Tell me what you love and hate about oak park (Chicago: foreclosures, crime rates)

[Alsgirl2002]

Originally Posted by sfcambridge

Welcome.

Thanks!

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by Alsgirl2002

Thanks! I do believe that the village intends to try to fix the permitting process. We'll see if the new director is able, she was an internal hire so I am not confident that she will bring innovative ideas and fortitude to the table. We shall see.

The current Village President is a businessman and long-time resident who owns a restaurant in town. This is his first foray into elected office. He has brought some fresh air into village government and has shaken things up. As a businessman in Oak Park, he's very familiar with the bureaucracy and permitting process, so hopefully he can make some headway in streamlining things.

Also, now that the real estate market is coming back, there's movement on some real estate development opportunities in the village which should lead to increased tax revenue and maybe (dare I hope) residential property tax relief.

[chet everett]

Originally Posted by oakparkdude

The current Village President is a businessman and long-time resident who owns a restaurant in town. This is his first foray into elected office. He has brought some fresh air into village government and has shaken things up. As a businessman in Oak Park, he's very familiar with the bureaucracy and permitting process, so hopefully he can make some headway in streamlining things.

...but it will take many other actions to undo the harm of the past.

Further the Village is run not anything like Chicago with individual alderman that each represent various areas but instead the same kind of "board of trustee" that is common for MOST villages and School Boards in Illinois of which the president really is not any more powerful than the other six board members. There are often feuds /alliances in such a structure and when the topics range well outside the purview of more effectively run towns it comes as no surprise things get bogged down in contests of "who can be more stereotypically Oak Park-ish". I don't hold out too much hope that things will get all that streamlined...

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by chet everett

...but it will take many other actions to undo the harm of the past.

Further the Village is run not anything like Chicago with individual alderman that each represent various areas but instead the same kind of "board of trustee" that is common for MOST villages and School Boards in Illinois of which the president really is not any more powerful than the other six board members. There are often feuds /alliances in such a structure and when the topics range well outside the purview of more effectively run towns it comes as no surprise things get bogged down in contests of "who can be more stereotypically Oak Park-ish". I don't hold out too much hope that things will get all that streamlined...

Correct, but he has two trustees who have acted as close allies plus a third trustee (presumably also an ally) he has nominated as a replacement for trustee who is moving out of town. That makes 4 votes out of 7 on the board.

[chitownperson]

Originally Posted by chet everett

The "intrusive meddling" is in regard to the policies not of any schools but in horrendous complicated zoning / planning process that routinely drives away businesses and the continued reliance on artificial means to steer folks to various parts of town based on the color of their skin. Really the latter efforts are just incredibly distasteful in this day and age. Nobody has ever done such a thing in Hyde Park and things seem remarkable stable / successful in what is similarly an island of affluence and success in a sea of failed neighborhoods but the UofC remains a bastion of econmic thinkers that well know the dangers of overly intrusive government ...

Honestly to say Oak Park is "addressing" the gap in acheivement is beyond belief -- the gap has not closed at all in DECADES. It seems that like efforts of the Federal Government designed to eliminate poverty, the misguided do-gooders of the village have had the unintended consequence of perpetuating a culture of under performance. Had a foriegn power or religious zealot designed the same sort of ineffective "interventions" that seem to have made the achievement gap a permanent part of the Oak Park schools we would call it "terrorism". That is somethng that I cannot abide.

Funny you state the "intrusive meddling" driving away business, because the last time I looked recently, a number of new businesses have either opened up or are about to open including, but not limited to Lou Malnati's, Kaleidoscoops, The new development at Forest and Lake which will include retail and apartments, Red Mango, A new Greek eater at Oak Park and Lake, School of Rock etc... A number of other businesses that moved in not so long ago, such as Mac Specialist, were not driven out. While every government will have levels of bureaucracy businesses have to deal with, Oak Park seems to manage to maintain upwards of 95% business occupancy. What I find "incredibly distasteful" is when some self appointed "expert" on all things in every suburb, living in some uniformly affluent suburb with an overwhelming white majority miles away, condescendingly talk down about the efforts of a village during a time of major transition to assimilate minorities into an at the time largely white village. It was because of the strategy you find so "distasteful" that made it possible to resist the type of mass scale segregation that that plagued other areas, and allowed for the integration of different people. In todays Oak Park, people of different ethnicity move to different parts of the village for various reasons. As everyone knows, Hyde Park has a different history, and is driven by U of C, drawing diversity through various students, faculty, and the community it's developed. Without the university, Hyde Park would be a completely different place. Interestingly enough, I know a number of U of C, UIC, Northwestern, DePaul, Loyola etc... professors that choose to live in Oak Park. I'm not surprised by your cry for less government.

Also, how is Oak Park "similarly an island of affluence and success in a sea of failed neighborhoods"? Are you calling River Forest, Forest Park, Berwyn, Galewood, "failed neighborhoods"? More generalizations... But I think residents from these towns and area would say otherwise.

It's deplorable that some individual would smugly tear down the efforts of those who are working hard, developing strategies to tackle the achievement gap. Yes, Oak Park is addressing it, developing new programs, continuing with increased dialog etc... For someone with such criticism, I'd ask them what their village is doing to address the national gap, and how integrated their minority population's kids feel at school. Comments from great schools are always very illuminating. Regarding the "culture of under performance" statement, the majority of students at OPRF achieve a high level success, many of which get into top universities. Professors from the top universities in Chicago, doctors, lawyers etc... people who are serious about their children's education, and know education, are not in the habit of sending their kids to schools with a "culture of under performance", and the many I know are very happy with the education their kids are getting.

[linicx]

I think it is rather interesting that Oak Park seems to move forward in good times and in bad.

[chet everett]

Yep, more of what I dislike about Oak Park -- folks too eager to overlook its problems:

Oak Park pushing foreclosures of blighted Arts District buildings | Oak Leaves

Seven buildings, including five that are vacant and blighted, are in foreclosure proceedings in the district...“Some of these buildings have been in this state for 30 years,” she said. “They have singlehandedly held back the full success of the Oak Park Arts District.”
Maychruk showed the board photos of several parcels on Harrison Street, including 201 Harrison, which collapsed in 2011 and was rebuilt but remains vacant

North Avenue needs investment, activists tell Oak Park Village Board | Oak Leaves

“As you are aware, North Avenue has been deteriorating slowly for decades, with a growing proliferation of vacancies and negative uses on both the Chicago and Oak Park sides of the street, including cash-for-gold stores, currency exchanges, payday/title loan operations and pawn shops,” ... Without a plan in place, North Avenue businesses will not receive the attention needed to revitalize the district

Moving forward in good times and bad, eh?

[oakparkdude]

Thanks Chet, for pointing out that Oak Park isn't utopia. Hopefully your post clears that up, but if not, let me repeat: Oak Park is not heaven. We've got problems that need to be addressed. If you are looking for perfection, Oak Park is not for you. Maybe try Hinsdale.

[chet everett]

This thread is about "what you love and hate about Oak Park".

I continue to stand by initial statement that things I hate most are the bizarre ability of its supporters to believe that it is so unique and literally create falsehoods about the place like "it moves forward in good times and bad" when clearly it is not immune from the problems of the broader economy. In fact one could argue, like the articles I linked show, that there are some folks that realize this, but unfortunately the rabid defenders of Oak Park on this forum cannot seem to accept anything other than happy talk that is at odds with reality...

[oakparkdude]

Rare unhinged comments notwithstanding, I think the informed commentary from actual residents of Oak Park (pluses and minuses) in this thread is pretty accurate.