Promis1's soul mate is black

[west lawn kid]

Originally Posted by promis1

I could tell that you are section 8.

really how?

[ajolotl]

Living there on or off for 25 years, to me the unmistakable tendency is for more money to move into the area (both black and white) and for the boundaries of gentrification to be pushed north and south. Hyde Park's has always (since the 50s-60s anyhow) been an island surrounded by serious blight on three sides and the lake on the fourth. Now North Kenwood/Oakland is completely radically different from how it was 20 years back (I'm not saying it's Main St. Disney World but the improvement is hard to overstate), soon it will connect up with the South Loop east of Cottage to form a corridor of relative prosperity, and even Woodlawn has been transforming more slowly but steadily. Real estate prices, even in the current economy, give evidence enough of this. I don't see some Section 8 housing, as undesirable as it may be, reversing this trend. People tend to overreact and exaggerate about everything and ignore the larger context.

This trend is good overall but still comes at a price. As much as I despise crime and blight I also don't particularly like uniformly upscale areas. I'm not personally hoping for the next Carmel, CA or Boulder, CO (though I certainly understand why someone would -- both are stunning). Part of the energy and uniqueness of an urban area to me is the mixture of people, from the conventionally successfully to the huge range of truly original, eccentric characters who find acceptance where they would otherwise be ostracized in a stereotypical suburb. Often times these aren't people with a lot money, but they have interesting stories and a zest for life that I find appealing. It's cliche', no doubt, but it's what I really love about Chicago, and Hyde Park in particular. Hopefully it won't entirely go away.

Originally Posted by ChiMack

you think so? you think hyde park/kenwood will remain the same way it is for a long time? or do you see any changes in it being demographics or class

[Lookout Kid]

It's ridiculous for neighborhoods that are convenient to the Loop, and/or along the non-industrial lakefront parks to be slums. This only occured because of the bizarre historical anomaly of the birth of automobile-based suburbia, and I believe it is inevitable that the trends from those years will reverse themselves. Sprawl is no longer convenient, nor is it necessarily a safe haven from the "urban" element that people were trying to avoid. So the "back to the city" movement will continue, and eventually it will manifest itself in the most desirable and convenient locations. These are forces cannot be stopped.

[ChiMack]

well given the demographic predictions of the usa and how they are predicting the hispanic population is rising, you never know hyde park might become hispanic

[Opkl]

Originally Posted by promis1

I could tell that you are section 8.

ha ha ha! rep point.

[Drover]

Gotta ask... is she hot?

[Chicagoland60426]

Originally Posted by ChiMack

well given the demographic predictions of the usa and how they are predicting the hispanic population is rising, you never know hyde park might become hispanic

Um, Maybe. Most of the hispanics on the southside are on the Southwestside and around Western Ave. Most of the hispanics east of the Dan Ryan are in the Eastside neigborhood and Hegiswich(sp. check?).

[ajolotl]

I doubt it. It's way too expensive and it is too nice a place to live overall not to stay that way. You can live an interesting life never getting in your car -- court theater, Mandel Hall, Rockefeller Chapel, Doc Films, great bookstores, the lake, Museum of Sci and Tech, Ratner Gym, more and more good cafes/restaurants all within a mile. When you need all of the box stores now you drive 10 minutes to the south loop. Some private schools are very good (Lab, Ancona, Akiba, etc.) and the public elementary schools at least are getting much better. I know so many people who pay a lot to live here and will never leave.

Originally Posted by ChiMack

well given the demographic predictions of the usa and how they are predicting the hispanic population is rising, you never know hyde park might become hispanic