Dunning/Portage Park Gang Graffiti

[BRU67]

Whims of hipsters, students and artists. Many of which defy logic.

[Lookout Kid]

I feel like I've been in Chicago long enough to see the gentrification of neighborhoods like Pilsen and Logan Square materialize seemingly out of thin air. It has truly been amazing to witness. Heck, even Wicker Park when I first started going there in the 90's had the flavor of a majority Latino neighborhood, and there are still remnants of that all over Milwaukee Avenue, in the Church/Mission on the park, in the churches and schools. I remember the Southport Corridor looking scary, along with desolation in Roscoe Village... I thought my first friend who moved to Lincoln Square was crazy for going that far north in to such a boring neighborhood.

To me it seems more complicated than the whims of any certain group. A really big part of gentrification occurs as part of a compromise, since the "most desired" neighborhood option may be too expensive--so people start hunting for a less-expensive compromise area that offers at least some of what they are looking for, often with a bit more crime or some other issue. Just as high prices in Old Town and Lincoln Park spurred more gentrification of Lake View in the 1980's, high prices in Bucktown and Wicker Park pushed people to Logan Square. So there is the issue of price differential, proximity to amenities and transit, and critical mass. Sometimes word-of-mouth or some article in the Reader or Chicagoist or Curbed Chicago will generate some interest. There was a lot of "chatter" about Pilsen gentrifying before it really became obvious there was anything going on there--making it almost seem like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

[sydlee]

Originally Posted by Lookout Kid

I feel like I've been in Chicago long enough to see the gentrification of neighborhoods like Pilsen and Logan Square materialize seemingly out of thin air. It has truly been amazing to witness. Heck, even Wicker Park when I first started going there in the 90's had the flavor of a majority Latino neighborhood, and there are still remnants of that all over Milwaukee Avenue, in the Church/Mission on the park, in the churches and schools. I remember the Southport Corridor looking scary, along with desolation in Roscoe Village... I thought my first friend who moved to Lincoln Square was crazy for going that far north in to such a boring neighborhood.

To me it seems more complicated than the whims of any certain group. A really big part of gentrification occurs as part of a compromise, since the "most desired" neighborhood option may be too expensive--so people start hunting for a less-expensive compromise area that offers at least some of what they are looking for, often with a bit more crime or some other issue. Just as high prices in Old Town and Lincoln Park spurred more gentrification of Lake View in the 1980's, high prices in Bucktown and Wicker Park pushed people to Logan Square. So there is the issue of price differential, proximity to amenities and transit, and critical mass. Sometimes word-of-mouth or some article in the Reader or Chicagoist or Curbed Chicago will generate some interest. There was a lot of "chatter" about Pilsen gentrifying before it really became obvious there was anything going on there--making it almost seem like a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Well said.