Are hipsters moving to Uptown? (Chicago, Cicero: low income, real estate, condos)

[Lookout Kid]

First a disclaimer: I moved to Uptown three years ago from Wicker Park, but feel like I'm barely in Uptown. I live in Buena Park just a couple of blocks north of Irving Park Road and close to the lake. My block feels more like a northern extension of Lakeview than anything else. I was deeply familiar with the history and problems in Uptown, including the political divisiveness--but was attracted to the cheaper real estate, lakefront location, awesome transportation options, nice architecture, and proximity to East Lakeview. However, back in 2005 I really never imagined the huge hipster influx I've seen in the past few years. Dollop, a coffe shop down the street, is packed full of the young and hip every day of the week. More and more artists, indie rockers, punks, hippies, and other boho types seem to be flooding the area all of the time. Many businesses that were once in Wicker Park/Bucktown have either moved to Uptown or opened locations there (The Holiday Club was once on Milwaukee Avenue, Nick's now has two Uptown locations, the Silver Cloud has opened a location on Broadway called "Fat Kat"). Could this really finally be happening in Uptown? I never thought I'd live to see the day.

[lenniel]

You should be grateful Uptown is changing. I drive through Uptown to get to LSD and I'd classify much of the area as a dump. Way, way too many social service organizations, single room occupancies, etc.
I hope the growth and gentrification continues and the bad element is cleaned out.

[Chicago60614]

Right, I certainly don't mind the low income housing and social services - but haven't we learned by 2008 that it's a BAD idea to group all these things into one confined neighborhood? Just look what happened with the CHA projects. That alderman in Uptown needs to loosen up a bit and let the neighborhood progress the way it naturally would. There is a huge concentration of unemployment, poverty and crime up there.

[CarolinaBredChicagoan]

I'd say that many of the friends that I'd consider legitimately hip (in bands, tattoos, found-it-on-the-floor fashion sense, lifestyles exclusively funded by art or music or other non-corporate income) live in Uptown, Pilsen, or Logan Square. Most of the people I know who like hip things but are more likely to buy them at Urban Outfitters (which they can afford because they toil away at office jobs in the loop every day) live in places like Wicker Park.

I think it's the fact that pockets of Uptown are so grimy and resistant to change is why the hip kids like it. Fairly cheap. Urban. Good stories to tell about (literally) crazy bums. What more can the cool kids want?

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by CarolinaBredChicagoan

Most of the people I know who like hip things but are more likely to buy them at Urban Outfitters (which they can afford because they toil away at office jobs in the loop every day) live in places like Wicker Park.

That is so funny... and so me.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by lenniel

You should be grateful Uptown is changing. I drive through Uptown to get to LSD and I'd classify much of the area as a dump. Way, way too many social service organizations, single room occupancies, etc.
I hope the growth and gentrification continues and the bad element is cleaned out.

Oh, I am! Change away, Uptown!

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

Right, I certainly don't mind the low income housing and social services - but haven't we learned by 2008 that it's a BAD idea to group all these things into one confined neighborhood? Just look what happened with the CHA projects. That alderman in Uptown needs to loosen up a bit and let the neighborhood progress the way it naturally would. There is a huge concentration of unemployment, poverty and crime up there.

I don't know if I would call it a huge concentration of poverty... It's more like several little pockets nowdays. But yes, there is too much concentration of nasty crap in the heart of Uptown. The fringes of the neighborhood are improving the fastest and most dramatically. Uptown is really nice or greatly improving near Lakeview, Andersonville, Ravenswood, and eastern Edgewater. But the center of the neighborhood won't change meaningfully until (1) we break up the concetration of homless shelters, halfway houses, and rehab clinics that plague Uptown, and (2) quite warehousing the poor in highrises--which seem to have most of the low-income housing in Uptown. Things are alright up to Montrose--there is very little low-income housing in Buena Park anymore--but more than two-thirds of the high-rises between Montrose and Foster seem to be low-income housing, while much of the low-rise housing is now condos. The SRO hotels are still disappearing quickly, and it's just a matter of time before the Wilson Club and Darlington Hotel are gutted and redeveloped.

[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.

[Lookout Kid]

Yes, alderbeast Shiller is still at the helm, unfortunately. She's got an excellent get-out-the-vote machine and will be difficult to remove. I really thought she would be a goner in the 2007 election, and she won by about 600 votes.

[lenniel]

I'm sorry to say but if they want to round up all the homeless, employmentless, drug addict bums I see hanging around Uptown and send them to somewhere like Cicero, I'm all for it. There's a reason that as soon as you cross Clark coming from the west, you start seeing the trash, bottles, etc that is associated with the element that Uptown currently supports.
It's just unfortunate that between a beautiful lakefront and a great high end neighborhood like Lincoln Square that you have dump like Uptown.