How to get rid of the segregation in chicago? (Evanston: neighborhood, buyers)

[DoneWithDallas]

For starters, I've read a few posts on here asking where certain races / cultures live because they'd prefer to live there which allows for certain neighborhoods to continue having a reputation of only having certain cultures and races there. There will always be degrees of insulation. And in this day and age it's a choice.

[edsg25]

First off, "getting rid of segregation in Chicago is a process." Processes, by definition, tend to take time.

so the best answer I can give is that we are definitely in the process of getting rid of segregation in Chicago.

in fact, our era today looks little like the time frame from the great migration up through the administration of Dick Daley. Indeed one could look at that administration and compare it with that of his son, Rich, and see a vastly different Chicago.

The old segregationist Chicago was built on a bipolar axis, framed in black and white. more than anything, it was a battle between entrenched (but not all that yet deep rooted) white ethnic Europeans and the blacks coming up from the south in the great migration. it was territorial...and it was tribal. and it was rigidly enforces for generations. It started to change with integration (Prairie Shores and Lake Meadows are the standout examples) and with the push back of gentrification which first pieced Congress St., then Roosevelt Road and which today is at least at Cermak.

this segregation was a battle line, drawn on the map as both the south and west side black belts, hemmed in, exploded their boundaries and caused endless clashes with the ethnic whites.

this was a battleground of old, industrial Chicago. Its greatest symbol, IMHO, would have been the Howard el (today's red line) which started down from Howard Street all white until in rolled into the State Street subway where at each Loop stop.....Washington, Monroe, Jackson....whites got off and black got on. When the train reemerged onto the South Side el tracks, it was virtually all black.

I don't think you'd see the same sight today by a long shot.

Bi-polar Chicago has also been shaken to its roots by the end of the polar paradigm. Increasingly Hispanic and Asian as the growing demographics, the old black-white struggle can be viewed as more of a part of the post-Civil War years up to its fading out in the decades before the millennium changed (none of which is to suggest that segregation, discrimination, and prejudice against blacks has by any means disappeared). And on this one, national trends will swamp anything local to us here in Chicago: the 2010 census marked the first time that more non-white babies were born in the US than white babies. around 2040, demographers tell us, the nation will white minority. In such settings, there is no way that old segregationist Chicago could survive.

I would contend that Chicago is far more economically segregated than it is racially so today. As such, it fits the role of other high powered American cities that reflect the economic divide of a nation that truly struggles with massive class issues. A high income black is going to be far more successful in becoming part of the Gold Coast or Streeterville or Lincoln Park than a lower middle class white. Let's face it, blue collar Chicago has been replaced by white collar Chicago and the attraction of the city is no longer the success of the industrial jobs it generated. As such, Chicago is not an industrial city; today it is a "life style" city and the life style belt (from however you measure it....I would contend downtown on all three sides, straight up the North Side lakefront through LakeView*, west to the UC, south to McCPl with a jump down to Hyde Park and inland on the north side to the wicker park/bucktown area) and in these areas, the color is not white or black, or the added brown and yellow; no, the color is pure g$r$e$e$n.

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* no, i don't think the money stops at LakeView; that money keeps going up the lakefront, certainly on up to where Sheridan swings west and turns into Devon. but those areas past lake view are less life style Chicago, their draw far different from the areas to the south. in a sense, the areas from the uptown lakefront to the edge water lakefront and places where proximity to the city's offerings make them desirable. in a sense, these areas remind me of the far north side neighborhoods, places arguably north of Foster, where housing is expensive due to the easy access to the city's offerings, but where life style is not the issue and where you are definitely living outside the charm belt that I described as heading out of the downtown area in three directions.

[lenniel]

Originally Posted by chubs

This is a question that I alway had in mind and possibly many of you, In Your own words what is the best solution to stop being a segregated city

Take money from wealthy people and give it to poor people.

