Comments for Is housing affordable in Chicago? UN representative to find out

Is housing affordable in Chicago? UN representative to find out

2009-10-27T14:00:00Z

We all know it isn't easy to find an affordable place to live in Chicago. The Chicago Rehab Network says that to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment at $711 a month, a person would either have to earn at least $13.67 an hour or work 106 hours a week at the minimum wage.

But is housing so unaffordable that it violates human rights? The United Nations is here in Chicago to find out.

The UN Special Rapporteur on housing will visit the United States with seven stops in major cities, including Chicago.

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Comment from rwoodley on 2009-10-29

2009-10-29T16:42:02Z

I really don't get how this lady is adding value at all. I guess she provokes stories in the media about how bad the housing situation is, but don't we have plenty of those stories anyhow?

Comment from Megan Cottrell on 2009-10-29

2009-10-29T16:45:23Z

I didn't have all the details when I wrote this (more coming soon) but she will write a report on the state of housing in the U.S. that will be presented to the UN general assembly and US officials. She also meets with city officials and such like the CHA to give them her recommendations and reflections.

But Rolnik herself admitted that the report on its own doesn't do much. She said at a Tuesday night meeting that she wants her visit to help people hear each other's stories and organize together to advocate for better communities themselves.

Comment from Scam on 2009-11-04

2009-11-04T20:58:35Z

The prices of housing should be left up to the market, not the government. Government intervention in the housing market is one of the main reasons of this economic downturn. Even the most liberal economist will tell you how things like rent control don't work. People think for some reason that goods and services such as housing and health insurance are "rights". They are not human rights, and they are most certainly not constitutional rights.