This letter was first published in the Chicago Tribune. You can find the original here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/09/07/letters-090726-emanuel-congregation-development-edgewater/
The proposed redevelopment of Emanuel Congregation in Edgewater should be a no-brainer. Six-hundred new homes will be built while allowing a neighborhood institution to remain on the land it owns, bringing new affordable housing to an area that desperately needs it.
Instead, “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) opponents are deploying desperate tactics to freeze the 48th Ward in the past.
That would be easier to understand if Chicago had an abundance of housing. We don’t.
My partner has been touring houses, only to learn that 10 other people are bidding on the same property. To be competitive, you need to be prepared to offer at least $100,000 over asking. Friends looking for apartments have encountered lines around the block. Families I know want to stay in Chicago, but are increasingly moving to the suburbs because there isn’t enough family-sized housing in the city.
And while Illinois families struggle to find places to live, Springfield has done far too little to meet the moment. Legislators went home in June, and the housing crisis remains. The needle has barely moved.
Thankfully, Chicago is stepping up.
Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth is meeting the moment in the 48th Ward by working with the community to improve the developer’s proposal. That’s what leadership looks like: listening, negotiating, improving projects and then building.
What makes the opposition to Emanuel absurd is this land is not for sale — and never has been. Emanuel owns it and has every right to decide how its property can serve the congregation and the broader community for generations to come. And rather than walling itself off, Emanuel is offering public access to the lakefront and creating new ways to enjoy the property. That’s what good neighbors do.
Edgewater has had high-rises along Sheridan Road for generations. “The Bob Newhart Show” even centered its fictional home in the building next door.
I actually wish the proposed development were taller. I want more families, more taxpayers and more neighbors in Chicago.
We can debate design. We can demand public bathrooms and easier beach access. But trying to stop new housing altogether isn’t preserving the neighborhood. It’s preventing Chicago from growing.
I want to see cranes in the sky. Those cranes represent something: more density, more opportunity and a future for the people who want to call Chicago home.
Chicago invented the skyscraper. We should say “yes in my backyard” to the next one.