Mayor Emanuel announced his new initiative to demolish vacant buildings as a way to curb gang activity. The Mayor stated, “With these actions we are sending a clear message to gang members: you will find no shelter in the City of Chicago.” However, Action Now President Michelle Young sees another message behind his rhetoric, “He’s really saying that working families will no longer find shelter in the City of Chicago.”

She continues, “All over the city there are blocks full of vacant homes. Our neighborhoods have become ghost towns. The Mayor is going in the wrong direction. The solution to the vacant property problem is not creating more destruction by demolishing buildings. We must rebuild our communities by transforming vacant buildings into homes for families once again.”

Katelyn Johnson, executive director of Action Now Institute adds, “We have created a Rebuild Chicago plan for the Infrastructure Trust that would use public and private investment to rehab vacant buildings and turn them into affordable rental properties. Taxpayer money should not be used to demolish, it should be used to rebuild Chicago’s neighborhoods into the vibrant centers they once were.”