Chicago voters view housing affordability as bigger issue than crime

By Glenn Minnis | The Center Square contributor
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – With local property taxes rising, Illinois State Rep. Dan Ugaste takes news that most voters now consider housing affordability to be a greater concern than crime in stride.

“What everyone fails to think about when they’re talking about housing affordability is the role that property taxes play in all that,” Ugaste told The Center Square. “If property taxes skyrocket the way they have in the city and many other areas, they’re going to feel that their homes are no longer affordable. There are many things the government can control both at the state and local level that could benefit these people if they just put the right policies in place.”

With the survey conducted just days after residents were hit with $34 million in new property tax increases, Illinois Realtors researchers found 41% of residents now point to housing affordability as the issue lawmakers need to be most concerned about, with 23% listing property taxes and 18% overall costs.

Data shows as the price tag of buying a house anywhere across the city continues to climb. In contrast to most other major cities, 81% of Chicago homeowners now agree that the cost of such a purchase is at least “somewhat too expensive.”

As someone who has long worked to preserve peace and tranquility across the city, Violence Interrupters founder Tio Hardiman says the two issues go hand-and-hand in making for a more strife-free existence.

“It shows me that the times have really become drastic for people living in Chicago, and sometimes people have to make a choice between living in a crime-ridden community versus living in a pretty decent area just to be able to survive,” he said. “Most people want to raise their kids in a nicer area because that’s the best thing to do. The reality is that I would still think that crime would be the number one issue for most of the people in some of the underserved communities.”

In the end, Ugaste views the issue as a growing problem, in way or another, for every resident.

“Because of the crime issue in Chicago, a lot of people don’t want to go downtown to The Loop, or any of the entertainment districts or stores,” he said. “That’s going to affect values of the properties in downtown Chicago because the values of those properties are dropping. Because of that, the taxes they’re bringing in have dropped and the way property taxes work it doesn’t mean that the local governments collect less money. It just means that the other property owners are going to have to pony up more. By allowing the crime to continue, our downtowns to suffer, all we’re doing is causing homeowners to have to pay more in taxes and by doing that you’re making it less affordable to live in Chicago.”

As part of the survey, crime and gun violence were listed as the city’s second biggest issue at 23%.