Carter Breen, Affordable Housing in Winnetka

Dear Council,

I am writing to you today regarding the affordable housing in our community. After reading Gail Schecter's letter to David Trandel, I have noticed that there is a problem with the One Winnetka Project. As portrayed in this picture:

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The state of Illinois requires that 10% of housing in every town should be affordable. The cheapest option in the One Winnetka project is $4,000/mo for a 1 bedroom apartment. The limit for affordable housing is $855/mo for a 1 bedroom apartment. These prices are way too high to be affordable. In Gail Schechter’s letter to David Trandel, she asked for two things, one of which was to “Include at least 15% of all units as affordable under the definition of the Illinois Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act.” This is a plan that would be wise to follow and should be followed. Trandel did also state that the apartments “Will be expensive.” This is just completely unacceptable. There should be at least some apartments that are affordable so some people can actually live in them if they want to be in this community. Schechter also stated that, “Affordable housing is not only economically feasible within a larger development but such housing meets a major community need in Winnetka.” This is very true. This would help bring diversity, and give people chances that they wouldn’t have gotten around here before. Therefore this would be quite a wise choice. I think it would be respectful and good to do all of these things that Schechter has said, and they should be listened to and not pushed off or ignored.