Affordable Housing

Chicago should be a city where working people can afford to build a life, and afford to stay.

For too many families, that is becoming harder every year. Rents are rising and property taxes are putting pressure on homeowners. Childcare, utilities, transportation and groceries take up more of every paycheck.

Chicago needs a plan that lowers the pressure on household budgets while creating the economic growth necessary to sustain a strong city.

Build More Housing

Chicago needs more housing at different price points and in more neighborhoods. We need to make it easier to build the housing our city needs, put vacant and underused land back into productive use, and remove unnecessary barriers that make housing more expensive to build.

At the same time, we need to protect renters from displacement, expand realistic pathways to homeownership and help existing homeowners, particularly those with modest and fixed incomes, remain in their homes.

Housing policy should be based on a simple premise: It should not be hard for Chicagoans to find a home they can afford in any neighborhood.

Grow the Tax Base

Affordability also depends on Chicago's ability to grow.

When businesses leave, population declines, or major parts of the city's tax base lose value, the cost of providing city services does not disappear. That burden shifts onto the residents and businesses that remain.

We need to grow the tax base. That means more residents, more businesses, more housing, more jobs and a stronger tax base. Increasing taxes for the residents and businesses already here is not a growth strategy.