CHICAGO Ald. Arena's Section 8 development means more crime, lower property values

Chicago City Wire.com ^ | Mar 17, 2017 | Glenn Minnis

[KeyLargo]

Ald. Arena's Section 8 development means more crime, lower property values in Jefferson Park, says expert Crime

Glenn Minnis

James Bovard warns residents of Jefferson Park that they need look no further than the opposite side of the city to see what a proposed low-income, subsidized housing complex could mean for their neighborhood.

The plan, backed by 45th Ward Alderman John Arena, would nearly double the amount of subsidized housing in the neighborhood.

“It could be the Chatham aftermath all over again,” Bovard, a noted libertarian author and lecturer, told the Chicago City Wire.

Chatham is a South Side neighborhood that has seen a dramatic rise in crime and drop in property values after a flood of Section 8 residents with housing vouchers moved into the area.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Chatham ranked sixth among Chicago's 77 neighborhoods in violent crime reports in the last month of 2016.

Bovard said what happened in Chatham could happen in Jefferson Park. He’s studied the issue for years and says the results are usually the same. He points to Baltimore as another such example.

“Violent crime is absolutely greater in neighborhoods of resettlement,” he said. “HUD has lied. In many instances, people being moved into these once middle-class neighborhoods with nothing more than the housing vouchers handed to them are coming from some of the highest crime-impacted areas in the country, and they’re taking the habits with them.”

The Chicago Sun-Times reported that between 2000 and 2009, the percentage of vacant homes in Chatham nearly doubled, and owner-occupied housing dropped by a full 5 percent.

In Jefferson Park, the proposal calls for a seven-story, mixed-income residential development on the corner of Northwest Highway and Milwaukee Avenue that would boast 100 units, one-fifth of which would be reserved for low-income residents.

[KeyLargo]

“If you’re on Section 8, no income means no responsibility,” he said. “There’s no incentive to work and concern yourself with things like property upkeep. Over time, that only comes to drive property values down.”

[bravo whiskey]

Ungentrification.

[PGR88]

Chicago libs miss Cabrini Green

[VTenigma]

Arena’s Section 8 development means more crime, lower property values

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Whoda thunk it?

[stylin19a]

45th ward used to be generally a great area. NW side of chicago.
....used to be the start of where firemen & cops live.
Wherever it’s at now, Section 8 will turn it into an armpit.

[M1903A1]

My recollection (having lived in the area over a decade ago) was that Jeff Park was still heavily Polish, with lots of civil-servant types, and a small amount of Hispanic (population and businesses, probably being forced out of Logan Square) migrating north along Milwaukee Avenue. Along with the rest of the NW side, it’s been having crime issues lately, as the illustrious ballerina-mayor stripped police assets from the “safe” zones of the city for (very public) deployments into the war zones.

This isn’t the first time the alderman has tried to bring major housing developments into the area. He had previously backed construction of a highrise apartment development along Lawrence by the CTA terminal (that failed due to a lost eminent-domain battle) and has advocated for other such projects in the same area. He’s totally tone deaf...the residents of Jeff Park don’t want them.

[M Kehoe]

Good morning.

Chicago learned absolutely nothing from Cabrini Green.

Sheesh.

5.56mm

[oldasrocks]

Build a large wall around it to protect the residents of course. Do not build anything out of wood because some immigrant will not like the place and burn it down like they do in France.

[BJ1]

I’m familiar with these neighborhoods and residential real estate in the City of Chicago. Before the housing crash Chatham was a very nice community that was predominately black. As far as neighborhoods go on the south side of Chicago, it had higher property values than most. It also has some housing stock that is superior to surrounding markets. It had an air of being upscale. The curb appeal of the homes was very good. Now it has been dragged down to the level of the surrounding neighborhoods. Jefferson park has a different demographic as Chatham is predominantly black. Jefferson Park is surrounded by much nicer, at least in terms of property values, neighborhoods than Chatham was/is. So Jefferson Park can take the hit without ruining it like Chatham was ruined. I still wouldn’t like it if I was a resident, but I think warning the same thing will happen is just a bit too much.