Election Topics: Affordable Housing – Wednesday Journal

Let’s talk about something that is both a national issue in the presidential campaign and a local issue here in Oak Park: the lack of affordable housing. A recent poll by the Bipartisan Policy Center found that nearly 75 percent of respondents believe the lack of affordable housing is a significant problem in the United States

In Oak Park we are dealing with the full range of housing affordability issues, be it homeless people living outside the Metra station, rents that now average more than $1,800 for a two-bedroom apartment be, or single-family homes selling for $1,800 on average are $450,000, according to Zillow.

The same trend can be seen in Austin, Galewood, River Forest, Forest Park and Berwyn.