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Policy / Chicago
Rooted Forward exists to teach people how historical urban inequality shaped the Chicago they live in today. The tours, films, and classroom work are the first half of that mission. This page is the second half. Once you understand how redlining, urban renewal, and disinvestment produced the neighborhoods we walk through, the next question is what to do about the patterns that are still running. We organize that response here: active campaigns you can sign onto, public comment drives that put community voices into the official record, and a channel for residents to propose their own policy ideas.
Housing
Public comment closes June 15, 2026
The Obama Presidential Center is bringing investment to Woodlawn. We are calling on the Department of Housing to adopt a binding covenant that caps rent increases for existing tenants in the Woodlawn impact zone for fifteen years.
Read More & Take Action →0 Chicagoans have signed. You can add your signature or submit a public comment on the campaign page.
Policy Learning Zone
Tools and guides for engaging with Chicago policy. Draft a public comment, write a proposal, find your alderperson, or learn how zoning, legislation, and public testimony actually work.
Step-by-step walkthrough that helps you write a public comment for Chicago City Council, a zoning hearing, or a state committee. Explains what makes comments effective and what gets ignored.
Start drafting→Structure a problem statement, proposed solution, and evidence section that a legislative office will actually read. Includes the format Chicago alderpersons expect.
Community Proposals
Rooted Forward reviews community-submitted proposals monthly. If your idea is strong, we develop it into a full campaign with research backing, public comment infrastructure, and a delivery plan. You stay involved if you want to be.
No account required. We respond within 30 days.
2026 · Zoning
. Zoning Committee tabled the application after 340 public comments.
0 signatures
2026 · Policing
. CPD began publishing quarterly stop data in 2025 but excluded officer badge numbers and GPS coordinates.
0 signatures
Working on Chicago policy? We share our research with journalists, researchers, and legislative offices on request. contact@rooted-forward.org