Rising Housing Prices Leading To Demographics Shift In Pilsen
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Everyone agrees Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood is changing. Some embrace it while others dread it.
CBS 2's Sandra Torres reports, gentrification raises fears that rents and prices are going up and, driving out the people who made Pilsen, Pilsen.
Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood is known for its sights and sounds, a community that's been the home to Hispanic families through generations.
A new study out of the University of Illinois at Chicago shows those families are now being driven out.
"I don't want to leave Pilsen," said Lorena Vargas
Vargas could soon be on that path and join the more than 10,000 Hispanics who left the neighborhood since 2000.
"My mother, she wasn't able to pay the house unfortunately because of the high property taxes," she said. "I had to start looking for apartments."
But renting those units has been an issue. The average rent for a two-to three bedroom went from an average of $500 to $700 in 2005 to $1,000 to $1,500 this year.
"There's a lot of people who want to stay but don't options to stay," said Byron Sigcho.
Sigcho is with the Pilsen Alliance, which tracks demographic changes in the area.
"We see it on a daily basis," he said. "We have a housing crisis."
While the changes are frustrating to some, they're also driving in a diverse population willing to pay for more.
"It's an up-and-coming neighborhood, they're building, there's new things coming in and I think that with that, you kind of have to expect an increase in rent," said Dana Wheith.
The Pilsen Alliance is pushing for more affordable housing in the area but until then, those families don't have a choice but to pay up or move out.
