Thousands of languishing vacant and abandoned properties with unpaid taxes harm Black neighborhoods and suburbs. Cook County treasurer says program aimed at fixing the problem is not working – Chicago Tribune*

An abandoned house at 198 W. 150th St. in Harvey on Dec. 7, 2020.
Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar noted that Black population loss in Chicago has topped 200,000 in recent decades, an exodus that began long before the Great Recession, which had a disproportionate negative impact on the housing market on the South and West sides. “We need to address the issue of demand for properties, not supply."
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Fred
5 years ago

To see your future, have a look at Detroit. It has problems that simply cannot be fixed due to unions, clergy, politicians, zoning laws, and many and much more. Our betters profit from the declining status quo. Many (“most”) have left — both businesses and residents. It’s hard to tell whether departures are a cause or a consequence. Nobody in authority tells the truth and those who hear them don’t believe what they say. Those who temporarily control what we laughingly call the government go into the bond market with the assistance of lawyers and consultants and actuaries and underwriters.… Read more »

joe strzalka
5 years ago

Illinois/cook county/chicago are losing people. Fewer people means fewer houses are needed. “addressing issues” and “creating development” are slogans, not solutions. For all practical purposes elected officials are not in a position to “create solutions”. Pretending these areas can be what they were in the past is how to win an election, nothing more. It’s just math. The metro area loses people, buildings are abandoned in the appropriate ratio.

Eddie
5 years ago
Reply to  joe strzalka

Until the abandoned buildings, murderers and rapists are gone, who’d want to live or do business in those areas? ☹️

Jim
5 years ago

People leave because benefit of living in city not worth it. Over taxed over regulated and over politicians. Deputy Mayor Samir Mayekar What the hell is a deputy mayor and how much does he make and what is his pension.

Eddie
5 years ago
Reply to  Jim

Chicago currently had four deputy mayors, who can be looked up.

Eddie
5 years ago

Vacant buildings have existed in Chicago, since about the Great Depression) 1930s (if not sooner), when Chicago was predominately White. ??

As communities changed from White to Black or Hispanic, (especially between the 1950s-1970s), more abandoned buildings occurred. ☹️

Eddie
5 years ago
Reply to  Eddie

cx: (Great Depression)

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Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades

Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.

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