proposal made me nervous. In the four years since I moved to Edgewater, my rent has gone up almost a $100. And, as my sister pointed out the first time she visited, gentrification seems to be coming to this section of the neighborhood. Loyola University has been buying up buildings left and right, there have been attempts to put it more upscale eateries (some stuck, some didn't) and the block-wide mixed-use development next to the spot where 'L' tracks travel over Granville serves as constant harbinger of what's to come.
A lot of the people who attended the meeting were dubious that anyone would be willing to pay $1,200 for studio apartments - an understandable reaction, especially since that building I mentioned in the previous paragraph had more trouble attracting residents and commercial tenants then anyone originally thought. But there were also concerns that this building might become a hotel...
To explain this, I need to give you a short rundown of a bit of neighborhood history. Long before I moved to Edgewater, I knew that most of the buildings east of the 'L' tracks were multi-story apartments and condos, while west of the tracks (especially once you go past Broadway), you get lots of older single-family homes. Once I moved in, I realized that people who lived on that west side were more likely to be white. And eventually, I learned that the building I moved into was part of the once-notorious stretch of residential hotels, cheap apartments and what my people would call коммуналки. Things have improved since then, but it's still one of the cheapest parts of Edgewater. And because the apartments are relatively cheap, this is where a lot of immigrants and refugees got settled (which is also a major reason why, even now, it tends to be less white then the other side of the tracks).
I also discovered that home owners west side of the tracks looked at apartments east of the tracks as the thing that was bringing Edgewater down. So, when people at the meeting asked about hotels, what they really meant was "are they going to bring in the bad old days?"
(At one point, one of the attendees, who said she was a realtor, mentioned that this stretch of housing didn't bring anything good to Edgewater. If years of covering meetings didn't teach me to keep my mouth shot no matter what happened, I might have said what I was thinking - well, fuck you too.)
At least the affordable housing bit didn't raise any protests.
Listening to people talk about the need for parking, about the fact that Edgewater is the dog-friendly neighborhood, about the fact that most people here lived in larger apartments, I kept thinking that they were talking about an Edgewater... an Edgewater west of Broadway, west of the tracks.
One attendee, who said she was a landlord, may have been one of the few people from east of the tracks. She echoed the complaints about the development's high rents, but she approached it a slightly different way.
"I don't think you've done your market research," she said. "The kids that rent from me - they don't work downtown. They work in theater, in art. They can't afford that."
"Maybe, if we do this project, you will be able to raise your rent," the develop replied.
"Who said she wants to?" someone shouted.
There was, unfortunately, no follow-up. Other people asked questions, and he kept answering them.
This project is far from a done deal. It would still need to go through several steps before he gets our local alderman's recommendation - a necessary step for City Council approval. But given that Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) said that there was a lot of interest in projects like this, and if this one won't pan out, there are others waiting in line.
All I know is that... It does make me nervous. Because, if projects like this do happen, property values will increase, making it that much more likely that landlords will hike up rents.
How much longer will I be able to stay here?
And how much longer will the Edgewater east of the tracks as I know it remain?
The fact that most of the people who showed up at the meeting live west of the tracks isn't encouraging at all.
A few days ago, I saw a notice taped to the door. There was going to be a meeting at Edgewater library about a proposal for some kind of housing building on Broadway Street. It would replace what is now an auto shop that's located on the other side of the 'L' tracks, not that far from where my building was.
The meeting didn't conflict with any of my journalism commitments, and it was held at my local branch library, one of the places where I usually write, so it was a no-brainer.
The first thing that struck was that there were a lot of people. The second thing that stuck me was that all of them were white.
Edgewater isn't Rogers Park, where no racial group makes up more then 40% of the population, but we are not Edison Park, either. Especially east of the 'L' tracks. And since I know my building isn't the only building east of the tracks that got the notice... I couldn't help but wonder what that said about the crowd that attended. And the relative level of civic participation.
