Cook County Commissioner, Scott Britton

After months of intense negotiations with tenant advocacy groups and the housing industry, the Cook County Board last month enacted the Residential Tenant and Landlord Ordinance (RTLO), which imposes scores of new regulations affecting the relationship between housing providers and tenants in suburban Cook County. The new ordinance takes effect June 1st and draws its inspiration from Chicago’s Residential Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, which has been in effect since 1986. As the reversal of the terms “Landlord” and “Tenant” suggests, the two ordinances are similar, but not identical.

The Fall 2020 Newsletter provided an overview of the Development For All Ordinance, 25th Ward Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez’s road map to “fixing” the current Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO).

After a lot of talk followed by a period of relative inaction, the City Council approved a limited, three-year pilot program providing a framework for the legalization of coach house and “conversion units” in small residential structures in restricted areas of the city. This Ordinance was approved last December and will take effect May 1.

Nothing much has been happening in Springfield.

A hell of a lot has been happening in Springfield.

These two statements say opposing things. These two statements are both true. To understand how this can be, you have to look beneath the surface.

By:

Tom Heineman, RPBG Treasurer

Janelle Walker, a Rogers Park resident and mother of three, teaches two courses at DePaul University to incoming freshmen. One of the courses is part of DePaul’s “Explore Chicago” curriculum. That course is focused on the Maxwell Street and Pilsen neighborhoods of the city. She explores gentrification in these two neighborhoods and the impacts, both positive and negative, that gentrification has on the residents of these areas.

After nearly twelve months of pandemic, we have all had to adjust to the many changes in our lives that it has caused. One of those changes that might have the longest-lasting impact is remote working. This got Derek Thompson, who wrote “Superstar Cities are in Trouble” in The Atlantic magazine, to thinking. The central premise of the article is that the booming coastal metropolises that had been driving the national economy are suddenly not doing very well.

It’s only been a few months since Steve agreed to be the new RPBG Vice President, but he has already made his mark on the organization. Working with Giselle Hennings, the Housing Director at Northside Community Resources, Steve has assembled a comprehensive Landlord Tenant Resource Guide that provides information on a wide range of resources for property owners and their tenants. And if it isn’t already there when you read this article, the Resource Guide will soon be included as a link on the Rogers Park website.

When one door closes, so the saying goes, another opens. This is the yin and yang we feel as we happily welcome Steve Shah as new RPBG Vice President, but say a wistful good-bye to Sarah Lisy who has stepped down after a four-year stint.