1. -- Opportunity!
As we suggested in our post Introductions All Around, certain task force members may want to get to know certain commission members. And as luck would have it, there's an opportunity for certain task force members to get to know certain commission members tonight!
The Mayor's Flood Control Task Force will be meeting tonight at City Hall in the Council chamber beginning at 6:00 pm, and the Park Ridge O'Hare Airport Commission will be meeting tonight at City Hall in the Mayor's conference room on the 2nd floor beginning at 7:00 pm!
Say 'hello' everybody!
2. -- HA HA HA!
In an October 13, 2009 online article in the Herald-Advocate, our favorite local reporter reports the stuffed to the gills! development project proposed for the southeast corner of Touhy and Rose avenues by developer Norman Hassinger of Hoffman Homes is "welcome news for Nan Parson, chairperson of the city's Fair Housing Commission and a proponent of making more lower-cost housing available to senior citizens, young adults, city employees, teachers, hospital workers and others who want to live in Park Ridge but cannot afford homes with starting prices of $500,000 or more."
Truth be told, because that's what reporting is all about, Ms. Nan Parson took her affordable housing marbles and resigned from the Fair Housing Commission back in May. Ms. Parson said as much at the Human Needs Task Force meeting (.pdf) back in June. The minutes of that meeting also let everyone know that despite the City website description of the Human Needs Task Force --
Human Needs Task Force - A group of citizens appointed by the Mayor to concern themselves with the needs of the citizens of Park Ridge and surrounding communities. The Task Force coordinates such activities as food drives, a clothes closet, medical supply closet, job clearinghouse and other related matters. Meets second Friday of the month.
-- Ms. Parson "will continue to help bring affordable housing to this City and will continue to try to educate this community and City Hall about this issue. Nan is hoping to get involved with the Ministerial Association here in town, as well as other communities, and continue to move forward with her goal of having affordable housing in this town. Nan will now be a community volunteer on this Task Force."
Oh joy! Be still our beating, bleeding hearts!
3. -- What the hell has the Park District and Board been up to?
If PRU readers and Park Board wannabes are looking for something to do tomorrow night, there's a Regular Board Meeting, October 15, 7:30 pm in the Board Room at the Maine Park Leisure Center, 2701 Sibley.
But if PRU readers and Park Board wannabes were hoping to preview a Board packet for tomorrow's meeting, you're shit out of luck. You'll have to content yourselves with the board packets of meetings past or guessing the details of the items on the meeting agenda (.pdf).
Addendum! -- Looks as if somebody got somebody's rear in gear!
The Park Board packet for tonight's meeting is here (.pdf)
19 comments:
homes of $500000 or more? this guy is really trying to sell something. there are countless condos in the area that are hovering around $200000.
this builder wants it so that the citizens are going to fall for this hook line n sinker.
Is Ms Parsons removed enough from reality to try to sell it to us?
Nans is full of nans. You can't fit 10lbs of nans into a 5lb bag. If you try, you might get nans overflowing. Nans might flow from the sewers into our streets and backyards.
So let's quit squeezing out more nans. There is certainly no reason to build houses for nans. Then you would have nans living in nans squeexing nans into the sewers and we are back to the nan bag analogy.
Nans, keep your nans in your nan bag and out of our sewers. Thank you.
Anonymous 2:19,
You're not as witty as you think you are.
Having said that, the whole article is a bunch of crap and the developer and the low cost housing pusher lady are full of it.
There is already plenty of low cost housing available for sale in Park Ridge. I just checked a single listing service and found 57 properties under $300,000
I don't know what the low cost housing lady is looking to get out of this but I'm pretty sure what the developer is looking to get out of this is to make a lot more money by putting a lot more units on a property than what is zoned for.
why build more, when there are so many vacancies in the city limits?
231, it's better than that. HomeFinder.com lists 117 homes for sale in Park Ridge which are listed @$275K and under. 27 of those are foreclosures. None are new construction.
240, the number of vacancies isn't as much the issue as is @ what price the vacant properties are being listed for.
on an unrelated topic, why are those houses on NWest Hwy still boarded up and vacant? Hines developers took down the sign for their big condo consturction but the buildings sit empty. Why isnt the city making them either knock them down or fix them up? It seems like this has been going on for at least a year.
Anon@2:52 --
As with any ordinance, enforcement is key.
let me guess--Carrie Davis?
Anon@2:57 --
Yes, the Community Development department is where enforcement of the ordinance covering boarded up properties would begin.
Ald. Ryan raised the issue at the last COW meeting. If we were still writing meeting recaps, Ald. Ryan would have earned a PRUdo for his effort.
The Flood Task Force and the O'Hare Commission both meet tonight? How many video cameras did Schmidt buy?
Anon@3:12 --
Just one. We hadn't even thought about it until you asked.
The Crew extends a good luck wave to Melidosian and Kirkland. You guys have your work cut out for you tonight.
If a developer wants to build affordable housing in Park Ridge, I say go ahead but do that without asking for zoning variances because you want to stuff a bunch of density into the building. Our sewers and streets were never designed for all these multi condo developments. We are a bedroom community of mostly single family homes and that's why my family chose to move here.
2:31,
I may not be as witty as I think I am, or I may be far wittier than I think I am. You do not know how wittily I wondered while you whittled your weak words into a Wednesday’s wound. A head wound that is. From which your stat riddled brains dribble. Like nans from a 5lb bag.
The discussion surrounding affordable housing is often sprinkled with stories of how teachers, health-care workers, or "young adults" can't afford to live in places like Park Ridge.
Very amusing...if it weren't so bald-faced dishonest...
Most of the consideration for those professions' incomes...in relation to affordable housing... are being considered in a stand-alone sort of way...meaing, A SINGLE TEACHER SALAREY at an AVERAGE of $55,000 per year is not enough to afford the MEDIAN home in Park Ridge, which last I checked was hovering somewhere around $450,000. However, setting aside a boat-load of related topics of discussion...wouldn't a TWO-TEACHER household, each with an average salary of $55,000, be able to afford something in Park Ridge?
Why, yes...yes, indeed! In fact, a two-earner household with each making $55,000, for a total of $110,000 annual income, would be able to AFFORD (even under less than generously calculated terms) a home with a value well over $350,000!
As for the "young adult" demographic...I guess I'm getting very old, since I actually believe they should go "hungry" for a time during their "youth"...learn to say "no" to the high-end toys and good times, and save your nickles...then you too may some day be able to afford the downpayment on your very own home in Park Ridge.
...but I suspect the idea is not really to make housing stock in Park Ridge "more afordable" for the "average teacher" (with a few years of work and savings under his/her belt)...nor the "average city employee"...or health-care workers...or police officers...or firefighters...or "young adult"...
I think there's an entirely different "target demographic" in mind...and that "target demographic" usually brings some nice, fat, government-backed housing vouchers with them....which would go a long way toward making Mr. Hassinger a "happy builder" and also go a long way toward making Ms. Parson feel a lot less "liberal guilt," whatever the reason or source for its' seemingly recent devolpment has been...
I was advised today that we no longer call homeless people "homeless." They are "residentially challenged." I hope Ms. Parsons will ensure the City's resolutions on housing reflect this.
Thank you.
We already have affordable housing. It's called Niles.
Bean,
nail on the head...
Gypsy,
Also, it's not low income housing it's affordadable, oh wait no...it's attainable.
Fr. McK--RIMSHOT!
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