Dear Neighbors,
Going into 2024, we set ambitious goals for the 43rd Ward. As demonstrated in this “2024 Year in Review”, our office made significant strides in the past year. This Year in Review summarizes advancement in priorities such as constituent services, local development, public safety, and more. Additionally, it comments on my ongoing vision for the 43rd Ward – a lakefront community that is not only beautiful and safe to live in, but is also a beacon of culture, business, leadership, nature, and more for all of Chicago and the Midwest region.
Our community’s best asset remains the people – and I am immensely grateful to my hardworking staff, community and business leaders, and local law enforcement who serve with pride. To that end, I hope you grab a coffee (or tea!) and enjoy reading our 43rd Ward 2024 Year in Review.
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Fighting Against Hate Speech: In July, Ald. Knudsen passed the “Stop Hate Littering” Ordinance by a unanimous council vote. He introduced this ordinance after antisemitic flyering occurred on vehicles in Lincoln Park, and in doing so, he educated colleagues on the history of hate flyering against many minority communities in Chicago. The ordinance serves as a tool for law enforcement to punish and deter future incidents of hate flyering. Since its passage, Ald. Knudsen has begun discussing with other U.S. cities on how they can pass similar measures.
- Promoting Good Government: This fall, Ald. Knudsen passed an ordinance to clean-up municipal board processes in Chicago, particularly the Zoning Board of Appeals where he used to serve as Chairman. Ald. Knudsen believes better city processes that truly “cut red tape” invite much needed investment to our city.
- Supporting Chicago’s First Responders: In honor of local hero Drew Price, City Council passed the “Drew Price Ordinance”, a law that will require new buildings with skylights (or other roof openings) to secure openings with additional protective layers. Additionally, we passed the “Firefighters in the Line of Duty Death Ordinance” that will create a bereavement for firefighters after the loss of a firehouse coworker.
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311 App: The City’s 311 App makes it simple to log constituent service requests from your mobile device. The app can be downloaded by searching CHI311 in your app store. For example, when it comes to rodent baiting, results are only achieved if such baiting is done gradually over a fixed period of time. With the 311 App, you can schedule your own baiting to occur every few weeks.
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Better Results: We are proud to announce that in 2024, we achieved a 241% increase in completed constituent services requests from 2023 (more detail below).
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Increased Access: In 2024, the 43rd Ward Office allocated resources to expand its open hours of operation into Saturdays, to ensure that constituents are able to access constituent services in person no matter their weekly schedules.
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Expedited Responses to Constituents: We sped up our constituent response time to 0.6 days (from 4.2 days prior to 2023). This includes 6,600+ personal constituent responses sent (20% increase from 2023).
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Better Results: 40,000+ solved tickets (including 311's) (178% increase from 2023). This achievement is a result of a new tool that merges 311 requests into our internal system so that we have access to the request; whereas, it is typically required that ward offices manually pull requests from 311.
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More Timely Communication: In 2024, we sent 70+ newsletter communications, which were opened 1,230,551 times (resulting in a 58% email “open rate”). Collectively, the 43rd Ward office sent over 2.3 million proactive communications.
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Keeping Leadership’s Eyes on the Ward: On February 6th, I was joined by Mayor Johnson and Police Superintendent Larry Snelling for a safety walk in our neighborhood. We walked down Halsted street to Armitage where we stopped at Soul Prime (1969 N. Halsted) and met with community members to discuss public safety and new citywide initiatives to combat robberies and increase safety.
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Debuting Community Meet and Greets: This year our office hosted 11 Community Meet and Greets. This new initiative was a great success and provided a casual way to connect with Ald. Knudsen while also meeting a representative from a partnering government agency; for example, Department of Streets & Sanitation, the Illinois State Treasurer, Chicago Police Department and more.
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Volunteer Corps Development Project (VCDP): This year our office continued to build a community initiative, led by volunteer neighbors, to create a volunteer program framework. At its core, the goal of VCDP is to increase capacity in the Ward office and connectivity with residents through the recruitment of dedicated volunteers to spearhead community projects. Next week, the VCDP will speak to you directly through our newsletter on this project including our office’s new “Mission-Vision-Values” drafted with the VCDP.
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The Oz Park Playground reopened this Summer, spearheaded by a $100,000 contribution by our office and significant community leadership and investment.
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The Trebes Park Renovation is currently underway, spearheaded by a $100,000 contribution by our office and significant community leadership and investment.
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Armitage Complete Street Resurfacing: Honoring one of the City’s most vibrant commercial and mixed-use corridors, this year Armitage was repaved from the lakefront to Racine. In doing so, adjacent curbs, sidewalks, and bike lanes received facelifts. Additionally, we passed legislation for new stop signs at Howe/Armitage & Cleveland/Armitage to add important speed reduction measures.
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Investing in Lighting: This year our office prioritized 5 large lighting projects through the Menu Budget to promote safety and convenience. Based on community input, projects included Lakeview Avenue (Diversey-Fullerton), Wrightwood (Clark-Lakeview), Hudson (1800 block), Armitage (Halsted-Bissell), and Fullerton (Racine-Sheffield).
