HR0617 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0617 LRB099 12861 MST 36728 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Most of the City of Chicago is divided economically into rich or poor; economic segregation concentrates not only the poor, but also the wealthy; the growth of concentrated poverty on the City's South and West sides and the decline of Chicago's middle class means that other areas must, in contrast, have concentrated wealth; and

WHEREAS, When poverty rates and segregation are high in metropolitan areas, those regions perform worse economically relative to less segregated areas; regions segregated by race as well as skills have slower rates of income growth and property value appreciation; and

WHEREAS, Chicago ranks third on the list of cities with isolated wealth, behind Boston and Philadelphia; and

WHEREAS, The Metropolitan Planning Council has been working on a range of efforts to spur healthy, mixed-income communities; for a decade, they have been working with 9 regional housing authorities through the Regional Housing Initiative to provide subsidies for affordable housing in low-poverty communities near transit; recent changes to the Chicago's Affordable Requirements Ordinance will result in more affordable housing in market-rate buildings in high-income communities; and

WHEREAS, The Chicago Housing Authority is increasingly partnering with developers in profitable real estate markets to place public housing units in North Side neighborhoods; and

WHEREAS, Chicago TREND is embarking on an ambitious strategy to bring retail to underserved communities, thus better serving existing residents and increasing the likelihood of attracting new services; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we urge the City of Chicago to continue to utilize all resources available to it to decrease the economic segregation that plagues the City and to create a strong middle class; and be it further

RESOLVED, That Chicago will no longer be a city divided, but a city connected; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.