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Foreclosure Crisis
PI Original
by Steven Ross Johnson
12:46pm
Mon Nov 5, 2012
1 comment

Third Party Politics: Talking To Green Party Candidates On The 2012 Ballot

Election 2012

Often regarded as residing on the fringe of American politics, third parties have been viewed by their supporters as an important alternative to the platforms presented by the country’s two major parties. We talk to a couple of Green Party candidates on the ballot this year, including presidential candidate Jill Stein. 

Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
6:27pm
Mon Oct 29, 2012

City Touts Building Demolitions In Crime Prevention, But Is There A Connection?

Today, the city of Chicago demolished its “200th dangerous building” since July 12, according to the office of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The mayor stated in a press release that demolitions are “preventing criminal activity in our neighborhoods.”

Is this true? “We’ve been knocking down houses since the 1930’s and it’s not clear if this has a significant effect on crime rates,” says Bradford Hunt, a sociology professor at Roosevelt University who studies Chicago housing issues.

Also in question: How does the city determine what properties see the wrecking ball? Read more »

PI Original
by Matthew Blake
1:17pm
Mon Aug 27, 2012

What To Make Of The Chicago Murder Rate

Crime

The homicide rate is probably the top political story in Chicago so far this year, with an approximately 30 percent citywide increase in murders between 2011 and 2012 and a succession of new pronouncements from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy on how they are responding to the problem.

Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
2:45pm
Thu Aug 16, 2012

Foreclosures Surge In Several South Side Communities

Foreclosure filings increased by exactly one percent in the city of Chicago between the first six months of 2011 and first half of 2012, according to data compiled by the Woodstock Institute. But the jump in foreclosures was more dramatic in a handful of struggling, mostly black neighborhoods on the South Side.

Filings in West Pullman were up 58.7 percent from 155 to 246 in the first half of this year compared to 2011. The number of foreclosures jumped in Englewood 24.1 percent from 141 to 175 and climbed in Calumet Heights 54 percent from 50 to 77. Read more »

Quick Hit
by Matthew Blake
3:51pm
Tue Aug 14, 2012

Emanuel Opposition May Squelch Use Of Eminent Domain On Foreclosures

A San Francisco-based firm spent the morning trying to sell the Chicago City Council on the idea that they can use eminent domain to seize properties in danger of falling into foreclosure. The firm argued that the use of eminent domain, which occurs when government acquires private property in the name of the greater good, could lead to the public benefit of fewer foreclosures. Representatives from Mortgage Resolution Partners LLC had the ear of Ald. Ed Burke (14th), chairman of the City Council Finance Committee, and the backing of Ald. Ray Suarez (31st), head of the Housing and Real Estate Committee.

But the effort was perhaps futile as Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel indicated at a press conference today that he opposes the plan.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Emanuel said that he did not think eminent domain was the “right instrument” to combat foreclosures. Read more »