is South Shore Being Gentrified? (Chicago, Oglesby: living in, bus, metra)

[Atlanta_BD]

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

What makes Hyde Park "Hyde Park" is not that it's next to the lake or has great old buildings. It's that it has one of the most prestigious universities in the country, and all the resources that come with that. You can't just replicate that in another neighborhood.

Also, South Shore is nowhere near downtown. Hyde Park isn't even near downtown, and South Shore is further.

So a 15-20 minute drive to say Michigan Ave. from South Shore is considered far? I guess I've been out of Chicago too long lol. I also didn't know living on Lake Michigan isn't desirable. I know when I lived on South Shore Dr., I loved literally walking out my back door and being on the beach. But that's just me.

No South Shore doesn't have a U of C but I still think and have always thought it has the potential to be better than what it is, whether white people take it over or not lol.

[Link N. Parker]

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

Ugh. Those fake urban "planned community" things in the burbs are appalling on every level. The thought of having one in the city makes me sad.



Well, he got the DMB fan demo party right -- They tend to be bland suburban white middle class d-bags with no taste. He missed the age part, though. Their fans tend to be in their 30's-50's.

On one hand, I agree that the faux urbans out in the burbs tend to be tacky. They have a good idea, but the execution is usually flawed. They are trying to imitate what places like Lakeview offer, but it comes across as out of place in the burbs. It has to be seemlessley integrated witho ther neighborhoods in order to make it feel 'complete'. They are trying to create urban, walkable spaces, and isnt that the ultimate goal? To do away with most of suburbia, eventually? So it is a good idea on some levels, just not done right.

On the other hand, you do realize that even places like Lincoln Park/Lakeview were once "brand new", right? They didnt exist from the beginning of time, you know. 150 years ago, those neighborhoods didnt exist, they were lakefront wilderness. There was a time when today's "vintage" building was brand-new.

So what SouthWorks is trying to do, is to create a neighborhood from scratch, with each unit having the square footage, plumbing, modern electrical, etc, and have that neighborhood be built literally on the existing Chicago grid. Tear down several large blocks, but have it "look" chicagoan, have it be built solid, with good quality, classy, and meant to last. Thew way the older neighborhoods were done. And, they should plan for routing public trans into the neighborhood.

Now, Im not saying they should do this accross the whole south side, but there are entire sections of the south/west of the City that have terrible housing stock, that is ruined and will eventually have to be torn down and replaced. A dream of mine (unfeasible, I admit), would be to have developers should start with areas just outside the south loop and slowly, year after year, work their way down, mile by mile, tearing down ruined areas and building DENSE, fully functional, new neighborhoods that have bike lanes, parks, public trans, etc all tied together. On one hand, have this all be "master-planned" but at the same time, allow it to develop organically as the housing market changes.

I agree about the bland suburban db's, however. But I know that that is who he is marketing to. It seems like DMB appeals to 20-somethings who are into sports, Cubs, and playing cornhole on the sidewalk, and then they become life long fans of that band. I remember when I was in my 20's back in the 90's, when DMB first hit big, a lot of people liked DMB and they are still fans. I am assuming that he is trying to market to people who are currently 20-something frat/sorority types who get drunk and stagger home on the red line, but who will eventually outgrow that but still want to stay in the city and raise kids.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by Jandur

What are you, a bland urban black/brown middle-class d-bag with an illusion of superior taste?

I'm white and middle class. I'm probably too biased to judge whether I'm a d-bag. My taste is definitely superior to that of anyone who goes to a Dave Matthew's festival and/or wants to live in a faux-urban "planned community" in South Shore, though.

[mjtinmemphis]

Originally Posted by JacksonPanther

3. South Shore will not appeal to the "get drunk in Lincoln Park and stagger home on the Red Line" crowd. If that crowd is necessary to gentrify a neighborhood, then indeed SS will never gentrify.

