Are hipsters moving to Uptown? (Chicago, Sheridan: roughest, school, live)

[via chicago]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Yes, and it will be interesting to see what the new equilibrium will be once all of the movement settles down again... Will we end up like Europe with rich central cities and a ring of poor suburbs? What will our metro area look like in 50 years?

The way things are going? Its only a matter of time.

[Farmer Bob]

Originally Posted by Chiguy1957

Is Helen Shiller still the alderman there? She seems to have toned it down a bit, but I think of her as an A-1 Poverty Pimp. If she wasn't such an obstructionist, mainly to keep her winos and other derelict voter base in place, Uptown may have already returned to much of its past glory.

Is anyone here old enough to remember when "Republican" Charles Percy was running for re-election to the U.S senate? It was thought to be a close election, so Helen Shiller, the putative Commie, held a pro-Percy march right through the center of Uptown. At the head of the parade standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the future alderman was Percy's daughter, Sharon Percy Rockefeller. (Wife of Jay Rockefeller.) It seems to me the puppeteer's strings were showing a little too clearly in that one.

Over the four decades of my familiarity with it, Uptown, like the middle-class, is always rising; but neither of them ever seem to make it.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

If the activities are illegal, then the guy has a legitimate complaint. Illegal activity shouldn't be tolerated anywhere, and the double standard that exists in the city in terms of law enforcement is deplorable. But if they are simply cultural, then you really can't complain.

I agree regarding illegal activity, but unfortunately one has to be pragmatic and live in the real world. If you knowingly buy property in an area notorious for illegal activity, you have to realize you're taking a significant risk. You may think the area is "coming up" and will turn around pretty quickly and the value of your real estate investment will go up, but things don't always work out as hoped.

So if that's a big issue for you, you're better off paying a little more and moving to a "better" area, IMHO.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Will we end up like Europe with rich central cities and a ring of poor suburbs? What will our metro area look like in 50 years?

I definitely think Chicago's heading in that direction.

I've heard Chicago referred to as "Paris on the Prairie".

[ahava]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

Will we end up like Europe with rich central cities and a ring of poor suburbs? What will our metro area look like in 50 years?

Originally Posted by via chicago

The way things are going? Its only a matter of time.

Originally Posted by andrew61

I definitely think Chicago's heading in that direction.
I've heard Chicago referred to as "Paris on the Prairie".

With a few exceptions it's already that way in that the center of the city is rich, surrounded by an inner ring of poor city neighborhoods and poor suburbs, and then an outer ring of wealthy suburbs. But I'm confused...are you all saying that in 50 years those wealthy suburbs will be poor too because all of the wealthy people will move to the city? I don't think places like the North Shore or Hinsdale will ever become undesirable.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by ahava

With a few exceptions it's already that way in that the center of the city is rich, surrounded by an inner ring of poor city neighborhoods and poor suburbs, and then an outer ring of wealthy suburbs. But I'm confused...are you all saying that in 50 years those wealthy suburbs will be poor too because all of the wealthy people will move to the city? I don't think places like the North Shore or Hinsdale will ever become undesirable.

Don't know if it will be quite as cut and dry as "suburbs poor, City limits rich." Chicago is a little unusual in that many of its neighborhoods are much less convenient to the City than some inner-ring suburbs -- Cicero, Oak Park, Berwyn, Riverside, Evanston, etc. So I doubt it's going to follow a simplistic "city limit" pattern, unless the City and State somehow completely revamp the RTA so all neighborhoods become convenient (don't hold your breath).

I think what you'll see over time is the areas most accessible to the Loop and with the best housing stock gentrify with lower income people pushed into more remote City neighborhoods and suburbs. That will happen faster if gas prices continue to rise. I think the suburbs and City neighborhoods which are at risk to change for the worse will be the ones with more moderate priced housing and which are not accessible to the City center via public transit. I doubt you'll see Hinsdale, Oak Park and Highland Park turn into ghettos, in other words.

This is assumes, of course, that policy makers continue on their present course and fail to address displacement. A situation where the poor get increasingly concentrated will not be stable, nor will it be in the best interest of the region as a whole.

[andrew61]

Originally Posted by ahava

With a few exceptions it's already that way in that the center of the city is rich, surrounded by an inner ring of poor city neighborhoods and poor suburbs, and then an outer ring of wealthy suburbs. But I'm confused...are you all saying that in 50 years those wealthy suburbs will be poor too because all of the wealthy people will move to the city? I don't think places like the North Shore or Hinsdale will ever become undesirable.

I agree. I think there will be more suburban poverty, but it'll be uneven. The North Shore is unlikely to ever become a slum in the foreseeable future.

The suburbs most vulnerable to change, IMHO, are the lower-priced working-class suburbs... with the possible exception of those with the most favorable locations (i.e., easiest and most convenient access to the central city).

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by ahava

With a few exceptions it's already that way in that the center of the city is rich, surrounded by an inner ring of poor city neighborhoods and poor suburbs, and then an outer ring of wealthy suburbs. But I'm confused...are you all saying that in 50 years those wealthy suburbs will be poor too because all of the wealthy people will move to the city? I don't think places like the North Shore or Hinsdale will ever become undesirable.

Well, I'm more speculating than actually saying anything is a certainty... But cities like Paris have rich and poor suburbs alike. I don't think there will ever be a complete change around so that all of the suburbs are wastelands of poverty! There will always be people with money who want acreage. But it does seem possible that the center of gravity of metro Chicago poverty could shift from the inner city to certain outer ring city neighborhoods and inner ring suburbs in the next few decades. I tend to think that anything within three or four miles of the Loop or along the non-industrial lakefront will be pretty solidly revitalized in the coming decades. Does this mean that places like Oak Park and Jefferson Park are in trouble? I really don't think so.

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by lenniel

I don't like bums, drug addicts, welfare queens, etc., etc.

Do you have a picture of Reagan on your mantel?

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by aragx6

Do you have a picture of Reagan on your mantel?

Forget Reagan, maybe it is a portrait of Marie Antoinette.