Dear Village Council of Winnetka,
My name is Nick A., a student of New Trier. I am writing this letter about One Winnetka. I have read Gail Schecter’s letter about One Winnetka. In her letter, she asked, to “include at least 15% of all units as affordable under the definition of the Illinois Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act”, 10% of all North Shore units should be set aside as evidenced in the bar graph.
I feel like people who work in the community should live in the community. I feel this way because it would help them commute to work more easily, which takes stress off them. If they are a teacher, they may be willing to come in early or stay late to help students if needed. Although some may argue that it’s an awkward situation if you meet a teacher outside of school. This is probably a slim chance for that to happen but it’s better if living in the community they work in helps remove stress from commuting to work. The issue of diversity in the North Shore is worrying because the majority is white. With a majority of residents being white, there can be a creation of stereotypes which means more possible Donald Trump personalities in the future. No one would want that to happen. There is also a possibility of North Shore residents being a majority of white, which would help stop reinforcing stereotypes. What Gail Schecter asked for in her letter regarding the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act and 15% of all units to fall under this act I find hard to believe. If the prices are going to be $4000 a month for renting at One Winnetka, that's hard to believe it’s affordable.
Dear Winnetka Village Council,
I am a student at New Trier High School and i am writing a letter to you behalf of the new building being built called one winnetka.
This is a picture of what the new building in winnetka is suppose to look like according to the developer David Trandel. Also David wants to do is make each room be around $4000 which is not good for people who can't afford that. Gail Schecter a CEO of open communities in winnetka is trying to push that the building can be more affordable for people who can't afford the monthly cost she says “you have to include at least 15% of all units as affordable under the definition of the Illinois affordable housing planning and appeal act.” which means that there should be affordable housing ith this new complex. I agree with Gail that there should be affordable housing in this new building cause most people will not be able to spend $4000 a month for housing without buying there other expenses.
For diversity i think anyone should be allowed to live in this building it would show that this community would be more diverse than just being an a majority white community. For the affordable housing how winnetka will reach the 10% mark is making more houses and or apartments affordable as in the article “Affordable Housing Facts” states “it will not have any impact to nearby properties values” which people wont hurt other companies. So if we can push to have affordable housing we can get to that 10% mark and also help out the community.
Sincerely,
Kalani Rennoe
Dear Winnetka Village Council,
I'm writing on the issue of affordable housing. Recently, the One Winnetka housing project was passed by your votes. One thing that stood out about this project was that it's $4000 per unit. Is this really affordable? In the article "What is Affordable Housing?" By Open Communities, a nonprofit organization to push North Shore communities to have affordable housing. They say, "Housing is considered affordable when a family or individual pays no more than 30% of their gross income to live in their unit". In other terms, at least 30% of someone's total earnings that year would be seen as affordable. For an example, my teacher makes $127,000 per year. After we deducted the federal tax. He would be left with a net income of $92,000. Then divide that by 12 months and his monthly net income would be about $7,666. If we take 30% of his monthly income that would total out to be $2,299. Basically, he would be spending around half of what the One Winnetka unit prices. Personally I think teachers, doctors and etc... Should be able to live in the community that they work in. Teachers would have more time to help students. Doctors would be able to get to work quicker. When there is an emergency. Also, affordable housing doesn't affect the community. Though the owner would make a bit less. The people still will have to pay taxes.
The Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act requires that the North Shores to have 10% of its houses to be affordable. Gail Schecter a former executive manager of Open Communities. She wrote a letter to the One Winnetka developer (David Trandell). She says, “Include at least 15% of all units as affordable under the definition of the Illinois Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act. She is asking that 15% of each unit cost should go towards the Affordable housing law. The bar graph seen below shows that Winnetka has only 2.5% affordable housing. If her idea followed through, the affordable housing percentage would go up.
I believe affordable housing is a great law and other communities should be at the 10% requirement. Having different cultures in our communities can help create diversity. And it will help us grow our communities.
From your concerned Wilmette resident,
Endre
Dear Winnetka Village Council:
I am a student at New Trier High School and a resident of Winnetka. I am writing to you in the support of One Winnetka even though it doesn’t offer any affordable housing. I think affordable housing is hard to do. Communities around us are also having a hard time with reaching the 10% required by The Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act. Only Glenview meets the 10%, not Kenilworth, Glencoe, Northfield, Wilmette or Winnetka.
