#lifttheban

"Should the State of Illinois lift the ban on rent control to address rising rents, unjust evictions, and gentrification in our community?"

Many people in Chicago will answer this question on their ballots when they vote in a couple weeks. The 1st, 26th, 45th and 50th wards are where the question is being asked; they are communities that have experienced rapidly rising rents with gentrification - communities such as Logan Square, Wicker Park, Humboldt Park and Rogers Park.

Illinois has had a ban on rent control since 1997 and this vote is a non-binding referendum but if voters overwhelmingly vote to lift the ban - then the results may be used to persuade lawmakers to lift the ban on rent control. About two-thirds of voters in areas of Uptown, Rogers Park, Avondale, Logan Square and Rogers Park have already voted ‘yes’ on this measure in November and a movement to lift the ban on rent control has momentum.

The depletion of affordable housing in these areas is changing the makeup of these neighborhoods and it is undoubtedly causing people of color to be displaced. “Almost 20,000 latinos have been displaced in the last five years,” says Norma Rios-Sierra of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association. As longtime residents of the area witness a rapidly changing demographic, many people see lifting the ban on rent control as an essential component to preserving the community. Rios-Sierra is a lifelong resident of the area and has watched as the community has changed. “I want people to have an option to live here,” she says of her work with LSNA and the Hermosa and Logan Square Here-to-Stay initiative that seeks to provide options for working families to remain in the area.

Meanwhile, there are various reasons that landlords argue that instituting rent control will actually deplete the housing stock and not fix the problem of supplying affordable housing to those who need it most. “There’s no correlation between those who will benefit from rent control and the need for affordable housing,” contends Mike Glasser who owns a building in Rogers Park. He argues that there’s already a huge incentive not to lose a good tenant and as assessed valuations decline under rent control, many landlords will deplete the stock of housing by converting their units to condos. “The absolute best answer is to add to the supply of housing,” Glasser says in regards to stabilizing increasing rental rates.

The conversation around affordable housing and gentrification is complicated and often seems oversimplified. This photo essay is an attempt to explore various perspectives on the topic.

Captions includes the stories of various people I have talked to about this topic. I will be looking to continue this story through the year and would love to hear from people that can provide perspective.

This story was recently published in the Chicago Reader - here are links to what was published and below are the perspectives I've collected thus far.

PDF PRINT VERSION

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SLIDESHOW

"We need to look at the well-being of our community - how can we heal the damage of gentrification?" asks Norma Rios-Sierra, 38, a Logan Square homeowner working with the Logan Square Neighborhood Association to develop low-income housing initiatives to preserve the community.

"I want people to have an option to live here," she says noting that "almost 20,000 Latinos have been displaced in the last 5 years." As a homeowner, she acknowledges that "single homeowners are the one's who maintain low rent" and she keeps rent low for her tenants.

As homeowner's her family is regularly approached to sell their property - she says they receive "one mailing per week that is some amazing sales pitch to sell their property."

As part of an effort to preserve the community and slow gentrification she supports Hermosa Here to Stay - an initiative that is designed to bring 100 units of affordable housing while developing a community land trust as a way to compete with developers who can quickly buy up land with cash.

Lesley Reynoso, 22, had been living with her family in the same 1st ward apartment for 18 years when the building was sold and they were evicted with one month's notice. They were not able to find affordable housing in Logan Square and moved to Irving Park where they are paying higher rent away from the community they know. Lesley helps her parents keep up with the rent while going to school at Columbia College. She finds it hard to keep up with her school work and maintain employment to help with high Chicago rents. 

"I shouldn't be choosing between working a minimum wage job and going to college she says." The move has added to her commute times. While the move has strained her family she feels lucky compared to the families with young kids who were evicted from their building - thinking that finding a place would've been harder with more kids who are younger and can't contribute to the rent. "I don't know how the people in my building are doing - I hope they're doing well."

The building where Lesley Reynoso and her family lived for 18 years before being displaced at 2936 W Palmer St. in Logan Square. M. Fishman and Company bought the building on October 5, 2017 and shortly after sent eviction notices telling residents they had to be out by November 30.  Multiple minority families were displaced on short notice in the middle of a school year.

Mike Glasser stands in front of one of his properties in Rogers Park where lifting the ban on rent control is being debated. Glasser is president of the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance and the Rogers Park Builders Group and opposes lifting the ban on rent control.

