WurfWhile

The recently released Chicago Metropolis 2020 housing report, Homes for a Changing Region, finds that housing will be too expensive in the future - pricing out about 20% of the population - unless we make key changes. According to the Chicago Tribune the report finds,

“By 2030, roughly 870,000 families in the six-county area–or a fifth of the population–will be paying more than they can afford for housing if current zoning policies, escalating land costs and
construction trends continue, the joint study by Chicago Metropolis 2020 and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus concludes.”

I haven’t had a chance to read the report yet, but I have a lot of respect for the organization and look forward to seeing it’s recommendations.

Housing is a real issue for working people in DuPage. The Naperville Sun reported August 24 about the DuPage Homeownership Center’s efforts to expand the DuPage Homestead Program to reach more people with affordable housing options through financial planning and reduced interest rates. In the report they noted the dire state of affordable housing in DuPage,

“In June, the median sales price for an existing single-family home in DuPage was $327,000 — up 10.8 percent from June 2004 and up 7.6 percent in the past three months alone, said Sheila McCann, director of outreach and development for the homeownership center.

A first-time home buyer would have to earn $109,920 to afford the median-priced home in DuPage, McCann said. But the median household income of county residents falls far short at $69,700.”

In other words, the median household makes only 63% of what it takes to purchase the median single-family home. That’s a pretty big shortfall.

We need to do better in DuPage. We need to do better in the Chicagoland area. Our family, friends and neighbors deserve affordable housing solutions - they need them to live here.