When “Historical Preservation” Is Actually Classism: The Case Of Neighbors of Saint Boniface

This week I attended the Neighbors of Saint Boniface meeting. Their stated goal is to turn the long-abandoned church into “family friendly owner-occupied housing.” But I don’t think those four words belong together. Owner-occupied housing is only friendly to some families, and mostly those are rich families.

I was the only person to bring this up in the meeting (which was overwhelmingly non-Hispanic whites, despite the fact our neighborhood is 11% black and 25% Latino). I said why prioritize the needs of the most privileged people in our country? The response was that there is plenty of “subsidized” housing in the neighborhood.

But various subsidies do nothing for middle income people. And while they brought up anecdotes in the form of some planned rental developments in the area, they didn’t bring up the many conversions of multi-family rentals into single-family mansions in the neighborhood. The group-leaders actually said attracting owning families was going to make the neighborhood more “diverse.” But there are already plenty of houses for wealthy families to pick from across the neighborhood, as even a cursory real estate search will show. Middle income families have fewer choices. Area median income based on census data is $70,188, which house affordability calculators say can afford a house for $272,300 — $308,122. There is nothing for sale in that range in the neighborhood besides some empty lots. In addition, tighter lending standards prevent even many higher income individuals from buying.

Data shows rentals in West Town have declined in the past decade. And that the number of “rent burdened” people (spending 30% of their income or more on rent) has increased to an unacceptable 43.4. It’s even worse for people making under 50K at 64% in 2010, up from 30.9 in 2000. Real estate listings for single family homes are abundant and in fact many remain vacant for quite some time. It is also the default in our zoning system.

It won’t surprise anyone who pays attention to the economy that the people who are able to afford such things are overwhelmingly white, middle-aged, college-educated, and upper income. Meanwhile middle-income renting families and individuals (who are just as important as families) are being pushed out of the neighborhood. I personally know some of them. So much for “family friendly.”

It’s a shame the group has chosen such a mantle, because there are many real objections to the Saint Boniface development. For example, the fact that the developer has essentially engaged in taxpayer-subsidized speculation since a “non-profit” that was going to build senior housing technically owns it and they pay no property taxes. Considering our increasing property tax burden in Chicago, this is absurd. There is also the historical significance of the structure at hand. As well as the original promise that it would provide housing for seniors.

I was also disappointed by the group’s disparaging remarks about a plan for apartments targeted for single people: studios and one bedrooms. While this group of people might not be “families” yet, they represent a growing and economically important demographic. Americans are getting married later or not at all. Meanwhile, businesses nearby on Chicago Avenue that could cater to this demographic are closing or reducing hours, leaving many empty storefronts. There is very little housing in the neighborhood for this group and what little is available is in high demand. Because single people, just like families, want to live near their work downtown and enjoy Noble Square.

While many attendees seemed to care greatly about the church itself, it seemed many were more concerned with the interests of the single-family homeowner. One attendee said that if the church gets knocked down they need to at least dig in their heels on keeping the default single family zoning.

I’ve been impressed with local Alderman Walter Burnett’s stance on pointing out that anti-renting positions are problematic in the past. I think more needs to be done to prevent property owners from dominating community conversations (and groups) and to get more actual diverse voices into the mix. The Alderman and the City should definitely not let Neighbors of Saint Boniface speak for the entire neighborhood in their bias against renters. I would also hope the group will drop that part of their mission.

On that subject I’ve created a Facebook group to explore the creation of a group to represent the interest of renters in Chicago. Since many renters do not work standard hours, banding together would reduce the burden of the meetings that unfortunately are still the major way things are done in this city because we could send a single representative. I also sent a letter similar to this to the Alderman.