The Village did not meet the 10% before One Winnetka came in the picture, so I don’t think you should put pressure on One Winnetka to solve the problem. You should come up with a general plan to fix this issue like renovating houses and apartments that are empty and available to buy and turn them into affordable housing so people who work in the community also are able to live in the community. This would also help with diversity in Winnetka. There are not a lot of minorities here. The number is low, only 2.5% of the population is Black or Hispanic. Only Kenilworth and Glencoe have lower.
Winnetka should do better with affordable housing and minorities, but that doesn’t mean we should turn away the project because it is what we need right now. The block has been empty for a long time. No one else has come up with a better idea to bring business to that part of town. David Trandel, head of One Winnetka, says that block is “the largest, most blighted portion of downtown.” Fell Company, Marian Michael and Phototronics are long gone. This building will make downtown Winnetka look better.
The left is empty spaces and the right shows a big improvement.
One Winnetka will also bring in money with the shops and restaurants and high real estate tax. Rents are going to be around $4,000 a month.
Maybe we can use the taxes from these expensive rents to make affordable housing somewhere else in the Village?
This might be what Gail Schechter is looking for when she says that Winnetka should “demand of the developer a stated community benefit.” The benefit would be because of the new taxes coming in, we can raise our affordable housing and minority percent. And that is what we all want for Winnetka.
From,
Anne Baldwin
Dear Winnetka Council,
My name is Jeremy Klewin and I am a senior at New Trier High School. It was recently announced that the One Winnetka project was passed based on the council and residents votes. This action raises a few questions regarding the financial issues that go along with the new project. More importantly, however, Winnetka is a part of the North Shore, and also has a big connection with the school I attend. When it comes to building a whole new town center and apartments, there also comes the heavy fee of living and paying for it. This is where my concerns peak in terms of how the community will handle the steep incline of taxes and the change that will come to the town of Winnetka.
At the city council meeting that occurred on September 20th, someone asked about the rent price for the new apartments, and the response that was given was surprising. The One Winnetka Developer, David Trandel, told the questioner that, “the apartments are going to be expensive.” (Trandel) It was later revealed that the price for one apartment will be $4,000, per month. The price of this apartment is mainly targeted to those who are white and/or live in the area of Winnetka. If someone were to have a yearly income of $80,000, a slightly higher income than average Americans, he/she still wouldn't be able to pay for rent. After dividing the numbers, the rent alone would take up 20% of he/she's yearly income, all before having to pay taxes and bills. At the end of the meeting that took place on September 20th, Tradel mentions the project's goals are to “embrace and reflect the rich history of Winnetka while solving some of our current shortcomings.” (Trandel Sep 20) Rebuilding a very large portion of the town center doesn't keep the history of the town at all. However, there will still be one historic thing that remains in Winnetka, the high pricing for living in the town.
According to Open Communities and individual opinions, the average person should not spend over 30% of their gross income when it comes to paying for an apartment. The Illinois Housing Development Authority says that every town should have an average of 10% when it comes to the amount of homes that should be affordable. However, based on a recent report and shown in the graph below, all towns on the North Shore are under 6% when it comes to a number of houses that are affordable compared to the rest. Adding the One Winnetka apartments will only lower the amount of homes that will actually be affordable.
To live in one of these complexes, you need to be in the upper class of society. If you were to look at the demographics of the affordable housing in the north shore, all towns are lowering in the percentage of affordable housing. With that change in affordable housing, the difference in diversity throughout the north shore also changes. In the graph below, it shows that there are a lot more white people than any other race. If One Winnetka wants to succeed and maintain a profit, then the council should consider lowering the price of rent in order to expand to a larger demographic.
I recently had the opportunity to read one of the articles created by Gail Schechter, founder of Open Communities. She came to my Sociology Class at New Trier on October 5th to talk about her experiences with the academic of affordable houses. In the article she handed out, it talked about the same viewpoints as I mentioned in the previous paragraphs. From Gail’s perspective, she thinks that, “A homogeneous community, one exhibiting almost total similarities of taste, habit, custom and behavior is culturally dead, aside from being downright boring.” In a nutshell, she describes communities that are all white or all one race as boring. By creating a larger diversity, you are also then open to a variety of new ways to expand your community such as jobs, events, activities, restaurants, and more. Having a diverse community leads to greater possibilities.
After reading the news about One Winnetka and looking at data about our community, I strongly believe that the council should change the prices for the apartments, so that there will be diversity coming into the town of Winnetka. By having more diversity in your town, you will create a better community for the town. Please consider these changes as time moves forward.
Sincerely, Jeremy Klewin