Research

Effective advocacy rests on research: to advocate sound policies we must have a clear understanding of the overall housing environment, of how existing housing programs are working in Chicago and Illinois and of what policies work in cities around the country.

CRN’s research initiatives stretch back to the early 1980s when we commissioned a study of existing property tax transfer programs in order to inform the development of the Tax Reactivation Program, and five years later when we commissioned another study to analyze its effectiveness in bringing tax delinquent properties back to the tax roles as affordable housing.

Research informed our 1993 Affordable Housing and Community Jobs Campaign, both in identifying new creative sources for the city to tap to stretch its housing goals, and in convincing the city of the need to do so, with the publication of the first Affordable Housing Fact Book.

CRN’s recent and on-going research initiatives include:

  • 2003 Affordable Housing Fact Book: data profiles of Chicago’s 77 community areas and 50 wards, all 102 Illinois counties and 50 Illinois municipalities. Order a copy of the print version, download individual fact sheets or query our database
  • Section 8 Preservation Tracking: CRN tracks the status of section 8 properties throughout Chicago and Illinois, evaluates properties at high risk of conversion to market rate housing and runs reports for legislators and advocates to keep the informed of properties with expiring contracts in their communities
  • Present Realities, Future Prospects: Low Income Housing Tax Credit Properties: an analysis of operating costs, rental incomes and vacancy rates for over 170 tax credit properties in Chicago. This study was undertaken to evaluate the health of Chicago’s portfolio of low income housing tax credit properties and identify factors that support or undermine their long term sustainability. View the Report Summary here.
  • CDC Census: In progress. The CDC Census will gather detailed organizational and project information for community development corporations throughout the 6 county Chicago region. The census will be the first of its kind in Chicago and will be updated bi-annually. Fill out the survey here. Tabulated results will be available on this web site in winter of 2005. (Results for individual organizations will remain confidential.)

 

In addition to the research initiatives described above, CRN worked with Housing Illinois to sponsor a public opinion survey about attitudes to affordable housing in the 6 county Chicago region. The survey was the first of its kind in the region, and came back with some surprising results. For instance, 8 in 10 respondents in the region say more affordable housing is an important priority and 2 in 3 say they support more affordable housing in their own communities. The results are being used to produce a public relations campaign to build support for affordable housing in the 6 county region. To see the summary report from the survey click here.

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