(WTTW News)

Nearly 80% of voters in two precincts of the 7th Ward endorsed a referendum asking whether Ald. Greg Mitchell and Mayor Brandon Johnson should support “a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) ordinance to prevent the displacement of renters, condo & home owners in South Shore in light of the impact of the Obama Center and growing development in the area.”

A rendering of the Obama Presidential Center’s athletic and conference center, designed by Moody Nolan. (Credit: Obama Foundation)

The Obama Presidential Center, which broke ground in September 2021, had been slated to open in October 2025.

The “Evicted” exhibit runs through March 10 at the National Public Housing Museum. (WTTW News)

The exhibit at the National Public Housing Museum in River North is inspired by the Pulitzer Prize-winning book “Evicted” by Princeton sociologist Matthew Desmond.

A homeless encampment in Chicago’s Humboldt Park is pictured in February 2024. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
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The Chicago Coalition for the Homeless estimates more than 68,000 people in Chicago are experiencing homelessness. That higher number includes people who are doubled up, or temporarily living in someone else’s home.

(WTTW News)

Voters in two precincts of the 7th Ward will be asked whether Ald. Greg Mitchell (7th Ward) and Mayor Brandon Johnson should “support a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) ordinance to prevent the displacement of renters, condo & home owners in South Shore in light of the impact of the Obama Center and growing development in the area.”

(WTTW News)

With rising home prices, living costs and more, saving for that next step can be intimidating. It’s causing many young adults to delay their purchase. The average age of first-time homebuyers has reached 36, according to the National Association of Realtors.

Artist Tonika Lewis Johnson is highlighting historical injustices while working to revitalize vacant lots in Englewood. It’s part of her latest project, “unBlocked Englewood.” (WTTW News)

Artist Tonika Lewis Johnson is highlighting historical injustices while working to revitalize vacant lots in Englewood. It’s part of her latest project, “unBlocked Englewood.”

File photo of a home for sale. (WTTW News)

Interest rates saw record highs last year, reaching almost 8% and raising concerns for first-time buyers looking to get into the market. This was until 2023 saw a slight decline beginning in November. The trend is expected to continue, sparking interest again for that group.

Casa Monarca in Uptown offers housing and support services to asylum seekers. (WTTW News)
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Chicago’s 60-day shelter-stay limit has asylum seekers looking to find permanent housing in the area. A new privately funded apartment-style living arrangement has been in the works since October and could offer a solution.

In this photo illuminated by an off-camera flash, a tarp covers a portion of a homeless person's tent on a bridge overlooking the 101 Freeway in Los Angeles, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. (AP Photo / Jae C. Hong, File)
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About 653,000 people were experiencing homelessness, the most since the country began using the yearly point-in-time survey in 2007 to count the homeless population. The total in the January count represents an increase of about 70,650 homeless people compared with a year earlier.

A modular home is put together. (WTTW News)

In modular home construction, large segments of a house are built elsewhere and then assembled at a site in just a day.

Members of Lunt Tenants Association and organizers from the Chicago Union of Tenants after delivering their letter of resident demands on Nov. 29, 2023. (Nick Blumberg / WTTW News)

A group of fed-up residents from a Rogers Park apartment building showed up at the property’s management company Wednesday to announce they’d formed a tenants association. It’s part of what organizers said is a resurgent tenants union movement.

Members of the Chicago City Council meet on Wednesday, May 26, 2021. (WTTW News)

A probe by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found that aldermanic prerogative has created a hyper-segregated city rife with racism and gentrification.

(WTTW News)

The $500 million presidential center now under construction in Jackson Park has already made South Shore “ground zero” of Chicago’s housing crisis, with a high eviction rate and surging real estate prices, according to supporters of a City Council proposal.

Longtime Chicago Housing Authority resident A.H. said she’s faced subpar work and maintenance issues in recent years, including a damaged living room ceiling and flooded basement. (Provided by A.H.)

One longtime CHA resident said the potential sale of her home is part of a longtime pattern of neglect and retaliation from management companies and a failure of proper oversight from the CHA — a pattern echoed by claims from four other leaseholders or resident advocates in neighborhoods around the city.

A residential street in Wicker Park in Chicago. (WTTW News)

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas called the legislation “the most significant property tax reform legislation the General Assembly has approved in decades.”