Addressing Housing Affordability 
by John Lukehart

Last month nearly 100 Oak Parkers turned out to a meeting to learn and talk about
the issue of housing affordability for low and moderate-income households in Oak 
Park. Several community groups, including the League of Women Voters, Community 
of Congregations, NAACP, Oak Park Regional Housing Center, Interreligious 
Sustainability Project, West Suburban PADS, and Oak Park Community Relations 
Commission, sponsored the forum. Presenters talked about regional and local 
housing trends, current housing programs, and new ideas to ensure varying degrees
of housing affordability and economic diversity in Oak Park. 

Here is some of the relevant information resulting from the session, as well as from 
the Census income data released earlier this month. 

     The rent range for two bedroom apartments in Oak Park is $900-$1,400, which 
requires household incomes of $36,000-$56,000; above what many Oak Parkers 
are prepared to pay. In addition, there’s a dearth of larger rental units in the community. 
430 rental units were lost during the past 10 years, many to condo conversions, a 
trend that is likely to continue. This provides a new opportunity for affordable purchase 
housing, but lower income households, who tend to be renters, are negatively affected. 
The Oak Park Regional Housing Center, which serves many families looking to rent 
in Oak Park, has reported that proportionately fewer of its clients are able to find 
apartments in the community. Between 1989 and 1999, the number of renters 
under 35 and over 65 fell by 989. 

     The average sales price for an Oak Park home has increased by over 70% in the 
last 7 years. In 2001, the mean sales price for a  single-family home in Oak Park 
was $327,408, which would require an income of $131,000 for a first-time buyer; the 
mean sales price for a condo or town home was $160,536, which would require 
an income of $64,200. Beyond simply looking at mean sales prices, which can provide 
a somewhat skewed perspective, the Oak Park Affordable Housing Committee, the 
group that organized the recent forum, will be reviewing data from the Oak Park 
Board of Realtors, taking a closer look at the number of homes and condos and
town homes sold in various price categories, to discern what incomes are needed 
to support these purchases. 

      Along with examining the income needed to buy or rent housing in the 
community, it is useful to look at household-income trends, to get a sense of the state 
of our economic diversity and housing affordability. Rent "burden"—the number of
households paying more than 35% of their gross income toward rent—did not 
change much during the 1990s, going from 21% to 22%. The number of homeowners
who are paying more than 35% of their income toward housing costs, however, 
increased from 10% to 16%. Housing cost burdens for various economic groups 
will need a more careful review as more census data becomes available. Perhaps 
most telling is the shift in our economic profile. A recent study of Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act data showed that the mean income for Oak Park homebuyers in 
1999/2000 was $96,000. According to the Census, between 1979 and 1989, the 
proportion of Oak Park’s households making $30,000 or less, adjusted for inflation, 
went from 41% to 33%. Between 1989 and 1999, the number of households making 
less than $35,000 (adjusted for inflation) stayed about the same, 27%. However, 
during this same period of time, the proportion of Oak Parkers who had "moderate"
incomes fell dramatically. Households making $35,000-$49,999 declined by
15%; households making $50,000-$74,999 declined by 13%; and the proportion
making $75,000-$99,999 declined by 11%. Meanwhile, households making more 
than $100,000 increased by 48%. 

 Most of the 100 residents who attended the affordable housing forum in late April 
completed a survey, and 85% indicated that they felt the community should be doing 
more to support affordable housing. 

Of the options presented, participants encouraged the village to explore: 

     adopting an inclusionary zoning ordinance, whereby developers would have to
provide some mix of affordable units in their developments; working with private 
developers to use various tax incentive programs to produce more mixed-income, 
especially rental housing;  establishing an affordable housing trust fund; and 
supporting employer-assisted housing programs. 
 

In addition, participants favored the village both continuing to participate in regional 
affordable housing efforts and better publicizing and/or amending current programs. 

The trend toward significantly increased housing costs in Oak Park, even when 
viewed in a regional context, combined with a loss of rental housing and moderate
income population, suggests that Oak Park should be moving proactively to address
the issue of housing affordability.

The Oak Park Affordable Housing Committee urges the Village Board to expeditiously 
establish a method for gaining a fuller understanding of the issue, including the profile 
of current or potential residents who are being priced out of the community. Then, 
amend or adopt reasonable and balanced policies or programs, as appropriate. 
The affordable housing committee has prepared a matrix of possible new
initiatives and stands ready to assist with this process. 

The action proposed here is consistent with the community’s progressive history, 
commitment to diversity and current village policies related to economic diversity and 
affordable housing. In the meantime, the Oak Park Affordable Housing Committee 
plans to stay active and encourages other interested residents to join in the effort 
and to convey their concerns to the Village Board. 

Dan Burke, Max Dieber, Len Grossman, Bob Jones, Laura Kliewer, John Lukehart, 
and Hank Zuba on behalf of the Oak Park Affordable Housing Committee.