Bickerdike and Gentrification in Chicago (Lincoln, Roscoe: low income, apartment, condo)

[Humboldt1]

What are people's thoughts on this forum on bickerdike and the like and their stance against gentrification?

Personally, I see gentrification as a good thing as a whole. I feel bad for those that it forces out thru higher rents and taxes but see gentrification improving neighborhoods as a whole. Many neighborhoods prior to gentrification were not pretty, such as Bucktown and Wicker Park. Logan Square (east of kimball) and West Town are now reaping the benefits of gentrification with reduced crime and gang presence, along with commercial and retail developments with condo and new home construction.

[dragoro]

Hehe I think I know avengerfires reponse lol.

[Avengerfire]

They would be fine if they actually had some respectable people living in their developments. It seems they pick the lowest of the low to inhabit their buildings.

I am not sure all the areas they deal in.

At the same time other areas that gentrified where not really that bad before like (most of) Lake View ,Roscoe Village, North Center, Ravenswood,Lincoln Square, etc...They were not as safe as they are now but they were far from being ghettos. Those are the areas these companies should have been working in.

[july]

They would be fine if they actually had some respectable people living in their developments. It seems they pick the lowest of the low to inhabit their buildings.

What does this mean? Are you saying that yuppies are lower than thieves and gang members? If so, I disagree.

It's sad if gentrification is pushing people out, but without gentrification, the city would eventually fall apart and buildings would eventually fall into ruin. There needs to be new construction and rehabbing to keep the city alive and stimulate the economy. I don't think there are easy answers. Instead of blaming the yuppies, why not blame the city government for mismanaging our tax dollars and not creating programs to help the have-nots improve their situation or create new housing projects for lower income residents? Most so-called yuppies are people who are buying the best home they can afford. Everyone does that. I don't think they're the problem.

[aragx6]

I think you misread that post.

[Lookout Kid]

Pro-"gentrification", anti-sterilization.

On the whole, cities need "gentrification" after the last half of the twentieth century (I put the word in quotes because I think it's derogatory--but common usage necessitates its use). It is simply not a good idea to have our large cities inhabited by such a large proportion of low-income residents, and we have seen the utter destruction caused by the creation of ghettos. It is not economically sustainable for a city to exist only as a net drain on society. Cities need businesses and tax revenue to survive. Without "gentrification", Chicago would be more like Detroit.

[july]

I think you misread that post.

How so? I don't get it.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by july

How so? I don't get it.

Bickerdike is the anti-gentrification force that develops apartment buildings for low income people. Avenger is saying that the low income folks that Bickerdike is bringing into its developments are the lowest of the low.

[Humboldt1]

The lowest of the low, my lawyer calls them bottom of the barrel fok seem to live in these mini projects created by bickerdika and hhdc. It allows poor people and all the problems poverty brings with it to remain even as an area gentrifies. Yuppies are not moving into these mini projects. It is poor people, who unfortunately also bring with them their buddies and family members who are into all kinds of bad stuff, including drugs, gangs, prostitution, robbery and murder. West Town and Humboldt Park in my opinion would gentrify even faster if not for the presence of these mini ghettos which infect the properties surrounding them. Often tiimes, the blocks to be avoided in these neighborhoods have these developments.

Honestly, I don't have issues with hhdc, but bickerdike seems to attract some shady folks.

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by Humboldt1

The lowest of the low, my lawyer calls them bottom of the barrel fok seem to live in these mini projects created by bickerdika and hhdc. It allows poor people and all the problems poverty brings with it to remain even as an area gentrifies. Yuppies are not moving into these mini projects. It is poor people, who unfortunately also bring with them their buddies and family members who are into all kinds of bad stuff, including drugs, gangs, prostitution, robbery and murder. West Town and Humboldt Park in my opinion would gentrify even faster if not for the presence of these mini ghettos which infect the properties surrounding them. Often tiimes, the blocks to be avoided in these neighborhoods have these developments.

Honestly, I don't have issues with hhdc, but bickerdike seems to attract some shady folks.

If you think he's bad, check out 46th Ward Alderman Helen Shiller. She's effectively creating a new low-income high-rise housing project in Uptown through developer Peter Holsten. It was promised to the community as a "mixed-income" development, but Holsten has federal funding for a project that is 100% "low income and very low income". The rest of the city is knocking down high-rise housing projects, but Shiller is building them.