4. There is a huge untapped market of Black folks that want a nice place to live, but don't want to live in a majority white neighborhood. Jackson Park Highlands never has listings for very long. Dempsey Travers' place down in Chatham sold out very quickly. Right now black folks with means have to buy a greystone on King Dr and rehab it. The house is nice, but the neighborhood still sucks, which negatively impacts their ability to gain equity very quickly. Which means even black people with money don't gain wealth as quickly as whites in a similar situation. If SS was a showpiece, black folks with means would flock to it. I know that doesn't satisfy the definition of "gentrify," since the people are not white, but whatever.

Sad but true!

Also Chicago writes off south of Roosevelt. I saw a map on the news that showed where the food trucks where going to be. None of them where on the Southside. People who run this city should be ashamed of how they done things . It isn't right!

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by Atlanta_BD

So a 15-20 minute drive to say Michigan Ave. from South Shore is considered far?

It's ~10 miles, or as another poster pointed out about the same distance from downtown as Rogers Park. In other words, it's damn near as far from downtown as you can get and still be in the city. (Only the far Northwest and Southwest sides are further.) So, if you're going to call it "near downtown" you'd have to call most of city "near downtown."

[Link N. Parker]

I looked at the link, and it looks like it is going to be very interesting. Its more than a "faux urban mall"; they are going to build an entire neighborhood, with hundreds of buildings, dozens of parks, etc.

It says that it will take 25-45 years for the project to complete (!!!). That says to me that this is a big idea kind of thing, with a lofty goal and vision, and that the area will "mature" into an organic, dense, thriving, high energy area by the end of the 45 years. Of course, oftentimes, those things never actually get finished. But, its a great idea for redevelopment of the South Side.

I looked on Google Maps and its funny; there is a working class neighborhood pocket right there called "The Bush", which I had never heard of until now.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by Link N. Parker

On the other hand, you do realize that even places like Lincoln Park/Lakeview were once "brand new", right? They didnt exist from the beginning of time, you know. 150 years ago, those neighborhoods didnt exist, they were lakefront wilderness.

Of course, but they evolved much more organically. It wasn't one developer coming in and creating Lincoln Park or Lakeview. Of course, those neighborhoods are so homogenous now that they almost might as well be pre-planned, but they weren't always that way, and most Chicago neighborhoods aren't that way.

[Link N. Parker]

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

Of course, but they evolved much more organically. It wasn't one developer coming in and creating Lincoln Park or Lakeview. Of course, those neighborhoods are so homogenous now that they almost might as well be pre-planned, but they weren't always that way, and most Chicago neighborhoods aren't that way.

Agreed.

[mas23]

At this point I think Bronzeville is more gentrified and might even feel a bit more safer than S. shore but even that neighborhood has a longway to go. S.SHore Drive is OK though (a lot of decent looking highrises).

The neighborhood still has a TON of potential though just off the fact that its by the lake. Eventhough its not by Downtown being by the lake appeals to many people. Not to mention some of the best architecture in the city.

[paytonc]

Originally Posted by Link N. Parker

So what SouthWorks is trying to do... Tear down several large blocks, but have it "look" chicagoan, have it be built solid, with good quality, classy, and meant to last. Thew way the older neighborhoods were done. And, they should plan for routing public trans into the neighborhood.

Well, except that South Works is a blank slate that was once US Steel's South Works. No additional demolition necessary.

Originally Posted by Link N. Parker

On the other hand, you do realize that even places like Lincoln Park/Lakeview were once "brand new", right? They didnt exist from the beginning of time, you know. 150 years ago, those neighborhoods didnt exist, they were lakefront wilderness. There was a time when today's "vintage" building was brand-new.

Thanks for pointing this out; almost everyone forgets that neighborhood character accrues from generations of people. (Besides, look at the names of tough urban areas like Lawndale. Once upon a time, that was marketed as greenfield suburbia. Times change.)

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

Of course, but they evolved much more organically. It wasn't one developer coming in and creating Lincoln Park or Lakeview.

You'd be surprised at how few hands were involved in building many neighborhoods. One example: a third of Ukrainian Village's charming houses were built by a single developer, William Kerfoot.

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

In other words, it's damn near as far from downtown as you can get and still be in the city.

You do realize that the South Side continues for a good 50 blocks past South Shore, right?