For Naija, housing wahala don turn serious mata wey dey affect plenty pipo. As rent dey high pass, homelessness don double for some areas, and leaders dey find better way to solve am.
For Chautauqua County, homelessness don double for recent years. Shelter no dey enough, so dem dey put pipo for hotels as temporary arrangement. But dis method don cause wahala. Police and fire service dey get plenty calls from hotel areas, and schools plus neighborhoods dey feel am.
State Senator George Borrello and Assemblyman Andrew Molitor join with local leaders write letter to Governor Kathy Hochul. Dem say make state shift how e dey handle emergency housing for homeless pipo, especially for upstate communities wey no get big shelter network like New York City.
Dem propose say make state repurpose closed or underutilized correctional facilities into structured emergency shelter and supportive housing. Dem mention places like Lakeview Correctional annex, Gowanda Correctional Facility, and Collins Correctional Facility as potential sites.
“This is not just a big city issue; it is a statewide crisis that is hitting upstate communities especially hard,” Borrello talk. “Upstate communities cannot continue to manage and pay for this on their own.”
Chautauqua County Executive PJ Wendel, Sheriff Jim Quattrone, area mayors, school superintendents, and police supervisors all support dis letter wey dem send to governor office.
For Chicago, Mayor Brandon Johnson announce personnel changes wey include new deputy mayor for community safety. Emmanuel Andre go take dis role as Deputy Mayor for Community Safety. Jonah Anderson go serve as First Deputy for Health and Human Services and Director of the Mayor’s Office of Homelessness.
Anderson get over 15 years experience for public health, housing, and human services. Before now, e work with Cinnaire where e help get over $141 million for equity and support development of more than 650 affordable housing units.
Mayor Johnson also nominate Angelique Guzman and Anjanette Young for Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability. Guzman na senior student for Mather High School and president of North River Commission‘s Youth Council. Young na licensed clinical social worker from South Side wey don advocate for police reform since her house wrongly raided for 2019.
Chicago also implement new ordinance wey allow Additional Dwelling Units (ADUs) for 34 of the city’s 50 wards. Dis ordinance, wey take effect April 1, permit Chicagoans to build small homes for their backyards, basements and attics and rent dem out.
Alderman Bennett Lawson (44th Ward) sponsor dis ordinance. E say legalizing ADUs for Chicago don be goal from beginning of his time for City Council. “We wanted to make sure we were bringing those options in every neighborhood,” Lawson talk.
Ordinance begin as 2021 pilot program with 116,000 eligible parcels. After success, dem expand am to more than 320,000 parcels. But 14 alderpeople oppose am, led by Alderman Marty Quinn (13th Ward), dem argue say ADUs go spoil suburban-style character of their wards and cause overpopulation.
Steffany Bahamon, co-leader volunteer at Abundant Housing Illinois, push back against dis opposition. “This is not the allowance of 50 50-story buildings all at once,” Bahamon talk about idea wey say ADUs create congested neighborhoods. “Chicago would benefit from having more people because we are the most in-debt city, in the most in-debt county, in the most in-debt state, and we need people here to pay those taxes.”
Bahamon connect ban on ADUs to racially exclusive housing policies like redlining from 1957. “I’m Colombian American. A lot of people back in 1957 didn’t want to see neighborhoods like that, especially around the time of more folks moving up from the South, the Great Migration. We’re undoing some of those racist policies.”
For last week alone, city receive 126 applications from Chicagoans wey want build ADUs for their properties. Dis equal to number of applications dem receive for entire last year of pilot program.
ADUs still get regulations. For property with at least two ADUs, half must dey rent to tenants wey dey earn at or below 60% of area median income. Short-term rentals like Airbnb or Vrbo no dey allowed.
As housing costs dey increase for Chicago, analysis show say person wey dey earn 50% of city’s median income for 2000 fit rent half the apartments for at least 12 of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods. By 2022, dat number reduce to just five neighborhoods.
Leaders dey find different solutions for housing crisis. Some dey talk about rent control measures, but economists dey warn about unintended consequences like decline in construction of new rental units and lower quality of housing when landlords no fit make repairs because dem no fit increase rent to cover costs.
But proponents say well-designed rent control laws wey protect tenants from predatory rent hikes without discouraging developers from building new housing should dey considered, especially as housing don become deeply unaffordable for many pipo.
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