What's up with Hanover Park? (Chicago, Elmhurst: apartment, homes, tenants)

[gardener34]

Hey - didn't that one woman who got beat up by her boyfriend live in a house?

[Steve-o]

Just another reason, er, 3 actually, to avoid Hanover Park. Sad. Poor families have to live with the aftermath of moronic individuals who see the need to end another's life. SAD.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by skyeINIL

It's more politically correct and socially acceptable to say "Section 8" than to say "black people" or "Mexicans".

There are very few Mexicans using housing vouchers.

I'm not sure this is really such a code word in the city. If you've been around long enough you learn to identify blocks of subsidized housing in areas that don't have a lot of subsidized housing. In neighborhoods like Wicker Park and Ravenswood, these buildings stick out like sore thumbs, and not just because of the race of the people who live there. People tend to use the term "section 8" to describe ALL subsidized housing, while in fact many buildings are CHA scattered site or some other HUD housing. And in lakefront neighborhoods like Edgewater and Rogers Park there are many run-down four-plus-ones that seem to be dominated by low-income residents, and people will say things like, "That's a section 8 building" even though there is really no such thing as a "section 8 building" (since the vouchers can be used anywhere).

[ajolotl]

I doubt "Section 8" has achieved the status of official code word, but it wouldn't surprise me if Skye's point is somewhat valid, at least in certain contexts. Either way, my general observation is that most whites in this area are extremely uncomfortable living close to blacks AND they at the same time are also extremely uncomfortable admitting so (often to themselves as well as others). For someone who didn't grow up here it really stands out, and words they use and way they explain things often includes other substitute terms that don't really mean what they pretend that it does.

Note that I did not say EVERYONE, I didn't pass judgment on this attitude, and I didn't mean to imply that it is worse in Chicago than somewhere else in the U.S. (might or might not be, no idea). Just very different from other countries that I've lived in. Not that they don't have horrible racism. It's just more out in the open.

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

There are very few Mexicans using housing vouchers.

No need to when 3 families live in a house together. I see it alllllll over the place.

[icebergsyndrome]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

No need to when 3 families live in a house together. I see it alllllll over the place.

This is because poor immigrants are urbanists and enviromentalists at heart. Density is their friend

***

I grew up in Streamwood, blocks away from HP. The bad element was certainly there but it certainly was not prevalent. Of course, it only takes one bullet, right?

[bulldawg1594]

hanover park is not ghetto, and that is all there is to say.

[CUBS07]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

No need to when 3 families live in a house together. I see it alllllll over the place.

That is a huge problem around here. Aren't there housing codes for this? I wish this town would do more to at least try and clean things up. Start harassing all these wannabes and start looking for any excuse possible to pull their cars over and start checking to see who's legal and who's not.

I live in what I think is a good area of Hanover but everyday I'm picking up after some Hispanic kids. WTF liter in your own yard and stop cutting through my grass, and get the kids in the house after 10pm. Yes I've called the cops on teens who broke a bottle on my street......the other day while walking my dog there was a couple sitting in the car who opens the passenger door and throws trash under their car parked on the street.

We need to take back our streets before it turns into a ...............

[Venom]

Originally Posted by CUBS07

That is a huge problem around here. Aren't there housing codes for this? I wish this town would do more to at least try and clean things up. Start harassing all these wannabes and start looking for any excuse possible to pull their cars over and start checking to see who's legal and who's not.

I live in what I think is a good area of Hanover but everyday I'm picking up after some Hispanic kids. WTF liter in your own yard and stop cutting through my grass, and get the kids in the house after 10pm. Yes I've called the cops on teens who broke a bottle on my street......the other day while walking my dog there was a couple sitting in the car who opens the passenger door and throws trash under their car parked on the street.

We need to take back our streets before it turns into a ...............

You're racist.

[middle-aged mom]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

This is the same thing that's happening in every suburb with affordable rental properties. Let's face it, cheap apartment buildings anywhere within 100 miles of Chicago are going to have some problems in the coming decades. But this doesn't mean that the towns that house them are going to completely flip into ghetto-dom--especially if the cheap apartments only make up a small fraction of all housing.

It really is an " anywhere" issue.