Progress Illinois

Angela is leaving out the thousands of residents whose voices were not allowed to be heard when she states that a majority of Uptown residents voted in support.

Only certain precincts in Uptown were eligible to vote on referendum.

The precincts which are predominantly low-income were selected, while people living across the street weren't posed with the questions on their ballots.

Please be more in-depth when taking items such as this to press since discussing an issue like this from only one angle denies the reader a comprehensive account.

Thanks for letting us know. We added a clarification to both of our posts on this issue.

It's interesting that you've put a comment in the bottom to correct the fact that only certain precincts were selected, but you didn't change the rest of the article. How can you leave this article the same? Saying that "in Uptown, 66% of residents approved the measure" is completely misleading. This is not objective journalism by any stretch of imagination. You've lost any credibility in my eyes.

What about the lawsuit that's pending against Wilson Yard? What about the thousands of residents that have signed a petition stating that they do not want to see only low income housing on that site? Where's your article about that? Wilson Yard is the next Cabrini Green and is going to drive all of the tax paying residents out of the area.

The article has been corrected, Anthony.

Josh,

Thanks for making the corrections to this article. This issue has been very heated and very emotional. We know that the way the article was originally written is the same way that our local alderman and special interest groups are going to try to misrepresent the issue as being supported by the majority of Uptown residents, when it truely isn't overall in my opinion. Instead, they choose to cherry pick the precincts densely populated with subsidized housing and then claim that the community at large is supportive when they didn't let the entire neighborhood vote on the issue.

Many of us have decided to buy our homes/condos/lofts in this area, and we truely enjoy the diversity that it offers. I can't claim to speak for everyone, so I'll just speak for myself. I don't enjoy the open drug use, gangs, violence, shootings, the aggressive homeless, urinating and defecating in public, etc. I would like to feel safe walking the streets and not have to worry about catching a stray bullet from the open gunplay like we saw way too much of this summer. I understand that no area is ever going to be 100% safe, but we have lots of room for improvement around here. When we voice our concerns to our local alderman or her staff, all they do is rudely recommend that we move. That is not an acceptable response from someone who's salary we pay.

TIF funds were intended to be used to revitalize neighborhoods, not pack more subsidized housing into a neighborhood that is already satured and surpasses the % of sound urban planning recommendations. And that is why I and others in this neighborhood get upset at the way the referenda that were voted upon don't give an accurate view of the entire picture. We need viable business and a sound tax base in order to help turn this community around and provide a safe environment for all people to live in. That is in part why many of us support the Fix Wilson Yard initiative (www.fixwilsonyard.org).

So, I just wanted to take a few minutes to say thanks for taking the time to correct this article.

Perhaps if Progress Illinois were truly interested in progress, they would start asking the other 48 Wards were their comprehensive low income housing plans are... Ghettoizing specific neighborhoods by contintually adding more and more low income housing to a specific ward is both short sighted and counterproductive. I would truly like to see why these referendums are not offered in ALL the wards and for ALL those in the ward to vote for them.

It reminds me of an old joke back in the days of the Soviet Union.. there was a race with two participants, one Russian, one from the U.S. The U.S. runner won the race. The Soviet Union described it as... The proud comrade from the USSR almost overcame all the odds against him and ran a strong second. The Americans, however, were next to last...

Josh,

You should disclose the fact that the SEIU, which sponsors your website, also supplied funds and manpower to place the two survey questions on the ballot in the 46th Ward(Uptown) and supplied funds and manpower to GOTV on election day in the form of letter size flyers distributed throughout the 46th Ward precincts that were eligible to answer the survey questions and notecard flyers urging "YES" votes at the 46th ward polling stations.

You're going to have to bite the hand that feeds you, but your paymasters have information they are keeping from you.

Cheerio.

Curly

I believe many Uptown residents are quite supportive of affordable housing in the neighborhood. What has been upsetting is that we continue to have very bad management of the already existing subsidized housing. Placing more 100% low-income housing in a neighborhood that already had 18% of all its housing stock as subsidized is over-concentration.

Had Wilson Yard sought mixed-income housing as is done throughout the rest of the city, there may have been more openness. What's worse is that each family unit is costing $447,000. It's clear that it's not just the poor who are benefiting from this referendum. Had the voters been informed of these concerns, the outcome would have been different. But then, wasn't the purpose of the referendum to get a particular outcome rather than the opinion of the residents?

Housing in this section of town is very expensive. However, the demand is still there. I understand people want to make housing more affordable but supply and demand usually settle everything out.