Marquette Park (Chicago: news , park , owner)

[socrates1234]

Originally Posted by MarquettePark

Since I am the defacto prince, and steward, of my beloved MarquettePark, I have to say the neighborhood is bad in certain parts, from Western to California 67th to 71st, due to the fact apartments outnumber houses, and whenever you have lots of apts, you will have a constantly rotating stock of people good and bad.

I am white, spend twelve hours a day within three hundred feet of the park itself, for the last thirty seven years, I own the words MarquettePark and 72 other versions of the words on the web. St Adrian 85, Quigley South 89.

If you enter the buildings of Holy Cross, Nativity, Maria High School, The Mother House of St. Casmir, McKay School, St. Adrian, Booth Tarkington, St. Rita High School, and Bogan, one or more of my siblings is less than a hundred yards from where you are standing and they hold a high ranking position within the building staff...........

As for the neighborhood being too black, or too bad, or not white enough who cares, I OWN IT........You just rent

That park saved my life, that park kept me from being a Natzi, that park kept me from being a scumbag, that park gave me everything good in my life..........

My official legal middle name is MarquettePark, Yes its true, and appears on my social security card and drivers license, If your trying to figure out who I am here's a hint,
LOTS OF CAR ACCIDENTS

If you would like to know more about MarquettePark, PM me, or do a search for MarquettePark on this site.

I will be looking for you on Redfield Ave, near the first stoner bridge,

LABAS
ADIOS
HAPPY KWANSA

There is no neighborhood called Marquette Park in Chicago. There is a place called Gage Park, and there is a actual park, but no neighborhood with such moniker. Way back, up to the early 80's, there were ethnic whites there that went back many years, and called the area AROUND it MP, but, since so many have gone, no one really refers to it by its colloqial name anymore. MP as a neighborhood moniker prob jumped the shark when it was showcased in the Blues Brothers movie....since then everyone but the arabs and newly arrived hispanics have left.......

[67 and Artesian]

A loss of GOOD PAYING JOBS is the reason we have so much trouble at the bottom of the socioeconomic scale. The collapse of the Steel Industry did in a lot of the South Side/Hammond/Gary. The manufacturing jobs went next. People have to have a way to make a living.Chicago public schools did not prepare students for High Technology .
No one should call another human being TRASH. 30 years of dismantling FDR's New Deal is what the problem is.Too much waste of housing, neighborhoods and Human capital.

[67 and Artesian]

The Catholic Church is trying to build better relations among all people.
Home .Go see Stories of Race, place and Grace in Flossmoor 02/24/2008 3 pm Infant Jesus of Prague. We have a lot of Institutional Racism.
We are too divided by money, and consumption keeping up with the Jones.

[freshmtt]

Originally Posted by KevK

Thw whites have continued to flee westward. They just cannot or will not learn to get along with the blacks. And people think the south is racist....

Its not that "we" don't want to learn to get along with the blacks as you have put it. I lived on 63rd street just 2 blocks east of Pulaski by Hubbard High school and St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church for 4 years. It was very close to Marquette Park and I had to travel to a currency exchange at 63rd and Kedzie to pay my rent. I lived in that area for 4 years with my young daughter alone. I had no problem living in that area as a white woman. I am by far not a racist, I was married to a Haitian man for 8 years and my current spouse is African. I have lived in Haiti and Ghana. So for me being around "blacks" as you have put it, was NOT my reason for moving out of the area. I left because of the crime and the congestion and I just hated being around "trashy" people, black, white, hispanic, whatever, you name it, the color of their skin has nothing to do with it, but their moral upbringing. I was sick and tired of living by nothing but trashy individuals. Yes, many of them are poor, but not all poor people are considered "trash" to me, there are many morally responsible poor people that know how to act and conduct themselves in public, know how to raise their children and know how to behave like human beings. So it is not a class issue either. You can grow up in a poor area yet have a family that has strong moral and human values and do not have to act like a fool.

That area is becoming over run with some very trashy people. It has nothing to do with race, at least for me it has not, I have a birracial child and now live in Homewood which is mixed racially, black, white, etc..

[bigman123]

Originally Posted by BRU67

And why do blacks need whites to make a neighborhood desirable? That premise in and of itself seems somewhat racist to me.

Damn good point. Also, a big misconception. Whites leaving is not the problem. Whites leaving and selling their property below market value in order to get out fast is the problem. Example. You will have an area whos home are valued at 200k, The minority family moves in and the whites begin to sell their homes at 175k, 150k, etc... By the time the last white person moves hes selling his home for 100k. When white flight occurs the racial change has a small effect. IMO, the economic change is the big problem.

But this is something that I think is isolated to the north. I have spent alot of time in southern states the past 4 years (Va, Nc, Sc, La, Tx, & Mo). Compared to the south, Chicago is still in 1973. I have lived hear my entire 34yr life and I cant wait until my son graduates from HS (7yrs) and we can move south.

[aragx6]

Missouri is southern????

[bigman123]

Originally Posted by aragx6

Missouri is southern????

Youre right, its not. I just mentioned it because its one of the states Ive recently visited. St. Louis & Kc were very similar to Chicago.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by bigman123

Damn good point. Also, a big misconception. Whites leaving is not the problem. Whites leaving and selling their property below market value in order to get out fast is the problem. Example. You will have an area whos home are valued at 200k, The minority family moves in and the whites begin to sell their homes at 175k, 150k, etc... By the time the last white person moves hes selling his home for 100k. When white flight occurs the racial change has a small effect. IMO, the economic change is the big problem.

But this is something that I think is isolated to the north. I have spent alot of time in southern states the past 4 years (Va, Nc, Sc, La, Tx, & Mo). Compared to the south, Chicago is still in 1973. I have lived hear my entire 34yr life and I cant wait until my son graduates from HS (7yrs) and we can move south.

Well, that may be so but my question is why the blacks getting these deals don't just say, "hey, let's make a good community out of this?" In other words, look at the glass half full instead of half empty. A few times that has happened. But most of the time, it has not. That's what I often wonder about. You have to take as hard a look at the people moving in as those moving out. We often fail to do this.

[dragoro]

The arguement that the neighborhoods went to crap because of white flight would mean that blacks can't keep a nieghborhood nice on their own. Kinda a conundrum. Saying the nieghborhoods go to crap cause of white flight but blalming the whites for leaving.

[bigman123]

Originally Posted by BRU67

Well, that may be so but my question is why the blacks getting these deals don't just say, "hey, let's make a good community out of this?" In other words, look at the glass half full instead of half empty. A few times that has happened. But most of the time, it has not. That's what I often wonder about. You have to take as hard a look at the people moving in as those moving out. We often fail to do this.

Its not really a good deal. Because of the drop in the price of property, an area with an average income of 70k can turn into an area with the average income of 40k. Your gonna see a difference no matter what color the people the are.

White flight doesnt end when whites leave an area. At some point, the first group of blacks that came to the area leave and sell in a hurry at a further discounted price thus starting the cycle over again and further changing the economic structure. Many times whites leave an area and return to see their old area in shambles, not realizing 2 or 3 waves of black flight have occured since they have left. All they know is when they left it was white and when they come back its all black and in shambles.

All of this is how Chicago works. Starts with white flight, then a few waves of black flight, then you have rock bottom property values. Developers come in buy the property for little or nothing. Build it up. Sell it for a HUGE profit. Its how the "machine" works.

Welcome to Chicago....