Near South Side (Brighton, Bridgeport, Ashland: apartment, houses, neighborhoods)

[jonnynonos]

I was riding around yesterday through McKinley Park and, the short version, saw a gangbanger get hit by a van. The van sped off. Bangers were not far behind, chasing it. Pretty soon I found myself standing on the corner of 35th and Western blocking traffic to keep this kid safe as he laid in the street a bloody mess. All of his banger friends with "35" tattoos were around him. Eventually the FD came and I left. Kid was OK.

Anyway, it got me thinking what a bizarre neighborhood that is over there. It's a real Nelson Algren picture around the viaducts.

At one time it was probably a decent neighborhood. Kind of sad.

[marothisu]

My coworker was born there and grew up there for the first 8 years of his life. I asked him all about it last week and he took me around Google Street view showing me where all the things used to be. It's of course pretty residential now but the way he was telling it was that in the late 70s and early 80s, there was a lot of the same neighborhood type of commercial + residential you'll see in the north side neighborhoods.

He had a lot to say about why it went downhill..pretty sad.

[ChiNaan]

I've only ever known McKinley Park as a rather bland residential extension of Bridgeport. The only thing bizarre about it to me is that it feels suburban yet is fairly close to the middle of the city. Even its retail is mostly in strip malls, Target, Dominick's, etc. The actual park itself is one of the better parks in the city, though, IMO. Other than that there's not much reason to go if you don't live there.

[jonnynonos]

I don't find it remotely suburban.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by jonnynonos

I don't find it remotely suburban.

Really? I don't mean outer-suburbun, as in mcmansions built in 2005. I just mean it's nearly all residential, houses with yards, occuppied by working class and middle class families, with not much walkable retail, very few dining/entertainment options, and is very quiet at night. It's boring. You just don't usually find that in neighborhoods that close to the middle of the city, it seems. That's what you find in outer neighborhoods and inner 'burbs.

I should say that all of the time I've spent there (which is substantial), has been in the eastern half of the neighborhood (closer to Bridgeport and near the Orange Line). I'm not familiar with the area where you were. I believe the viaducts you're referring to might actually be in Brighton Park, or at least right on the border with it. I assumed it was similar there, but perhaps not.

[marothisu]

When my coworker and I were Google street mapping....he basically said it used to be a lot more urban. Shops everywhere and such. He'd just be like "oh, that was a bakery" and "oh that was a little market" and so on. Not even on the main roads. Just on regular residential looking streets. He gave me a whole spiel about why it went from being more urban to more residential.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by marothisu

When my coworker and I were Google street mapping....he basically said it used to be a lot more urban. Shops everywhere and such. He'd just be like "oh, that was a bakery" and "oh that was a little market" and so on. Not even on the main roads. Just on regular residential looking streets. He gave me a whole spiel about why it went from being more urban to more residential.

Yeah, you can totally tell just driving around the neighborhood. many blocks have apartment buildings on the corners (even though most blocks are otherwise full of single family homes with a few two-flats), with entrances that clearly used to be store fronts. Now it's the kind of place where everyone has a car and drives to shopping/dining/etc., or uses the Orange Line.

[5Lakes]

I actually think that McKinley Park should be a good area to undergo revitalization in the distant future. It's close to downtown, has a centralized EL stop, a nice park, and has good building stock. Not sure how someone would say it's suburban. Yeah, it has more single family homes but it still has a good amount of density. 35th Street between Archer and Ashland would be a great pedestrian street if revitalized.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by ChiNaan

Yeah, you can totally tell just driving around the neighborhood. many blocks have apartment buildings on the corners (even though most blocks are otherwise full of single family homes with a few two-flats), with entrances that clearly used to be store fronts. Now it's the kind of place where everyone has a car and drives to shopping/dining/etc., or uses the Orange Line.

Yeah kind of sad, lol. His father owned a little business too and said the building was torn down...nothing is in its place right now. I would have loved to see an area like that during its heyday

[jonnynonos]

People on this forum are delusional. You can buy a lot of houses in McKinley Park for $100,000 or less. It is an area that is still in steep decline and there is quite a bit of ugliness about it.

What I find interesting is the fact of seeing a place in transition. Unfortunately it seems to be transitioning the wrong way.