How dare she insinuate that those opposed to this "smack of racism". I want to live on Michigan Avenue downtown but can't afford it. Should I demand that affordable housing be created there?

I am ashamed of the people who are sneering at this proposal and asking questions like, "Would you want to live next door to your maid?"

The proposal calls for a very limited supply of single-family housing for individuals making between $75,000 and $105,000. It also provides for a small number of rental properties, requiring 2/3rds of renters to make at least $75,000, while the other 1/3 must make at least $45,000. This program is not for gangbangers, drug thugs, welfare exploiters, panhandlers or slackers looking for handouts. It targets seniors, teachers and others who have limited income (by Winnetka's standards) and currently live and/or work in the village.

I live in the area and my position is that if "these people" are good enough to teach our kids or be their grandparents, they are more than "good enough" to be my neighbors. If this is really all that offensive to you, you may want to consider moving somewhere less populated where you can buy up a huge plot of land, fence your McMansion and isolate yourself from the less fortunate people who don't make a multi-six-figure salary or have a trust fund. Me, I'll stay behind and live in harmony with these hard working and much more interesting people.

Once again Gail Schecter is spinning like a top. Most Winnetkans do not want to be dictated to by the gov’t and activist groups such as the ilk Gail runs. Winnetkans via a democratic vote opted for Home Rule to escape mandated affordable housing/entitlements being foisted on our community. Further, most Winnetkans do not see affordable housing in the race/class tinted glasses of Ms. Shechter. Winnetka is open to all classes,races,religions. Our housing stock prices vary from low to high. Winnetka has never been more affordable than any other time in the past decade. She cited that the NorthShore has an 80-90% homeownership rate. If anything that is a sign of a vibrant real estate market with many choices. That we have low vacancy speaks to the goodness of our community. As far as people who work in Winnetka not “being able” to live here. Does Gail propose that we force them? These workers are not robots, they are free to make their own purchasing choices. That’s called a Free Market -Gail. Finally, anyone who donates to Gail Schecters organization and lives in Winnetka or any other North Shore community not meeting her “affordable housing standards” will be in her sights. As Winnetka has learned that includes ample blows below the belt by Ms. Schecter.

What most people against this plan don't understand is that it is not about saying "hey here's a mansion, you can live in it for below cost." It is about keeping a modest amount of smaller houses and/or rental properties in the area so that people have more options. The amount that will be maintained is so small that there will be no tax increases. This plan is about easing zoning restrictions and incentivizing developers to provide more choices for Winnetka. No on e will be subsidized. Everyone is in a tailspin about nothing.

The majority of Winnetkans -- and indeed, the majority of north suburbanites -- are thoughtful people who see through the rhetoric of fringe groups like WHOA. Otherwise, how would the Village of Winnetka spend years developing an affordable housing plan appropriate to the community? WHOA had the opportunity to be on the show and withdrew at the last minute. Jim Burke, the representative scheduled to be on the show, has equated affordable housing with "a pig that smells." This is hardly a mainstream viewpoint.

Harold Ickes -- FDR's Secreatary of the Interior -- worked his way up from poverty and eventually lived in and improved the Village of Winnetka.
That there are no railroad crossings in Winnetka is due to Ickes's effort to route the railroad line to below street level.
What's the point: unlike today's Winnetkans who oppose affordable housing, Ickes wasn't born on third base and think he had hit a triple.
The sheer bigotry and selfishness of many WHOA members is a sad commentary on their humanity.
Housing for people who earn AT LEAST $75K is hardly "affordable" as most Americans understand the term.
The vicious comments by the likes of Jim Burke reek with elitism.
Would Harold Ickes have approved? I think not.

One thing's for sure..Harold Ickes wouldn't have approved of your boring comments.