The Home Front

By Don DeBat As the old saying goes, everyone suffers two inescapable maladies in life—taxes and death. However, when the problem is Cook County property taxes, the adage should include a few other words: “tax abuse, errors, and bureaucratic red tape” Cook County Treasurer, Maria Pappas (above) According to the latest tax-bill analysis by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, homeowners face a sharper increase in property taxes this year compared to businesses—a result of home

By Don DeBat The slow-moving, on-going creep of gentrification in Chicago neighborhoods can be disruptive to apartment renters who are being priced out of their long-term family digs. Gentrification can be disruptive, but it is not always a dirty word. Real estate experts say the current problem of gentrification isn’t severe enough to warrant radical remedies that would end up hurting the people the fixes are meant to help. Affordable housing advocates complain that gentrifi