[Aleking]

most people like it the way it is

Originally Posted by glass_of_merlot

I like it the way it is now. I live at the 60640 zipcode and this is as much diversity as I like it

our zip code is hardly the norm for the city

[Jandur]

Newsflash. People want to be segregated. Do black people want to live with a bunch of white people? Generally speaking no, they would rather be surrounded by other people like them.

There is a reason black people choose Hyde Park and not Lakeview. Obviously us white people do the same thing. I know affluent hispanics that stay in Pilsen when they could live anywhere. Why? They like being surrounded by other hispanics.

Now I understand that that some people prefer diversity. But generally speaking it's human nature to want to be segregated either racially or culturally.

[glass_of_merlot]

When I say I prefer to live in areas where people are like myself I am actually referring to social class more so than race. I am not sure if I use the word social class in the right context. I like to have people around me that live a similar lifestyle, have similar views and morals. It doesn't matter if they are gay or black or whatever....as long as our everyday lives are somewhat similar. We go to work, take care of our kids,our families, take care and pride in our neighborhood.
I also want to live somewhere where I can feel some sense of home. I love that I can walk up to the Swedish bakery only 2 blocks away and by those Rom rolls aka dammsugare and speak Swedish with people at the Swedish American Museum.
I have not had that before sense I moved to the USA.

[eevee]

Originally Posted by Jandur

Newsflash. People want to be segregated. Do black people want to live with a bunch of white people? Generally speaking no, they would rather be surrounded by other people like them.

There is a reason black people choose Hyde Park and not Lakeview. Obviously us white people do the same thing. I know affluent hispanics that stay in Pilsen when they could live anywhere. Why? They like being surrounded by other hispanics.

Now I understand that that some people prefer diversity. But generally speaking it's human nature to want to be segregated either racially or culturally.

Originally Posted by glass_of_merlot

When I say I prefer to live in areas where people are like myself I am actually referring to social class more so than race. I am not sure if I use the word social class in the right context. I like to have people around me that live a similar lifestyle, have similar views and morals. It doesn't matter if they are gay or black or whatever....as long as our everyday lives are somewhat similar. We go to work, take care of our kids,our families, take care and pride in our neighborhood.
I also want to live somewhere where I can feel some sense of home. I love that I can walk up to the Swedish bakery only 2 blocks away and by those Rom rolls aka dammsugare and speak Swedish with people at the Swedish American Museum.
I have not had that before sense I moved to the USA.

Jandur, how on earth can you presume to speak for black people as a whole like that? Frankly, what glass_of_merlot is more true than what stated. You find a good sized population of black people who would rather live in Lakeview versus Englewood because, despite race, the people in Lakeview have more in common with them than the folks in Englewood.

[jman07]

Originally Posted by eevee

Jandur, how on earth can you presume to speak for black people as a whole like that? Frankly, what glass_of_merlot is more true than what stated. You find a good sized population of black people who would rather live in Lakeview versus Englewood because, despite race, the people in Lakeview have more in common with them than the folks in Englewood.

He was obviously making a general observation about people as a whole, not just black people.

Your insurance policies are all based on generalizations. Black people prefer to vote democratic is a generalization, but generally true. Get it???

[Chi-town Native]

ah, the insurance industry... the last one that can legally discriminate!

[Jandur]

Originally Posted by eevee

Jandur, how on earth can you presume to speak for black people as a whole like that? Frankly, what glass_of_merlot is more true than what stated. You find a good sized population of black people who would rather live in Lakeview versus Englewood because, despite race, the people in Lakeview have more in common with them than the folks in Englewood.

I think it's pretty apparent I was speaking in generalizations. There are obviously other factors involved besides race, social status being the main thing. That being said, how often do we see AA posters here askign about Hyde Park? Fairly often.

I'll ask you this. Let's pretend LP is 100% white (big stretch right?) and Lakeview is 100% black. You're a black young professional, where do you live? It's not rocket science.