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Renewing our Alleys & Sidewalks: Every year we allocate a large portion of the Menu Budget to much-needed alley resurface projects. In 2024, we completed 7 alleys. Additionally, we funded dozens of curb, gutter and sidewalk restorations to ensure safe walking, correct draining, and beauty in the ward.
- Promoting Street Safety: This year our office passed legislation for and funded 10 new “bump-outs”, prioritizing areas near local schools. “Bump-outs” bump stop-signs further into the street to reduce speeds and increase visibility for drivers and pedestrians.
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2600 N Clark: The recently approved development at 2600 N Clark (the historic “Affordable Portables” and “Dunlay’s”) is at the core of Ald. Knudsen’s initiative to boost Clark Street into one of the best commercial corridors in Chicago. As approved, the 7-story building will have 66 residential units (10 of which will be “affordable”) and 3600 square feet of ground-floor retail. With a community meeting attended by 100 neighbors, Ald. Knudsen & Park West Neighborhood Association (PWNA) negotiated every detail of the building, including increased setbacks that will create additional pedestrian space in this busy area. We hope to see this important project begin construction in Spring 2025.
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Rendering of 2600 N Clark
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537 W Drummond: Approved in 2022, 537 W Drummond Place recently broke ground. This 7 story residential project will bring 84 units adjacent to the Clark Street corridor, with a variety of unit types including studios, one-beds, and two-beds. The ground floor will contain resident amenities, 84 bike parking spaces, and 52 car parking spaces.
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Rendering of 537 W Drummond
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- 1055 W Diversey: Approved in 2024, 1055 W Diversey will become a six-story residential building, providing 24 additional units to the ward (5 of which will be “affordable”). This project is a Transit Served Location and will include 20% on-site affordable housing units.
- DePaul Athletic Practice Facility: Following a thorough community engagement process and negotiations over the past 2 years, Ald. Knudsen gave formal support for the proposed practice facility at DePaul. In doing so, Ald. Knudsen negotiated a comprehensive “Plan of Operation” (binding rulebook) that represents the largest renegotiation of DePaul’s Planned Development since its creation. This Plan includes community benefits, covenants on design, setbacks and sustainability, and the commitment by DePaul to preserve two historically significant buildings on campus. As approved, the Plan represents a balanced win for DePaul and the future of our community.
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Rendering of the DePaul Athletic Practice Facility
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Cenacle Project: The previously approved Cenacle development, located at 511-519 W Fullerton, was amended in 2024 with the support of Mid-North Neighborhood Association. As amended, the project will include 2 four-story multi-residential buildings with 16 units.
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Rendering of the Cenacle Project on Fullerton
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- 401-405 W Armitage: Following the closing of the CVS at 401-405 W Armitage, we were aware that many residents were concerned about another vacant property on this corner. In under a year we are happy to have a new development underway at this site. This project was as of right and will include 6 residential units as well as ground floor retail.
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In the 43rd Ward, Public Safety is our principal priority as it impacts the daily life of every human, the future of every business, and the likelihood of potential investment in our city. Through close partnership with the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) 18th & 19th Districts, as well as the hardworking District Councilors, the ward experienced areas of both significant progress and challenge in 2024. In reviewing public safety, it is essential to compare current statistics with the preceding years. From that lens, we are able to better understand our ongoing challenges.
For example, in 2024, CPD recorded 64 robberies in the 43rd Ward, compared to 94 in 2023, 74 in 2022, and 60 in 2021. A "robbery" is defined as the action of taking property unlawfully from a person or place by force or threat of force.
Additionally, in 2024 there were 3 vehicular hijackings in the 43rd Ward, compared to 10 in 2023 and 17 in each of 2022 and 2021. A "vehicular hijacking" is defined as the act of taking a vehicle from someone else by force or threat of force. Accordingly, in 2024 we saw a four-year low in robberies and vehicular hijackings in the 43rd Ward.
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In 2024 there were 187 burglaries, which is an increase from 129 in 2023, 141 in 2022, and 90 in 2021. A "burglary" is defined as entry into a building illegally with intent to commit a crime, but as opposed to robbery, does not always involve theft or harm to an individual. In 2024, the 43rd Ward experienced an increase in “burglaries” to businesses and homes. As you may recall from our newsletter, a burglary trend emerged targeting businesses on our commercial corridors.
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Public Safety will always be the principal focus of the 43rd Ward Office under Ald. Knudsen, and as we set goals for a safer 2025, we will continue to pass legislation supporting law enforcement, promote local CAPS and District Council meetings, and host public safety seminars to help residents learn how to combat and prevent local crime in their daily lives.
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Please feel free to download this email as a PDF and share in any way you please. 2024 was a year of significant work and achievements in the 43rd Ward, and my office will continue this ambitious pace in 2025. It is an honor to serve as your alderperson, and I am beyond grateful to all of the dedicated neighbors receiving this email for your commitment to our community.
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