HUMBOLDT PARK — Humboldt Park residents can weigh in on the neighborhood’s housing needs and learn more about upcoming city-led projects at a meeting next week.
The city’s Department of Housing is hosting a Humboldt Park-focused “housing listening session” 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday at The Honeycomb Network, 2659 W. Division St., as part of a broader effort to keep residents informed about Invest South/West projects in their neighborhoods.
Invest South/West was created by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to bring development to historically neglected South and West side neighborhoods, including Humboldt Park.
Under the initiative, the old Pioneer bank at North Avenue and Pulaski Road is being redeveloped into a Latino cultural center and affordable housing complex. Further west, two projects are bringing 100 apartments, a grocery store and more to Chicago Avenue.
“We realized that we often came to people with projects and they didn’t feel like we were listening to their housing needs,” said Edwin Ortiz Reyes, the Department of Housing’s racial equity and community engagement officer.
“The community engagement team has adopted this as a best practice and are prioritizing communities where [the housing department] hasn’t been very active or present in the past.”
There will be a “brief” presentation of Invest South/West Humboldt Park projects at next week’s meeting, Ortiz Reyes said. Residents will also get to share, more broadly, what kind of housing they’d like to see built in Humboldt Park, he said.
The meeting will be capped at 40 neighbors to spur “intimate conversations,” according to a flyer. Light refreshments will be provided. To register for the event, go here.
This is the city’s ninth housing listening session. Others were held in Auburn Gresham, East Garfield Park, Englewood, Bronzeville, Little Village, Pilsen, South Shore and Woodlawn, neighborhoods with “high stakes” Invest South/West projects, Ortiz Reyes said.
The city plans to hold three or four of the meetings annually in “priority” neighborhoods across the city, he said.