"Anybody who's a landlord who opposes rent control is going to be assumed to be acting in their own interest." Glasser acknowledges but continues "There's no correlation between those who will benefit from rent control and the need for affordable housing."  He points out that people are less likely to move out of an apartment with rent control even as their income increases, meaning affordable units won't go to those who need them most. Other problems he points out with rent control are that it will disincentive landlords to keep up with maintaining their buildings and the assessed valuations of the buildings will decline. He warns that with too much regulation landlords may give up on the rental market all together and convert their units to condos, thus depleting the rental stock. "The absolute best answer is add to the supply of housing," Glasser says, advocating that greater supply will keep housing costs lower.

Cherie Travis stands outside of one of her properties near Logan Square. Travis is against lifting the ban on rent control thinking it will lead to more regulation that could push small landlords, who currently have the ability to personally work with tenants and keep rents reasonable, out of the business entirely. 

"It is already a treacherous place for small landlords in Chicago. The city of Chicago makes it impossible for small landlords to exist. Eventually you'll have a situation where Chicago will be purely corporate housing and that'll be good for no one."  In addition to owning rental properties, Travis is an attorney who represents small landlords in court. She says that current regulation already leaves small landlords in a vulnerable position when dealing with tenants.

She adds that another potential problem with rent control is "it creates a massive disincentive for landlords to keep up the property. It's not good for the quality of housing in Chicago if landlords are disincentivized to keep up their property." 

“The overregulation is what I’m protesting,” she says. “Ultimately Chicago is going to lose small landlords.” Better management of Chicago Housing Authority funds would be something she would advocate for to give assistance to people who need it and have that assistance be limited for a certain amount of time.

Hajiya Adamu, 61, works as a caretaker and lives in the 50th ward where rent control referendum is on the ballot. As rents have increased, Adamu has appreciated having a landlord that is reasonable and has allowed her to find roommates as needed to keep up with the increasingly expensive rental market. She says the extra roommates likely will mean that rent will increase because of the extra cost of the water bill. 

One group of people affected by lack of low-income housing are women escaping domestic violence.

Caitlin Brady, 30 is a domestic violence survivor who is familiar with the danger that a lack of affordable housing presents. Her abuser was also her landlord so she had no rental history to get out.

"I think women are forced to stay in situations longer than they would. I wanted to leave but I had nowhere to go. Food and shelter should be a basic human right. I shouldn't have the choice of getting beat up or being homeless. My heart breaks for women with kids."

"I advocate for decommodifying housing. It has to be accessible to the bottom income earners. We ignore the fact that these problems are structural. Mobility is the answer. The ability to get up and leave and stay somewhere you feel safe. There should be more social workers."

"We want to preserve this as a space for Puerto Rican families." 26th Ward Alderman Roberto Maldonado says about preserving the Puerto Rican heritage of his ward while speaking near one of the ward's murals that celebrates Puerto Rican culture.

Maldonado supports lifting the ban on rent control noting that if the ban is lifted "I will be an active participant  in drafting the final language of the ordinance. In order to motivate landlords to go along this path we need to provide incentive to upkeep property. A board should be established that would be comprised of people that know the neighborhood."

Preventing displacement and preserving the neighborhood's long-established Puerto Rican identity is a priority for Maldonado. In addition to supporting lifting the ban on rent control, Maldonado is working to secure more affordable housing in the area as market values continue to rise. 

"The threat of gentrification is real," says Maldonado. Parts of the 606 trail border his ward and he notes "I was never a fan of the 606 and I live 5 houses from there. I went to the community meeting and everyone there did not look like me at all. It was clear that this plan was not for my community."

Whether the ban is lifted or not, Alderman Maldonado says plans for affordable housing are in the works for the 26th ward. "I have a plan to build 1100 affordable housing units in the next five years - by doing that we're going to provide decent housing for working families." The intersection of California and Division across from Humboldt Park is a lot where some 60 of these units will be built.

Theresa Siaw is running against current 26th ward alderman Roberto Maldonado and does not advocate to lift the ban on rent control.  "I'd advocate for education more than rent control." Siaw says emphasizing that with better education people will better manage their financial assets to the point where they can own homes and stay in the community. "We need more minorities to own their own property."

Juanita Barraza, 63, heads out to canvass and advocate to lift the ban on rent control near where she lives in the 26th ward. Barraza is advocating for rent control because she has seen many of her neighbors and friends forced out of the community do to escalating housing costs. "Everybody's moved because they can't afford the rents," say Barraza.  Barraza is a homeowner who rents a unit in her home and wants to keep the rent low for tenants.  

Casey Sweeney, 27, left, and India Peek-Jensen, 26, of Grassroots Illinois Action go door to door in Humboldt Park to advocate for lifting the ban on rent control. The organization led the initiative to get lifting the ban on rent control on the ballot.