Caption by Ashmar Mandou

Housing advocates held a press conference Monday morning at City Hall to request amendments be made to two new housing pilot programs proposed by the Mayor for the stated purpose of “minimizing displacement of long-term residents from gentrifying neighborhoods.” Housing advocates are arguing that the policies the Mayor has introduced are “poorly” thought out in several key aspects and will “achieve” their stated goal or purpose –to prevent the displacement of “vulnerable families.” Janet Smith, the long-standing Co-Director of the Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement and academic who has studied gentrification in Chicago for decades writes that “It’s important to understand that gentrification primarily affects families, more than individuals and couples. A major indicator of gentrification is, in fact, the loss of children aged 5-19 from a neighborhood. In gentrifying areas, the population between of 5-19 years of age consistently drops as gentrification increases. For example, Logan Square went from 22.5 percent children to only 15 percent children between 2000 and 2010. So if the pilot programs don’t respond to that then they really aren’t responding to gentrification.” Raymon Barrera, a youth organizer with Logan Square Neighborhood Association adds, “Research shows that home stability is the most accurate predictor of a child’s education and health outcomes. Gentrification causes instability in children’s lives, and it spurs segregation in our city. Furthermore, as families are displaced, children are forced to leave their public neighborhood schools, lowering enrollment and causing severe budget cuts which further damage children’s lives.” Logan Square elementary schools have seen their enrollment decline by more than 2,000 students during the Emanuel Administration.