Join us for free family fun Friday, 6/23/23, 10 am - 1 pm, Dvorak Park in Pilsen
Join us and our allies tomorrow, Friday, 6/23/23, for a family fun event At Dvorak Park. It's about saving our pollinators, enjoying each other's company, and having some fun, but it's also about equitable development and equal access to green spaces for working families, especially families of color. Petting zoo & free pony rides for kids, & live music. We would love to see you and your children. More information below in the flyer filled with flowers and monarch butterflies in the images below.
More green spaces for working families? Or more gentrification? - TIF expansion in Pilsen
We attended the Dept. of Planning & Development's public meeting on 5/4/23, on expanding Pilsen TIF (Tax Increment Financing) District. See map below - light shaded area is current TIF industrial district; dark shaded area is proposed expanded area. Attendees were mainly strongly opposed. We are concerned that these projects rarely benefit low-income working families, and that this will not increase working families' access to green spaces, but result in more gentrification.
On last Thursday evening, the large auditorium at Benito Juarez High School was full, and the vast majority of the attendees made clear that they strongly opposed the TIF District expansion, at times drowning out the City's presenters with loud chants of "No TIF! No TIF! No TIF!", "No more taxes!" and "Enough gentrification!" Audience members interrupted the presentation on dozens of occasions, and the presenters were finally forced to skip much of the prepared slides and shorten their presentation to allow for more public comment.
The current Pilsen TIF District covers the industrial corridor bordering Blue Island Ave. and south to the south fork of the Chicago River. The proposed expansion would move the District north to 16th St, from Western to Clinton, and would include primarily residential housing.
You can voice your opinion on the proposed expansion of the Pilsen TIF District by contacting the Dept. of Planning & Development, and the 25th Ward Office.
Link to Dept. of Planning & Development (with tel# & email of DPD):
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/dcd.html
25th Ward Office/Ald. Sigcho-Lopez: Ward25@cityofchicago.org
