“A decision could be reached in the coming months in a long-running lawsuit that links Chicago landmark districts to racial segregation and a lack of affordable housing.
“The city of Chicago in late January requested a judge rule in its favor on the lawsuit, in which two Chicago residents challenged the creation of historic districts in Lincoln Park and West Town, saying the city had no legitimate reason to apply the designation to their communities.
“The residents also said in their suit that the districts harm them, their neighborhoods and the city, including through ‘the perpetuation and exacerbation of racial and economic segregation … and the deprivation of reasonably affordable housing for minorities, single persons, the elderly, persons with disabilities, renters, single parents, and other vulnerable groups.’
“‘I think that landmark districts, a lot of times, are really the core of Chicago,’ he said. ‘And when you think of neighborhoods and the popularity of neighborhoods, you almost think of them as really being based on a beautiful district of buildings, and often a landmark district.’”
“Lauren Buitta, who manages the lawsuit on behalf of one of the residents who filed it, Albert Hanna, who died in 2020, said landmarking and historic preservation wield a significant amount of power over how communities develop.
“A spokeswoman for the city’s Law Department declined to comment. In recent court filings, the city’s attorneys disputed Hanna and Mrowka’s claims that the city violated their rights and had no basis to designate their communities landmark districts.
“A judge’s decision on the request from the city of Chicago, which is the only remaining defendant in the case, could address the fate of the two landmark districts, or send the case to trial.
“Miller, of Preservation Chicago, described landmark districts as a way of making neighborhoods desirable and protecting homeowners from large-scale, ‘cookie-cutter’ developments in their neighborhoods that can send land values shooting up, displacing residents, he said.
“Development of larger buildings can also overwhelm nearby houses or two- and three-flats, affecting residents’ quality of life, he said.
“‘We have a responsibility to protect these buildings,’ he said. ‘Chicago is known as an architectural capital of North America and the nation, and I think we really have to take that seriously. We’re seeing so much redevelopment and destruction that it’s really harming that legacy.’