Chicago Tribune: Housing crisis drives families into overcrowded living conditions

[marmar]

Housing crisis drives families into overcrowded living conditions
Longstanding problem in Chicago exacerbated by foreclosures, posing safety and other concerns

By Antonio Olivo, Tribune reporter

March 28, 2010


Like many Chicago-area residents who've lost their homes to foreclosure, Alondra Navarette had nowhere to turn when forced to leave her spacious house earlier this year.

The struggling maid could no longer afford her ballooning mortgage payments when house-cleaning jobs dried up. So she moved into the already cramped basement apartment occupied by her daughter and a roommate on Chicago's Northwest Side.

Similar choices by thousands who have lost their homes are renewing concerns about overcrowded housing in the Chicago region, housing advocates and government officials say.

With a record 23,200 foreclosures reported in Chicago last year, in addition to tens of thousands more in the suburbs, families have been avoiding homelessness by crowding in with relatives or friends in a move that affects everything from school classroom sizes and test scores to street parking and public safety.

Nationally, rising foreclosures at the start of the recession in 2008 prompted 2.6 million more people than the year before to double up with relatives, for a total of 49 million "multigenerational households," according to a Pew Research Center study released this month.

More recent numbers won't be available until later this year, but officials say all signs point to a worsening of the problem. In dense urban neighborhoods like Chinatown or Little Village, as well as once-roomy outer suburbs like Waukegan or Addison, housing activists point out homes with three or four families each. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/ct-met-overcrowded-housing-0328-20100327,0,476974.story

[Edweird]

1. The 'housing crisis' is merely a symptom of the employment/income crisis.

If people could afford to pay their bills, they wouldn't losing their homes. This is the fruit of the far right policies pushed by both parties.

[d_r]

2. it's such a crazy thing.

On the one hand, nuclear families probably don't "need" 3-4-5,000 square feet mcmansions, and downsizing would probably be good for resources, etc. On the other hand, having 10 people in an illegally converted basement is pretty fricking horrific stuff.

[izquierdista]

3. You're right

All that nookular families need is an 8x8 bomb shelter. :rofl:

[d_r]

4. :)