What's the deal with Uptown? (Chicago, West Chicago: homes, theater, construction)

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by RogersParkGuy

Because the poor and working-class people there were better organized than they were in many other neighborhoods, and had some genuine representation in Helen Shiller. Since Shiller retired, the yuppies have revved up their campaign to ethnically cleanse the neighborhood and purge it of anyone who isn't like them. So far, they haven't been completely successful. But in the end, they will take over Uptown just as they've taken over almost the whole North Side.

That old line of B.S. is pure propaganda, and you're a fool if you believe it.

[UnderTheLiveOaks]

Originally Posted by lenniel

Sorry, I meant Broadway and Lawrence, not Clark/Lawrence. Right around the JJ Peppers, there also a methodone clinic, a mental health Clinic, SRO and homeless church. All the best of Uptown in about an 1/8 block radius.

Not to quibble further, but I think you might mean Lawrence and Sheridan. That's where JJ Peppers is, and yeah, it's pretty grungy.

Lawrence/Broadway is where The Green Mill and the Riv are. Unless Starbucks sketches you out, it's not one of the scarier corners in Uptown.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

Not to quibble further, but I think you might mean Lawrence and Sheridan. That's where JJ Peppers is, and yeah, it's pretty grungy.

Lawrence/Broadway is where The Green Mill and the Riv are. Unless Starbucks sketches you out, it's not one of the scarier corners in Uptown.

Right, Wilson and Broadway is sketchier, but Lawrence and Broadway is fine. Sheridan is definitely the worst part of Uptown.

[lenniel]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

Not to quibble further, but I think you might mean Lawrence and Sheridan. That's where JJ Peppers is, and yeah, it's pretty grungy.

Lawrence/Broadway is where The Green Mill and the Riv are. Unless Starbucks sketches you out, it's not one of the scarier corners in Uptown.

Dang....my bad. That's what I meant. Used to live in LS right off Lawrence and used to take Lawrence to LSD all the time. Getting my streets mixed up. But yes, that corner is rough.

[RogersParkGuy]

Originally Posted by lenniel

I'm taking it you don't live in or near Uptown?

Just for the record, I lived in Uptown 20 years ago, when Uptown's rough edges were far rougher than they are today. I liked it a lot. I had no major problems. I might have stayed, except that my rent went up 50% in just two years! Needless to say, my income did not go up 50% in just two years. Gentrification sent my landlord's property taxes skyrocketing, and he had to keep raising the rent in response. You can learn to stay away from the rough patches in a given neighborhood. But there's no way to walk around a massive rent increase.

Uptown has actually been slowly gentrifying for decades. It just hasn't gentrified fast enough, or completely enough, to suit some of its current residents. These folks will not be satisfied until every business in the neighborhood is hip and trendy, every social service agency has been shut down, every bit of affordable housing converted to pricey condos, and every last person who is not a middle-class or upper-middle class property owner has been purged. That's their agenda, in a nutshell.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by RogersParkGuy

Just for the record, I lived in Uptown 20 years ago, when Uptown's rough edges were far rougher than they are today. I liked it a lot. I had no major problems. I might have stayed, except that my rent went up 50% in just two years! Needless to say, my income did not go up 50% in just two years. Gentrification sent my landlord's property taxes skyrocketing, and he had to keep raising the rent in response. You can learn to stay away from the rough patches in a given neighborhood. But there's no way to walk around a massive rent increase.

Uptown has actually been slowly gentrifying for decades. It just hasn't gentrified fast enough, or completely enough, to suit some of its current residents. These folks will not be satisfied until every business in the neighborhood is hip and trendy, every social service agency has been shut down, every bit of affordable housing converted to pricey condos, and every last person who is not a middle-class or upper-middle class property owner has been purged. That's their agenda, in a nutshell.

There are folks that have made a literally fortune selling things like ice cream to the affluent while paying factory workers wages far above industry norms, supporting family farms, sustaining the rain forests and bringing "smart development" to otherwise impoversed areas.

Such "socially driven" business activities are capable in industries where the profits from a marking / imagine driven endeavor can be used to support "good works". I don't often recall hearing anyone complain about an "agenda" when they've slurped down some nutty-fruity-choclately frozen treat...

There is no model for any such endeavor involving rental units that are kept artificially below market rates. The forces that keep low priced rentals from attracting a mix of nearby businesses that sells nicer produce or resturants that are more innovative or even entertainment venues that appeal to the kind of audience with the time & money to support them are wholly incompatible with the "do gooder" mindset that keeps folks without skills dependant on big government.

Hip and trendy wins over unsanitary and frightening.

I would suggest that if perhaps the city truly did acknowledge that focusing exclusively on handing out tax breaks to big office oriented employers is counter productive to having a truly balanced economy that would see a more diverse group of people achieving a true "middle class" lifestyle. Maybe some of the efforts from the "advanced manufacuring iniative" will have some pay offs. I would also suggest that hiring folks beyond the usual pool of connected insiders for any kind of city related work might make a true middle class more of an obtainable goal.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by RogersParkGuy

It just hasn't gentrified fast enough, or completely enough, to suit some of its current residents. These folks will not be satisfied until every business in the neighborhood is hip and trendy, every social service agency has been shut down, every bit of affordable housing converted to pricey condos, and every last person who is not a middle-class or upper-middle class property owner has been purged. That's their agenda, in a nutshell.

I'm sure there are people who think this way, but most people just really want the shootings and criminal activity to stop. And many of the social service agencies in Uptown could give a crap less about how they impact the surrounding area.

Uptown has had a mix of incomes for it's entire history, but has recently tilted a bit more upscale. Why is it wrong to want some businesses that cater to the current residents' needs and wants? There are enough empty storefronts in Uptown for anyone to open any type of business that has demand from residents.

[RogersParkGuy]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

I'm sure there are people who think this way, but most people just really want the shootings and criminal activity to stop. And many of the social service agencies in Uptown could give a crap less about how they impact the surrounding area.

Uptown has had a mix of incomes for it's entire history, but has recently tilted a bit more upscale. Why is it wrong to want some businesses that cater to the current residents' needs and wants? There are enough empty storefronts in Uptown for anyone to open any type of business that has demand from residents.

But even if everyone in Uptown were law-abiding, even if criminal activity dwindled to nearly nothing, a lot of the affluent people would still be unhappy.

The reason is, for many of them, Uptown isn't just a place to live, it is a place to invest. They bought property in Uptown as an investment and, understandably, want to see that investment accrue to maximum possible value.

Well, that can't happen if Uptown remains economically diverse. Lowe-income people, the housing they live in, the businesses that cater too them, the social service agencies many of them rely on for help--all these stand in the way of maximizing property values. The yuppies can chirp all they want about diversity. But the truth is, diversity is their enemy. The only way they are going to maximize their property values to have Uptown become like Lincoln park--i.e. slick, trendy, and unaffordable to the vast majority of Chicagoans.

[Larry Siegel]

In 2014 in urban America, there seem to be two options: hip and trendy, or grungy and dangerous. A boring middle-middle-class ambience has much to recommend it, but nobody seems interested.

I'll take hip and trendy.

[Drover]

There's still plenty of "boring middle-class ambiance" once you get away from the lakefront and inner-ring neighborhoods. Irving Park, Jefferson Park, Portage Park, Dunning, Forest Glen, Edison Park, Galewood, Montclare, Ashburn, Clear-Ridge, etc...