Article
Far North West Side
Voters Favor Local Jobs
By Angela Caputo
March 29
If the outcome of an advisory referendum in some Rogers Park precincts is a true indicator of public opinion, Chicagoans are calling on city officials to adopt a policy that would put more people to work in their own neighborhoods when it comes to big projects fueled by public subsidies.
Nearly 90 percent of voters in five Far North Side precincts cast ballots in favor of a city-wide policy that would give residents first crack at local jobs. Like public agencies, private projects that leverage tax dollars, TIF or other sources, would be included in the policy if they have 10 or more employees.
With gentrification sweeping through the neighborhood, referendum organizer Elaine Detweiler, a volunteer with the Rogers Park Community Action Network, said "Either we have to create affordable housing or better paying jobs so people can afford to live here."
More than $200 million of new public money is being pledged for redevelopment in the neighborhood alone--between the Devon-Sheridan TIF, reconstructing the Howard CTA station, the S&C Electric TIF and building a Gale Park Fieldhouse. And if leveraged right, under the proposed policy, that could mean a lot of new jobs, she said.
Alderman Joe Moore, D-49th said the idea "is something that bares looking at." But in the new projects oncoming up in the ward, he said, it's just too soon to even know what type, let alone how many jobs might be created.
Pointing to the TIF-subsidized Gateway development at Clark and Howard, Moore said the ward has a track record of leveraging public money to benefit the neighborhood. "I think that has been a very successful project for both providing neighborhood amenities and for local people to get jobs."
Voters Favor Local Jobs
By Angela Caputo
March 29
If the outcome of an advisory referendum in some Rogers Park precincts is a true indicator of public opinion, Chicagoans are calling on city officials to adopt a policy that would put more people to work in their own neighborhoods when it comes to big projects fueled by public subsidies.
Nearly 90 percent of voters in five Far North Side precincts cast ballots in favor of a city-wide policy that would give residents first crack at local jobs. Like public agencies, private projects that leverage tax dollars, TIF or other sources, would be included in the policy if they have 10 or more employees.
With gentrification sweeping through the neighborhood, referendum organizer Elaine Detweiler, a volunteer with the Rogers Park Community Action Network, said "Either we have to create affordable housing or better paying jobs so people can afford to live here."
More than $200 million of new public money is being pledged for redevelopment in the neighborhood alone--between the Devon-Sheridan TIF, reconstructing the Howard CTA station, the S&C Electric TIF and building a Gale Park Fieldhouse. And if leveraged right, under the proposed policy, that could mean a lot of new jobs, she said.
Alderman Joe Moore, D-49th said the idea "is something that bares looking at." But in the new projects oncoming up in the ward, he said, it's just too soon to even know what type, let alone how many jobs might be created.
Pointing to the TIF-subsidized Gateway development at Clark and Howard, Moore said the ward has a track record of leveraging public money to benefit the neighborhood. "I think that has been a very successful project for both providing neighborhood amenities and for local people to get jobs."
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