Dear Editor:
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Although Alderman Schulter’s lawsuit attempts to silence community criticism about his leadership, the facts still speak loud and clear. Over the last ten years, the pace and direction of development in the ward has had a devastating impact on the community’s diversity and accessibility. As our satirical paper, “Alderpuppet Schulter Purports,” points out–it’s time for the alderpuppet to stop letting developers pull his strings and start listening to his constituents. (Rather than suing them!)
While balanced development can revitalize communities, reckless development–the kind that favors high-priced over affordable housing–ruins them. As our affordable housing has been decimated, the North Center and Lincoln Square communities have seen a parallel, and disproportionate, loss of diversity. Census figures show that citywide there was a 10.5 percent decrease in the number of senior citizens between 1990 and 2000; our neighborhoods saw a 29.8 percent decrease. And incredibly, although the city has seen an increase of 38.1 percent in the Latino population, in our neighborhoods 26.9 percent of Latino community members left over the same time period. Again, connect the dots–high housing costs, fixed and low average incomes–and a picture of unwanted mobility, also known as displacement, becomes clear.
COW
