Rebecca Burns

3 weeks ago | inthesetimes.com | Rebecca Burns

Had they decided to just pack up and leave when they received notice that their buildings’ new owner wouldn’t renew their leases, Anay Herrera and Tory deMartelly might have become examples of the so-called invisible evictions that typically go unreported. According to the available data, Chicago landlords file an average of more than 22,500 eviction cases against tenants each year.

3 weeks ago | inthesetimes.com | Rebecca Burns

Most of the milestones of Anay Herrera’s adult life have taken place within walking distance of the apartment complex in Chicago’s Buena Park neighborhood where she’s lived for more than two decades. All five of her children were born at a nearby hospital and attended the elementary school down the street, where her two youngest, twins, are now in kindergarten. She took computer and GED classes at the local community college and now works part-time as a cashier at a restaurant a few blocks away.

1 month ago | inthesetimes.com | Rebecca Burns

HARTFORD, CONN. — Three years ago, Dave Richardson was spending half of his monthly income on an apartment with rats, roaches and a broken elevator. A stroke had made climbing the stairs difficult, forcing him to limit trips outside of his third-floor home. Other wheelchair-bound tenants had to be physically carried up and down. The landlord was ignoring phone calls, Richardson says, but one day in 2022, a group of organizers came to his door with a pitch to build a tenants union.

Jan 29, 2025 | popularresistance.org | Rebecca Burns

Above photo: House Our Neighbors tapped Neiman Taber Architects to design a proof-of-concept to showcase their idea of housing that could suit a variety of people, lifestyles and incomes. House Our Neighbors. Real estate and business interests are spending big against a February referendum to fund housing as a public good. On a once-vacant plot of public land in Seattle, a cluster of mid-rise buildings surrounds a tree-filled courtyard.

Jan 27, 2025 | inthesetimes.com | Rebecca Burns

Rebecca Burns January 27, 2025 On a once-vacant plot of public land in Seattle, a cluster of mid-rise buildings surrounds a tree-filled courtyard. Children play on swings while adults run laps and chat on shared stoops. Some neighbors live in dorm-style rooms with common kitchens, others in family-sized townhomes — but all benefit from access to parks and transit, affordable rents and a democratic say in how their buildings run. None of this exists yet, to be clear.