Communities like Naperville that receive Community Development Block Grant funding from the U.S. Department of Housing must certify that they will further fair housing.
That’s why the city commissioned an outside group to conduct a report on the impediments to fair housing in Naperville.
It found fair housing education and outreach efforts are needed to educate residents about their rights and responsibilities, language barriers may limit access to the city’s housing and development programs and there’s an inadequate supply of affordable housing and transportation in the city.
The report recommends 12 proposed actions to reduce these.
“I think looking forward to next year when we have the next budget for CDBG that we really look at what these goals are and to really try to make some movement and some progress,” said Becky Anderson, a member of the Naperville City Council.
Council has already allocated some funds to reduce the impediments and will work with staff to find solutions to the rest.
On the positive side, the report did find racial and ethnic diversity has increased significantly over the past decade, segregation is low, and there have been few verified discrimination complaints.
The last time a fair housing impediment report was conducted for Naperville was in 2007.
Naperville News 17’s Alyssa Bochenek reports.
