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Ted joined Chicago Tonight for a discussion on the affordable housing crisis gripping both Chicago and the nation and what to do about it. Ted argued that government created much of the crisis via market distortions and low interest rates, and that throwing more money at the problem via tax credits will only make things worse. The way to fix things is to reduce the costs of PZR: permitting, zoning and regulations.
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Everybody needs a side hustle these days, and mine is Ukraine, where I am now.
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If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
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Audio and summary
Heres an idea, cut the government to pretty much zero, cut our taxes to zero because the government does zero for us Americans, we literally get nothing from them. The government and politicians are thieves and scumbags. Im not waiting for the government to get better because it never will. Get your passports everyone.
Here’s a thought Don. Let’s put illegals to work building their own housing as a condition of free hotel rooms, free health care, free education for their kids, free food and free cell phones. Wow, I’ve thought of a solution which would help alleviate this issue. Could I possibly be a progressive?
The unions won’t be happy about that plan. If the unions are not happy the D pols are not happy.
meanwhile….. Illinois is almost dead last for new construction starts. 3rd worst in nation per IPI for 2023 with TX, FL, NC, etc building 5 to 6 times mores housing starts than Illinois. (https://www.illinoispolicy.org/illinois-3rd-worst-in-u-s-for-new-construction/). Still seems high but, per this article, rents are dropping in FL & TX because there building so much (https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/14/heres-where-rent-concessions-are-happening-the-most-in-the-us-.html?__source=androidappshare). JB/ brando & crew keep piling on all kinds of crazy progressive renter protection laws, a huge negative for attracting any multifamily developers to build in Chi/& Ill………there’s ZERO tower cranes up in downtown.
So, one issue that’s been batting around my head is that the Chicago metro area is just too big to expand. We’ve expanded as far out as we can reasonably expect anyone to drive and commute in a day. It’s 75 miles and several hours in traffic to drive from Crete to Waukegan, both former small towns that have been absorbed into ‘suburbs’. There’s really only one major central business district, and other very minor ones (Schaumburg, Oak Brook, etc). NYC at least has White Plains as a secondary district and Dallas has Ft Worth, and LA while enormous, isn’t… Read more »
Well if could expand to the east into Lake Michigan……
Don Washington is another great example of a know nothing social justice warrior in a job he doesn’t deserve and can’t do. Save yourself some time and don’t invest a minute in trying to decipher what the man says. Turn the page and move on. This one is going absolutely nowhere.
It’s all about supply and demand. The supply of subsidized housing will NEVER equal the demand
There are a couple issues that are never discussed as housing affordable issues yet, as many are of the how much down and how much a month club, it is the monthly payment that is of issue. Part of the monthly payment is our well discussed real estate tax issue and the other is the numerous regulatory issues rooted in the “save the planet” movement on new residential construction that naturally raise the prices. A good look can be easily be provided by the new air conditioner regulations slated for implementation next year. The units will be much more expensive,… Read more »
Mr. Washington was definitely triggered when Ted brought up “regulations” (starting at time 5:00). Mr. Washington simply dismisses the impact of regulation on housing costs. When I talk issues with my progressive friend in Chicago, she does the same thing: “Regulation? What are you talking about . . . .” The leftist/progressive paradigm definitely includes “regulation equals good.” Too bad there isn’t a quick-and-easy way to measure, calculate, and report the costs of regulations, and the compound impact of regulations and mandates coming from many directions at once: local, state, and/or federal regulators. Regulations are like toilet paper: you can… Read more »
Here is a good interview on states with the most and least regulations from C-Span this morning.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?537976-5/patrick-mclaughlin-regulated-states
I don’t know where Don Washington comes from, but whoever pays him to talk abut housing should reconsider their decision. He doesn’t know squat about housing. And the “market” is the problem? Here comes some Mayor Johnson and Kamala socialist hot air. Maybe he is a sociologist or a pet psychologist or a philosophy major, but he didn’t take an Econ, Finance or Accounting class in school. And my favorite part, which mercifully got cut off by time constraints, was his reference to housing problems in Ukraine and Ethiopia. Wow.
Here is his bio from the city site: The director of the Chicago Housing Initiative Coalition brings over 30 years’ experience creating powerful intersectional, interracial, interfaith and intergenerational social justice campaigns, training programs and organizations. CHI’s Director, Don Washington, specializes in the creation of self-replicating processes for community organizing institutions so that they can sustain their work past their initial campaign. He also brings considerable expertise with public speaking and a deep understanding of a number of public policy areas. Don has over 25 years of doing research, investigations, training, organizing, political strategy and public policy/campaign development… Read more »
OK. I missed all his housing expertise. Being a Tragic Action Hero, a life-long learner and an amateur physicist probably gave him a ton of housing development experience. Like I said, who is paying this clown to talk abut housing creation?
Yep – Wow. Stunning word salad of babble. This guy is talking about Public Housing paid by the public. No different that what has been done for decades. Cabrini Green 2.0. This guy has no other focus on the housing market except developing another public program. Neither one of these folks wanted to listen to both the government program approach and the impact of regular tax payers buying homes. Not all people buy homes to MAKE MONEY. Most buy their home to live in and build a life, it is true now for decades that buying a home can provide… Read more »
What a bunch of gobbledygook. Nice DEI work if you check the right boxes.
It might have been a good discussion if there had been enough time for the discussants to fully explain their ideas, and question each other.
Regarding immigrants and the cost of housing: In my limited experience, most of the skilled workers doing small-scale rehabs and construction are immigrants. I haven’t inquired as to their legal status.
What ideas does Don Washington have to discuss? He mentioned none other than something vague about redistributing wealth. He’s in charge of housing but he had no opinion on Kamala’s proposals? Sheesh. He thinks we have a market based system? It is in part, but on the affordable side we have laundry list of programs — Section 8, low interest loans for developers, affordable set-aside rules for builders, CHA-owned properties and the Illinois Housing Development Authority that has its own list of programs. Some of those are fine and good, but he apparently doesn’t know that their purpose is to… Read more »