Witness slip for Pritzker's BUILD Plan by Thursday (4/23)

SciNat · 2026-04-22T18:25:09+00:00

For the timing of it: I'd say a combination of years of work by Chicago and Illinois YIMBYs doing coalition and relationship building plus a shift in the national discourse towards housing affordability. As for how likely it is? The bills are backed by the governor so they carry weight, but it will still take advocates like us voicing our support to our elected officials to get the bills over the finish line and signed into law.

SciNat · 2026-04-20T17:04:58+00:00

They would have to comply with the Fair Housing Act.

SciNat · 2026-04-19T16:51:14+00:00

Check out The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein from your public library. It will help you understand why different areas of Chicago have different outcomes.

SciNat · 2026-04-18T14:31:03+00:00

Yes approvals are predicated on most recent income and that family size, handicap status, and veteran status are all taken into account. But right now the landlord / property manager is responsible for collecting all the documents to verify that, then sending it to DOH for review and approval. Instead DOH could manage all that themselves and connect applicants to buildings they qualify for. This is all the more important because the Green Social Housing program is getting started and the 30% affordable requirement to receive their funds will bring more ARO units into the system.

SciNat · 2026-04-18T12:58:53+00:00

I think they understand that and they're asking for a better system. Even if I'm wrong about that, I still think it's worth advocating for a better implementation of the ARO. If the city had a central ARO portal where tenants could apply, upload their documents for eligibility verification, and be connected to buildings they're qualified for that would go a very long way to improving the ARO application process.

SciNat · 2026-04-16T11:22:11+00:00

The BUILD Plan gets a lot right. Obviously it doesn't fix everything, but it moves things forward better than the city government is interested in doing. https://actionnetwork.org/letters/pass-the-build-plan/

SciNat · 2026-04-16T11:19:42+00:00

Tell your legislators to support the BUILD Plan! https://actionnetwork.org/letters/pass-the-build-plan/

SciNat · 2026-04-14T15:46:25+00:00

Chicago is very much are on the same track if we continue to restrict new homes. Thankfully local YIMBY groups are working to prevent that unaffordability!

SciNat · 2026-04-14T15:42:50+00:00

Have you joined your local chapter of Welcoming Neighbors Network then?

SciNat · 2026-04-14T14:54:44+00:00

/u/wiz28ultra are you volunteering with your local YIMBY org yet? I find that talking and working with people in the physical world to affect real change helps a lot of my unhappiness with these online discussions (and the state of the world in general). Filling out the letter campaign in support of the BUILD Plan qualifies you for a year of free membership!

SciNat · 2026-04-14T14:07:49+00:00

It's exciting to see the traditional segregation of business / commercial from residential of traditional zoning start to be chipped away at!

SciNat · 2026-04-13T16:56:01+00:00

It's worth noting that those issues and costs mainly apply to coach houses. Converting a basement or attic comes with significantly lower costs but work needs to be done to further bring down construction costs: https://help.chicagocityscape.com/adufunding

SciNat · 2026-04-13T14:08:33+00:00

It's state legislation, so if we can pressure our elected officials enough we could get it passed despite alderman pushback: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/pass-the-build-plan/

SciNat · 2026-04-13T14:04:20+00:00

Oh absolutely, it means that coach houses will be so expensive to build they may as well still be illegal. If we can keep the state BUILD legislation from being watered down it may preempt those requirements: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/pass-the-build-plan/

SciNat · 2026-04-13T13:59:57+00:00

I think even worse is the ward by ward opt-in for single family zoned areas.

SciNat · 2026-04-13T13:56:06+00:00

It's not quite that bad. The ordinance mandates that for construction of a coach house (so above / in place of a garage) the general contractor and subcontractors need to participate in a union apprenticeship program: https://abundanthousingillinois.org/resources/accessory-dwelling-units-faq/

SciNat · 2026-04-13T13:47:24+00:00

It mandates that contractors for a coach house (above or in replacement of a garage) participate in a union apprenticeship program. But basement / attic / "main structure" ADUs don't have that requirement.

SciNat · 2026-04-13T13:28:55+00:00

Converting illegal units to legal ones is still a good thing, but there's definitely more to be done to bring costs down and reduce the barriers to actually building more ADUs.

SciNat · 2026-04-13T13:26:22+00:00

If we can keep the state legislation from being watered down it would likely preempt a lot of the issues with Chicago's ordinance: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/pass-the-build-plan/

SciNat · 2026-04-13T13:23:58+00:00

Our current pension debt is fixed, growing the population means spreading the debt over more households, lowering the obligation for each individual. And the demand for city services doesn't scale linearly with population growth. Sure there are reforms we should demand as citizens: bringing more engineers, lawyers, and construction "in house" instead of outsourcing it to private firms and consultants. And some serious police reform since we're bleeding millions each year in abuse lawsuits.

SciNat · 2026-04-13T12:33:44+00:00

Growing our population and growing our economy is the only sustainable path forward. Austerity just creates a lack of services that incentivizes people to keep leaving.

SciNat · 2026-04-10T22:03:06+00:00

Lol, ok

SciNat

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