Chicago Tent City Plan Runs Into Resident Resistance, Could Thwart Future Housing Development
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s plan to move about 1,600 migrants out of Chicago police stations and into “winterized base camps” modeled on New York City shelters is getting loud pushback from Far South Side residents who packed a community meeting Wednesday night to protest one such proposed encampment.
Neighbors of the former Halsted Indoor Mall parking lot in West Roseland crammed into a church to vent frustration over plans to transform the lot into a temporary migrant shelter, chanting, “No migrants in our community,” according to Block Club Chicago. Residents argued the neighborhood has already suffered years of disinvestment and that the city should be directing resources to longtime residents.
The shelter could also scuttle plans for Morgan Park Commons, a 12-acre project that would transform the site and a nearby vacated Jewel-Osco grocery store into an affordable housing and retail development that was set to break ground next year.
“There are a lot of people out here hurting that [the city] could be helping, and there’s a lot of problems going on in this community they could be fixing,” Washington Heights resident Daphne Taylor told Block Club. “It feels like we’re being locked out of the situation, and that’s unfair.”
Johnson last week announced plans to open several camps that would include climate-controlled, military-grade tents, bathrooms and showers, intake spaces and other facilities. City officials identified the lot at 115th and Halsted streets as one possible location.
Chicago has struggled to handle an influx of migrants sent to the city by Republican governors in the run-up to the 2024 Democratic National Convention, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. More than 13,000 migrants flooded into the city over the past year, sparking what Johnson has called a humanitarian crisis that is costing the city more than $30M a month.
Chicago's Committee on Housing and Real Estate late last month approved a $1.5M city proposal to buy a former Marine Corps building at 3034 West Foster Ave. to house migrants along the North Branch of the Chicago River. In February, then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot transformed the former Wadsworth School in Woodlawn into a shelter, and the city moved about 300 people into Kenwood’s Chicago Lake Shore Hotel in August.
At Wednesday’s meeting, 21st Ward Alderman Ronnie Mosley said that the encampment was just a possibility, although he said he “can’t give a definite no” and the plan isn’t permanently off the table, Block Club reported.
That was a disappointment to neighbors, who have called for more affordable housing for years. The Morgan Park Commons project is set to bring 800 new jobs, about 300 housing units and a community center to the ward, per Block Club.
“I’m not in favor of delays to that development, and I’m still working to make sure we can break ground next year in 2024,” Mosley told the crowd. “We’re still on schedule. That’s what the 21st Ward is continuing to do.”
