Zoning Chair Letter
Last week, Urban Environmentalists, along with ten incredible partner organizations, released a statement calling on Mayor Brandon Johnson to nominate a Zoning Chair who will prioritize abundant housing by tackling common-sense zoning reforms that will make it easier to build housing for all Chicagoans.
While Urban Environmentalists has signed onto many other letters in the past, this is the first letter that we have led! We are very proud to have assembled a superstar group of partner organizations and demonstrate that policies such as allowing ADUs citywide and ending single-family zoning have broad appeal in Chicago.
We're very excited to see who gets selected for the position, and we're hopeful that a pro-housing leader will receive the coveted, powerful job.
Read our letter to Mayor Johnson
Support 235 Homes in North Center!
You've probably noticed that we've ramped up our project-specific advocacy quite a bit in the past few months. Thanks to the dedication of our co-leads and members, we've been able to organize supporters, show up en masse to community meetings, and provide a pro-housing perspective.
On November 28th from 4:00-6:00 p.m., there will another opportunity to attend an open house and express your support for 235 new homes just steps away from the Irving Park Brown Line CTA Station. We launched a petition for this project many months ago, and it has only gotten better since then. Today, the project includes 65 affordable homes reserved for families having left situations of gender-based violence.
The full project details, including a virtual option and online feedback form, can be found here. We know there will be strong NIMBY pushback on this project, so we encourage all members to show up for the in-person meeting and provide supportive feedback.
All community meetings that we organize for will be posted on our Eventbrite page. We encourage you to give it a follow today.
RSVP to support 235 homes today!
[Members Only] End-of-Year Potluck ☃️
Mark your calendars! On Saturday, December 9th at 7:00 p.m., we will be hosting an end-of-year potluck to celebrate an exciting and fruitful year of housing, transit, and safe streets advocacy. Bring your favorite dish and meet us at Coeval Apartments, located a six-minute walk from the Roosevelt CTA Station in the South Loop. 🚇
Members are encouraged to bring a +1. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks will be provided courtesy of YIMBY Action🍹
P.S. If you're not a YIMBY Action member, now is a great time to sign up 😏 (you can see your current membership status at the bottom of this email)
Ward Leads Wanted!
In the new year, we will continue to grow our power across the city. A key element of this growth will involve identifying UE ward representatives. These individuals will be in charge of outreach to alders to request their feedback on various topics, such as removing parking minimums, ending single-family zoning, and much more. Additionally, ward representatives will deliver relevant petitions to alders.
If you're interested in being a ward lead, please respond to this email letting us know your preferred first name, last name, and ward(s) of interest.