What do you think the next suburb to experience white flight will be? (Cicero: for sale, 2009)

[prairiestate]

Originally Posted by ricardocobos

I thought with an Obama Presidency we were past that as a nation.

So did I, but then we had to hear Bobby Rush and company screaming about how we had to seat Burris as a senator, otherwise we were racists. Only problem with this theory, IT WASN'T A RACIAL ISSUE!!!!!

Sorry for screaming, but when you spend your life in Illinois, watching the political situation and have to drive home on roads that have more holes then asphalt...

[EnchantedEvergreen]

I am rooting for Evergreen Park and Oak Lawn to be one of the few and the proud. I've been there a few times in the last four and a half years. Both are great, both are improving with time, and both have minorities to some degree. Someone mentioned that the northeast portion of Oak Lawn is deteriorating. When did that start to happen? Beverly (from hearsay) has a growing black population. I don't about Hispanics. Morgan Park is more black from my knowledge. I know Morgan Park High School is heavily black. I think the next suburb to jump ship and give up would be Blue Island. I know about the town's supposed improvments. However, I continue to think that the Blue Island's location near heavily minority, crime ridden areas will bring it down. Someone mentioned Blue Island as "a slightly cleaned version of Harvey."

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by prairiestate

So did I, but then we had to hear Bobby Rush and company screaming about how we had to seat Burris as a senator, otherwise we were racists. Only problem with this theory, IT WASN'T A RACIAL ISSUE!!!!!

Sorry for screaming, but when you spend your life in Illinois, watching the political situation and have to drive home on roads that have more holes then asphalt...

I think I am going to demand that the CTA and the USPS hire more whites in the city. I swear to god 80% of the CTA workers are (mainly) black or hispanic and probably 90% of the USPS in Chicago are (mainly) black or hispanic.

I wonder why nobody mentions this.

[fusillirob1983]

WHOA. I graduated from EP in 2002 and don't feel all that much removed from high school. I didn't look up the number, but I think I remember reading the school was about 85% white. I definitely can't tell any differences just from being around there when I visit my parents, although the changes are probably occurring more with people that have kids in school too.

Originally Posted by prairiestate

Well, Evergreen Park High School is less then 60% white now. Interestingly, there is a pretty substantial Hispanic minority in EP.

Interactive Illinois Report Card

Just to the north, Ashburn, which saw white flight a decade ago, is still a pretty nice community in many respects. However, there are regular gang shootings, robberies and other violent crime there now. This really isn't a racial issue anymore, but a class issue. I know that many of the middle class black families that moved in a decade ago want out now, because of the rapidly escalating gang activity. It's the classic pattern, whites fled more quickly then homes could be sold, so prices dropped. Low income families, some of whom had gang ties moved in, and rising crime and foreclosures became a self fulfilling prophecy.

I think people are finally starting to realize that there is no place to go, if you flee, you just leave a path of destruction behind you. I have several relatives in EP, and I remember as a kid all the way back in the 80's, when it was all white, there were conversations about the future of the village. In the 90's, there was a lot of talk about moving amongst my family. Today, I have two aunts who have no intention of leaving, and one who just moved back into town from Homer Glen. Hopefully EP will remain one the very few integrated communities in Chicagoland.

[Opkl]

Originally Posted by At1WithNature

This has already been happening for the past 5-10 years but good choice still.

I think of Oak Forest as Lansing. The only difference is that OF has no big box stores and a mall.

[Manigault]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

I think I am going to demand that the CTA and the USPS hire more whites in the city. I swear to god 80% of the CTA workers are (mainly) black or hispanic and probably 90% of the USPS in Chicago are (mainly) black or hispanic.

I wonder why nobody mentions this.

Research what it means to be an oppressed minority. I worked basic steel in the Midwest and could instruct you about job discrimination.

How come there are no blacks on the Blackhawks? I wonder why nobody mentions this.

With all these theories about what makes white flight, I think Oak Park, Evanston and Skokie defy the formulae. Community attitudes mean a lot.

[ajolotl]

No, Beverly starting integrating 30-35 years ago. Many people in the early 70's are quoted as saying that it would be all black within a few years. If you look at the recent bapa housing stats a significant majority of new homebuyers are white. There is definitely no white flight there now (this does not mean that some white people haven't left, just that they are being replaced by other white people with a different attitude). Who knows what will happen in the future, but it seems unlikely to me given that it survived during a period when racial attitudes were very different.

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Beverly has only have become diverse as of recently (last 10 years or so.) It is still uncertain what will happen to all of those areas. If those areas "fall" so to speak Oak Lawn will not be far behind (20 years or so.)

[prairiestate]

Originally Posted by Manigault

Research what it means to be an oppressed minority. I worked basic steel in the Midwest and could instruct you about job discrimination.

How come there are no blacks on the Blackhawks? I wonder why nobody mentions this.

With all these theories about what makes white flight, I think Oak Park, Evanston and Skokie defy the formulae. Community attitudes mean a lot.

In Skokie, the largest minority group there today by far are Asians.

As for Evanston and Oak Park, they are officially diverse and integrated. However, within the community there is still quite a bit of segregation.

The Chicago Reporter Evanston and Oak Park: Communities Still Wrestle with Integration

If you scroll down towards the bottom of the following article, you'll see that the supposedly liberal and enlightened white residents of these towns are disproportionately sending their kids to private schools.

The Chicago Reporter A Tale of Two Towns: Evanston, Oak Park Struggle to Keep Racial Balance

Per the 2007 U.S. Census estimates, the black population has remained steady in Oak Park, but has actually decreased slightly in Evanston. These two communities are quite successfully integrated for Chicagoland, but it is still a continuous struggle to achieve true integration.

[Huckleberry3911948]

interesting
when whites move out its white flight
when they move in its gentrification

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by Manigault

...How come there are no blacks on the Blackhawks? I wonder why nobody mentions this...

Uhhh yeah there is.

Chicago Blackhawks - Team: Dustin Byfuglien Official Player Page

Nice try.