When/why did Elgin officially become a 3rd world country? (Chicago: home, school district)

[Drover]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

You were at the boat, but somehow missed the gigantic, and quite fancy Prairie Rock Brewery right next door???

Prairie Rock is long gone. And good riddance.

[knitgirl]

it had it's ups and downs, but I liked it

[deechee]

I love how this is all about Elgin.

I personally think that Elgin is doing okay for right now. Yes, it has some Hispanic people living there now. Maybe they don't speak English well enough. Oh well. The public school or building may have tried to accommodate those who may not be able to speak English.

As long as there isn't a spike in crime, or a total cultural change in the city, then what is there to complain about? I cannot see why people are complaing about this? Are these people polluting the area with trash, loud talking/music, etc.?

Get over it folks. Maybe I oughta roll through Elgin again one night...just to see what everyone's talking about.

[knitgirl]

When you next visit Elgin, take a drive or bike ride through the "Gold Coast", the neighborhood north of downtown on the east side of the river, starting about 600 or 700 north on Spring and Douglas. There are homes there that would cost millions on the North Shore or in parts of DuPage county. I usually take the scenic route along River Bluff to Duncan on my way to weekend breakfast at Benedict's in Dundee. It's a beautiful neighborhood.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by deechee

I love how this is all about Elgin.

I personally think that Elgin is doing okay for right now. Yes, it has some Hispanic people living there now. Maybe they don't speak English well enough. Oh well. The public school or building may have tried to accommodate those who may not be able to speak English.

As long as there isn't a spike in crime, or a total cultural change in the city, then what is there to complain about? I cannot see why people are complaing about this? Are these people polluting the area with trash, loud talking/music, etc.?

Get over it folks. Maybe I oughta roll through Elgin again one night...just to see what everyone's talking about.

I wonder if part of it is "Well, they didn't have bi-lingual signs in (Insert your language) when my parents immigrated. Why do they have signs in Spanish now? My parents (or other close relation that shares their immigration stories) HAD to learn English." I'm mixed about it. If there are signs in Spanish, are there signs, in public places (Schools, city hall) in other languages to accomodate the other large immigrant populations, like Polish, Mandarin, Korean, etc? I like the European approach (what I observed in Germany & The Netherlands), post pertinent public info in at least 7 languages to promote inclusiveness instead of exclusiveness.

[Brisklaw]

Diversity has had the sorry result of almost all places being the same. Chicago, NY, Berlin, the Netherlands, London, Milan.....all the same polyglot diversity with the same boring Thai restaurants, Italian this, Indian that...it's barely worth traveling anymore as nothing is unique, certainly not London anymore. At least Elgin is an authentic outpost of Mexico, look at the bright side of it, no Ethiopian restaurants crowding out the authentic taquerias, yet.

[cubssoxfan]

Originally Posted by Brisklaw

Diversity has had the sorry result of almost all places being the same. Chicago, NY, Berlin, the Netherlands, London, Milan.....all the same polyglot diversity with the same boring Thai restaurants, Italian this, Indian that...it's barely worth traveling anymore as nothing is unique, certainly not London anymore. At least Elgin is an authentic outpost of Mexico, look at the bright side of it, no Ethiopian restaurants crowding out the authentic taquerias, yet.

Hmmmmm, all of these towns have uniqueness. It requires getting away from the commercialized shopping oriented areas. True, the homogenized shopping center, strip mall, box store looks similar all over. But Tiergarten in Berlin, Lincoln Park/Grant Park/Museum Campus in Chicago, Towne Lake in Austin all have their own uniqueness and add greatly to the indivdual vibe of these cities. So I disagree with your statement.

[Chicagoland60426]

Originally Posted by cubssoxfan

I wonder if part of it is "Well, they didn't have bi-lingual signs in (Insert your language) when my parents immigrated. Why do they have signs in Spanish now? My parents (or other close relation that shares their immigration stories) HAD to learn English." I'm mixed about it. If there are signs in Spanish, are there signs, in public places (Schools, city hall) in other languages to accomodate the other large immigrant populations, like Polish, Mandarin, Korean, etc? I like the European approach (what I observed in Germany & The Netherlands), post pertinent public info in at least 7 languages to promote inclusiveness instead of exclusiveness.

I see your logic better than others on this thread. They should have it in multiple languages instead of just Spanish. There are a lot of East Indians, Filipinos, and other recent immigrants that occupy this metro too. It look like Spanish basically dominate the foreign language scene. Might as well consider Spanish a second language in America. Even when you dial 411 or any public service, they only have Spanish as the second alternative to English. It probably have something to do with Hispanics having the hardest time learning English out of every ethnic group that immigrates here.

[Pegs56]

Originally Posted by knitgirl

When you next visit Elgin, take a drive or bike ride through the "Gold Coast", the neighborhood north of downtown on the east side of the river, starting about 600 or 700 north on Spring and Douglas. There are homes there that would cost millions on the North Shore or in parts of DuPage county. I usually take the scenic route along River Bluff to Duncan on my way to weekend breakfast at Benedict's in Dundee. It's a beautiful neighborhood.

I'm so glad to read this & your previous post in this thread! When I last lived in the area 19 years ago (born in Elgin, grew up in Carpentersville, most recently from lived in Algonquin), Elgin generally & Douglas Ave. specifically were going through gentrification.

I've always loved the older houses/neighborhoods in Elgin (esp. around Lords Park), as well as what was the shopping district 40 years ago (eek!). To read this thread & other comments about Elgin in this Suburban Forum has saddened me deeply. I've often considered moving back to Elgin, but it sounded too dangerous.

Thanks for the perspective of a current resident.

[cuba libre]

Originally Posted by deechee

I love how this is all about Elgin.

As long as there isn't a spike in crime, or a total cultural change in the city, then what is there to complain about?

No cultural change? Everything's in Spanish!!! Even the grade school sign is in Spanish!

Originally Posted by deechee

I cannot see why people are complaing about this? Are these people polluting the area with trash, loud talking/music, etc.?

Yes, they are.