The under-construction affordable housing project at 2602-38 N. Emmett St. in Logan Square. (Credit: Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp.)

A proposal crafted by Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara is designed to bolster the city’s policy to encourage transit-oriented development by boosting incentives and increasing pedestrian safety while increasing the amount of affordable housing being built near train stations and along bus lines.

Louis Weathers says racial discrimination in Evanston, Illinois, made house hunting difficult for him decades ago. (Jacquelyne Germain / CNN)

From cash payouts to issuing extensive reports and building a bureaucratic system to examine what reparations could look like, here is what some local and state governments have done so far.

The under-construction affordable housing project at 2602-38 N. Emmett St. in Logan Square. (Credit: Bickerdike Redevelopment Corp.)

Efforts to rethink the policy and spur development on the South and West sides while preventing long-time residents from being displaced from the Northwest Side are starting to pay off, symbolized by the grand opening set for Friday of an apartment complex near the CTA Blue Line Logan Square station, Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara told WTTW News. 

Preservationists are calling attention to a style of home known as workers cottages – an original form of affordable housing. (WTTW News)

Much of Chicago is defined by its residential buildings, a beautiful mishmash of styles, sizes, and ages. Now, preservationists are calling attention to a style of home known as workers cottages – an original form of affordable housing.

A Redfin “for sale” sign stands in front of a house on Oct. 28, 2020, in Seattle. (AP Photo / Elaine Thompson, File)
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The agreed upon changes will increase access to Redfin’s real estate services across the country and help counter redlining and residential segregation that NFHA and the other plaintiffs alleged Redfin’s policies perpetuated. 
A residential street in Wicker Park in Chicago. (WTTW News)

The number of evictions carried out in Cook County dropped from more than 3,300 in the five months before the pandemic to fewer than 1,200 in the five months after the eviction ban was lifted, according to data obtained by WTTW News.

(WTTW News)

Crain’s Chicago Business Editor Ann Dwyer joins us to go behind the headlines.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Alexxis Pons Abascal)
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Department of Water Management Commissioner Andrea Cheng said federal funding will “jump-start” Chicago’s efforts to remove the lead service. Cheng acknowledged logistical challenges have meant the program has failed to achieve what Lightfoot promised in September 2020, when she vowed that the city would remove 650 pipes by the end of 2021.

(WTTW News)
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Chicago City Council voted this week to extend an ordinance aimed at slowing gentrification and displacement in Pilsen and areas near the 606 trail. The measure imposes a fee on permits for the demolition of buildings with residential units.

(WTTW News)

Housing Commissioner Marisa Novara said the initial imposition of the fee in April 2021 had helped slow gentrification-fueled displacement happening along the popular biking and jogging trail and in Pilsen, one of the city’s most in-demand real estate markets.

Judy Ware poses for a photo outside of her restaurant in Chicago, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. Judy Ware is preparing to resume table service at the Ranch after struggling through the coronavirus pandemic. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh)
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Chicago neighborhood Roseland and suburban Lansing, both enclaves of roughly 30,000 people, reflect how Black migration patterns in the 21st century are changing the makeup of metropolitan areas nationwide. 

A residential street in Wicker Park in Chicago. (WTTW News)

Efforts backed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to reduce residential segregation in Chicago have begun to show signs of progress, officials with the Chicago Department of Housing say. The centerpiece of that effort is a revamped ordinance that requires developers who get special permission from the city or a subsidy to build more units earmarked for low- and moderate-income Chicagoans and pay higher fees. 

(WTTW News)
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Tensions and frustrations are running high in the Woodlawn neighborhood as residents feel the effects of the incoming Obama Presidential Center. 

Midway Airport (WTTW News)

Low-fare airlines Spirit and Frontier announce a multi-billion-dollar merger; the controversy over the Miami Dolphins may have an impact on the race for Chicago's casino; and three multi-million-dollar homes are now off the market for those searching for local luxury homes.

(WTTW News)

Realtors sold more homes than ever, while prices rose at rates not seen since the housing boom of the early 2000s. 

(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Alexxis Pons Abascal)
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The $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill includes $15 billion to fund lead service replacement efforts, and $3 billion will flow to states and cities in 2022, officials announced.