Legalize Housing in Chicago? A Housing Policy Discussion

YIMBY mog unaffordable rents & property taxes? The housing policy trade-offs? Panel experts, candidates and elected officials talk it out.
About this Event

Chicago is at a crossroads. Between rising rents, property taxes, and a city housing economy in crisis, the "City that Works" needs solutions that actually work in practice, not just in theory.

Join the Chicago Growth Project on June 14th for a transparent, deep-dive panelled and moderated discussion forum on the housing policies shaping our city’s future. We aren’t just talking about the "what", we’re discussing the "how." This forum brings together a rare mix of Chicago area city, county, state, and federal officials alongside the advocates and experts who live and breathe housing policy in the city.

The Conversations That Matter

We’re moving past the talking points to look at the real-world trade-offs of Chicago’s biggest housing levers:

• The Affordability Spectrum: From the viability of improving housing affordability with rent-controlled models, housing vouchers, public housing, market housing solutions, family and community-friendly style housing, smaller or larger sized developer projects, or all of the above.
• Supply vs. Demand: A balanced look at the roles of government oriented housing programs, pure market-rate development, or a hybrid of both approaches in solving the housing supply crisis as well as challenges on the demand side of housing in areas of the city where demand and government funding support for housing demand could be a bigger challenge to the housing crisis than supply.
• The Property Tax Equation: How we stabilize the Chicago housing market without crushing homeowners and renters that live in it and the businesses that operate in it.
• Political Feasibility: A "real talk" session with elected officials on what can actually pass—and what’s standing in the way.

Why Attend?

Whether you are a renter, a homeowner, policy professional, a housing advocate, a real estate stakeholder, or a concerned Chicago area resident, this is your chance to hear from a wide array of perspectives in one room. We aim to move the needle from "housing crisis" to "housing action" by identifying where our goals overlap and where our policies need to evolve.