City unveils plan to advance fair housing

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday announced the city's "Blueprint for Fair Housing" plan, which aims to address housing segregation, a history of inequitable investment and disparities in opportunity access in Chicago by removing barriers to fair housing.

The plan will focus on the most residentially segregated communities in Chicago and offer the city direction on how to address forces contributing to racial divides in Chicago, such as wealth and public health factors, transportation, employment and education.

"If we are to truly eradicate the lingering scourges of housing segregation here in Chicago, we must take bold action," Lightfoot said in a city news release. "By completing this 'Blueprint for Fair Housing,' we will be able to tackle the deeply embedded issues of structural racism and economic disinvestment that drives disparities in housing and access to opportunity in our city. Paired with our other ongoing housing equity and anti-poverty initiatives, we will be able to rebuild and diversify our middle class and restore all residents' access to healthy, affordable and quality housing in neighborhoods by providing jobs and essential services."  

According to the news release, 74 percent of Chicago's 1.8 million residents of color live in economically disconnected areas of the city, primarily on the South and West sides. 

Under the new blueprint, the city and the Chicago Housing Authority will work together over the next five years to focus on eight main goals: increasing and preserving housing options that are affordable and accessible, stabilizing neighborhoods and avoiding involuntary displacement, increasing opportunities for individuals with disabilities, addressing segregation of opportunity, increasing fair housing choice by enhancing existing policies and programs, expanding fair housing outreach, expanding affordable home ownership and working to ensure policies and practice address structural racism and advance equity.