A community land trust would help my Far South Side neighborhood flourish again

Chicago Housing Authority

Where I grew up, sunflowers sprang out of my neighbors’ yards, the crowning achievement of their gardens. We knew where you lived by your block, not your address. Kids met up to roller skate or to learn arts in the community center. Where I grew up, we were cut off from most public transportation, becoming our own city within a city. Until slowly, our resources were stripped away.

Many people aren’t familiar with where I grew up, even if they’re from Chicago. Since I was 7, I've lived in Altgeld Gardens, a Far South Side public housing complex.

Housing policies pushed residents into my neighborhood, Riverdale, because we were poor and Black. For years, city officials and developers made decisions about our collective destiny. We were left with no grocery stores, no transit options and none of the community programming that defined my childhood. Today, I no longer see the flourishing gardens of my youth.

The upcoming Red Line expansion will finally connect Riverdale to the rest of the city and hopefully bring resources into our community again. However, in addition to that economic boost, our area needs the tools to determine our future ourselves and ensure that longtime residents can remain here.

Creating a community land trust is one way Riverdale, and other Black and Brown communities where disinvestment has occurred over time, can build generational wealth. A community land trust can increase the quality of life in Riverdale without pushing longtime residents out.

Across the country, neighborhoods are looking into community land trusts as one solution to gentrification or the opposite problem: lack of investment. Land trusts are nonprofits, run by residents or public representatives — or both — that acquire land and decide how they want to develop it.

They are mainly used to preserve or develop housing, though projects like urban farms to commercial locations are sometimes included. Properties located on community land trust land can be bought and sold, but the nonprofit retains ownership of the land itself. This means houses in the trust can be kept affordable.

Pooling resources for ownership

Over the past six months, my nonprofit — Altgeld Murray Homes Alumni Association — has met with neighbors to inform them what a community land trust could accomplish in Riverdale.

It's the first time many of them have been shown a pathway to ownership. A lot of my neighbors depart this world without being able to leave anything behind for their children and grandchildren. A land trust would allow us to pool our collective resources so Riverdale could become a better version of what it once was — because we'd actually own our destiny.

Community land trusts aren't new to Chicago. In 2003, a group of West Humboldt Park residents formed the First Community Land Trust to fight gentrification in the area. That trust acquired four properties before the housing crisis slowed down operations.

Recently, nine land trusts that formed or are in the process of forming joined together as a federation called Chicagoland Owners Land Trust. Convened by the Chicago Community Loan Fund, which helps identify resources and disburses financial support, it consists of land trusts in areas as diverse as Uptown and Englewood. Each area has its own needs that collective ownership can help solve.

A recent success story is Here to Stay, a community land trust formed to help residents of some of the fastest-gentrifying neighborhoods in Chicago — Logan Square, Avondale, Hermosa and Humboldt Park — access affordable housing even as surrounding homes routinely sell for over $1 million. The organization recently celebrated selling its fourth house.

Riverdale may seem far removed from the gentrifying Northwest Side. But for individuals who've never been able to own anything, it's equally as important we have the tools to build community equity. The land trust we are working to launch would be the first in my area. However, establishing one would require navigating bureaucratic hurdles and securing resources, a daunting task for communities already stretched thin.

If Chicago's policymakers are truly committed to equitable investment, they must listen to the voices of residents. Instead of bringing in outside development, we must invest in solutions that empower communities from within. By supporting community land trusts and streamlining the process for their formation, we can create a Chicago where all neighborhoods enjoy equitable opportunities for growth and prosperity.

Beria Hampton is president and CEO of the Altgeld Murray Homes Alumni Association.

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