As the presentation went on, the developer outlined his vision. The idea was to create transit-orientated development, with fewer parking spots then there were apartments because, well, it was pretty close to the Granville 'L' station. While the plan did call for some one-bedroom apartments, most of them would be studios, not much bigger from my own studio apartment. Except [quite a bit pricier]...Let's put it this way. If you divide my rent by half, round it off to the nearest 100 and multiply that by three, you'll get what they are planning to charge.
The developer was pretty candid about why he planned to do it that way - it would be the easiest way to make his money back.
In fairness, it includes some amenities my building doesn't have - a common fitness center and a washer and dryer in every unit. But then, my building also has rehearsal space, and it used to have a common lounge that doubled as a second rehearsal space (but that's a whole other sad tangent). So other then the brand-new structure, I'm not sure it's that much of an upgrade.
Also, to the developer's credit, he is following the Chicago's affordable housing requirement [the way it was intended](to make a long story short, developers can either make at least 10% of their units affordable (1/3 of the average rent in the city) or pay the money that would go into the fund to (at least in theory) build more affordable housing. The overwhelming majority of developers choose the later).
I admit that the proposal made me nervous. In the four years since I moved to Edgewater, my rent has gone up almost a $100. And, as my sister pointed out the first time she visited, gentrification seems to be coming to this section of the neighborhood. Loyola University has been buying up buildings left and right, there have been attempts to put it more upscale eateries (some stuck, some didn't) and the block-wide mixed-use development next to the spot where 'L' tracks travel over Granville serves as constant harbinger of what's to come.
A lot of the people who attended the meeting were dubious that anyone would be willing to pay $1,200 for studio apartments - an understandable reaction, especially since that building I mentioned in the previous paragraph had more trouble attracting residents and commercial tenants then anyone originally thought. But there were also concerns that this building might become a hotel...
To explain this, I need to give you a short rundown of a bit of neighborhood history. Long before I moved to Edgewater, I knew that most of the buildings east of the 'L' tracks were multi-story apartments and condos, while west of the tracks (especially once you go past Broadway), you get lots of older single-family homes. Once I moved in, I realized that people who lived on that west side were more likely to be white. And eventually, I learned that the building I moved into was part of the once-notorious stretch of residential hotels, cheap apartments and what my people would call коммуналки. Things have improved since then, but it's still one of the cheapest parts of Edgewater. And because the apartments are relatively cheap, this is where a lot of immigrants and refugees got settled (which is also a major reason why, even now, it tends to be less white then the other side of the tracks).
I also discovered that home owners west side of the tracks looked at apartments east of the tracks as the thing that was bringing Edgewater down. So, when people at the meeting asked about hotels, what they really meant was "are they going to bring in the bad old days?"
(At one point, one of the attendees, who said she was a realtor, mentioned that this stretch of housing didn't bring anything good to Edgewater. If years of covering meetings didn't teach me to keep my mouth shot no matter what happened, I might have said what I was thinking - well, fuck you too.)
At least the affordable housing bit didn't raise any protests.
Listening to people talk about the need for parking, about the fact that Edgewater is the dog-friendly neighborhood, about the fact that most people here lived in larger apartments, I kept thinking that they were talking about an Edgewater... an Edgewater west of Broadway, west of the tracks.
One attendee, who said she was a landlord, may have been one of the few people from east of the tracks. She echoed the complaints about the development's high rents, but she approached it a slightly different way.
"I don't think you've done your market research," she said. "The kids that rent from me - they don't work downtown. They work in theater, in art. They can't afford that."
"Maybe, if we do this project, you will be able to raise your rent," the develop replied.
"Who said she wants to?" someone shouted.
There was, unfortunately, no follow-up. Other people asked questions, and he kept answering them.
This project is far from a done deal. It would still need to go through several steps before he gets our local alderman's recommendation - a necessary step for City Council approval. But given that Ald. Harry Osterman (48th) said that there was a lot of interest in projects like this, and if this one won't pan out, there are others waiting in line.
All I know is that... It does make me nervous. Because, if projects like this do happen, property values will increase, making it that much more likely that landlords will hike up rents.
How much longer will I be able to stay here?
And how much longer will the Edgewater east of the tracks as I know it remain?
The fact that most of the people who showed up at the meeting live west of the tracks isn't encouraging at all.