Question about Uptown (Chicago, Schaumburg, Lincoln: condos, homes, neighborhoods)

[scottl333]

What area in Uptown do the poor Appalachian whites live? Also, do American Indians still live in the area? I heard a lot of the old time residents still go to Carols bar. Is that true? Thanks

[Lookout Kid]

I've heard conflicting accounts about the poor white formerly Appalachian residents of Uptown. Some say they have mostly moved out. Some say they are still around. I do know that most of the American Indian residents have moved out, but there are still a few around. I don't think they exist in any concentration in any part of the neighborhood anymore--mostly just sporadic families and individuals here and there. Carol's Pub is hard to read. It seems like it's on the verge of becoming a hipster fake dive bar, but every now and then you still hear about a stabbing or other nastiness.

[Avengerfire]

On (early most of the time) weeknights and in the daytime you still get the Indians and southerners at Carols. After about 9pm Friday and Saturday nights forget about finding anything other than under 25 hipsters (not counting the bartenders and doormen though!) Carols is owned by southerners. One day they will sell that license and make a killing or remodel and make a killing. I hope they just let the bar fade away and die...It once was awesome. Like $1.25 domestic-$2.50 import in the early 00's still...Only people that had ties to the south or indians were allowed in really or treated with respect! I am not kidding.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Only people that had ties to the south or indians were allowed in really or treated with respect! I am not kidding.

Wouldn't surprise me. Uptown is a very polarized neighborhood.

[lenniel]

Uptown needs to be nuked, sanitized, rinse, repeat.....repeat again... Then start over with some nice single family homes, condos, coffee shops, bars and restaurants, etc.
Right now, the place is a hole for social services and government welfare.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Wouldn't surprise me. Uptown is a very polarized neighborhood.

It was even more around Carols around 2000 till recently. When the condos and rehabs started around 2000 it was very hairy. I am lucky enough to have southern and Indian connections, so I have been going to Carols since the mid 90's...

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

It was even more around Carols around 2000 till recently. When the condos and rehabs started around 2000 it was very hairy. I am lucky enough to have southern and Indian connections, so I have been going to Carols since the mid 90's...

There are actually groups in Uptown that protest condo developments. I won't name them because I don't want to give them any more publicity, but it seems like a silly pointless way to fight for affordable housing. Most condo buyers in Uptown are just people who were priced out of Lincoln Park and Lakeview.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

There are actually groups in Uptown that protest condo developments. I won't name them because I don't want to give them any more publicity, but it seems like a silly pointless way to fight for affordable housing. Most condo buyers in Uptown are just people who were priced out of Lincoln Park and Lakeview.

Yeah, but when you have been living in an area your whole life and sometimes your family goes back generations in an area you cannot fault people for fighting. Condos are not the answer to every problem...Things have to be controlled more...

I knew a dude through someone else that lived in Roscoe Village (like I did) in the late 90's that was like "we are going to get rid of all the hicks and take this area over."

Great. They succeeded. There is not one thing appealing to the average non-vanilla working person about Roscoe Village now. Success. A generic mini clone of Schaumburg. Maybe Roscoe Village can be called Lincoln Park "West." Boring and very overpriced.

RV used to have an edge,affordability, and diversity. Not anymore. If I could afford living there again, I would not... What would be the point?

Most of Lake View and North Center were much better 8-15 years ago. That was the time to be there. Now most of both areas are just homogenized and appeal to the lowest common denominator B.S.
That is the future of Uptown.

[jdiddy]

I kind of like Roscoe Village. But then again, I enjoy the heck out of a good Will Smith tune.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Yeah, but when you have been living in an area your whole life and sometimes your family goes back generations in an area you cannot fault people for fighting. Condos are not the answer to every problem...Things have to be controlled more...

I knew a dude through someone else that lived in Roscoe Village (like I did) in the late 90's that was like "we are going to get rid of all the hicks and take this area over."

Great. They succeeded. There is not one thing appealing to the average non-vanilla working person about Roscoe Village now. Success. A generic mini clone of Schaumburg. Maybe Roscoe Village can be called Lincoln Park "West." Boring and very overpriced.

RV used to have an edge,affordability, and diversity. Not anymore.

It was tough for the people of Englewood and Austin to adjust to the demographic changes there in the mid 20th century as well. People complained when all of the middle class residents left the city, and now they're complaining when they return. The truth is that the city needs more middle and upper class residents to achieve a sustainable economic balance. In the 80s it seemed like most urban areas were certain to die a terrible death, and we have only started to reverse this. Cities cannot survive if they are only inhabited by the poor and destitute.

It also makes me mad when people imply that one group of people is somehow more "authentic" than another. Where does this come from? I understand that our world is often so phony and sterile that people are searching for something "real", but it gets ridiculous when people apply these values to groups of people. And why do we somehow decide that we should "freeze" a neighborhood with a certain ethnic makeup? The ethnic demographics of Chicago neighborhoods are in a state of constant change, and have been since the inception of this city. Sure, there have been long periods where a certain ethic group has dominated a neighborhood for decades, but this was often due to economic immobility or discrimination keeping people trapped "in their place". It's a slippery slope when we start to assume that a neighborhood belongs to one group over another, and this is the same argument used to keep blacks and hispanics out of certain neighborhoods before the civil rights movement.

Sure, go ahead and hate corporate chains and the sterilization of neighborhood business districts. I certainly love a nice walkable strip of independent businesses as much as the next urbanite. But often times chains are just a symptom of the larger economy we live in. And many of the independent businesses would have gone out of business anyway without the chains moving in, leaving empty storefronts.