Syrian refugees…..& Chicago (Oak Park, Bridgeview: 2015, credit, neighborhood)

[edsg25]

Including a link here to an extremely easy to understand video explaining the Syrian refugee crisis and why it happened.

VIDEO: A Simple Animation Perfectly Explains Syria and the Refugee Crisis - Truthdig

I found particularly interesting the explanation of these refugees: largely well educated, family size small, and seeking, like all immigrants and better life.

I know that Chicago does not make national policy and the US is letting in Syrian refugees, but certainly not a very large number.

Wouldn't it be a very good thing….a win/win situation for both the refugees and Chicago to be able to steer a goodly number of them to our city? Immigrants tend to rebuild cities and reinvigorate them. they are hard working and enterprising. Look at NYC…..it has been rebuilt largely through immigration; americans moving to New York is low, in rates much like Chicago's.

if syrian immigrants (and others like them) could come to Chicago and the city developed a program to steer them into the underperforming parts of the city (sections of the south and west side) and produced the social programs that would allow this to be implemented, we could help revive areas of Chicago that were long dead.

there is nothing new about the idea of steering people to areas; it has been done before….and I am suggesting it in the very positive sense of the word: an inclusion, not an exclusion, not a pitting of us vs. them.

think locally of Oak Park. In that village, blacks were encouraged to seek residence in the western part of town, away from the black areas in the city that seemed to be encroaching the village's eastern (Austin Blvd) boundary; white families were steered towards east Oak Park to stabilize it. It was a plan not designed to segregate, but to integrate…..so IMHO, a very positive goal.

The US is hardly losing numbers, but the vast majority of the "advanced" world is: look at Europe. So a mature, successful society tends to have very low birth rates and immigration serves a very strong need. again we need to look no further than NYC for proof of it. how little do we give credit to immigrants for the revival of that city?

I know there are negatives about my suggestion here, but those negatives exist with all ideas. But maybe we need to think "outside of the box" to address the issues we have. I'm just suggesting that there are ways to revive areas of a city that have been in long decline. Immigrants built Chicago: the city's growth was fueled by the waves of people who came to our city largely between the Civil War and WWI. and, of course, immigrants still come today, largely from Asia and Latin America.

why not open up to more coming in…people who emigrate are usually the ones who have the most motivation, the most desire for a new life. we are in a new era, when mass migration, much of it to be fueled by climate change, is on the rise…maybe akin to that earlier (Civil War to WWI) era. We should be open to the idea that new immigrants will enrich and benefit our city and our lives.

as i stated earlier, I honestly believe that taking in a goodly number of these people would be a win/win situation for both the refugees…..and Chicago.

[NealIRC]

Chideas.org.

[chet everett]

I heard this on Michigan Public Radio earlier in the summer -- What explains Michigan's large Arab American community? | Michigan Radio

Not sure that the most bombed out areas of Chicago would really be the best way to help out refugees (look how well that sort of segregation has worked so far - After 14 shot in 15 hours in Chicago, mayor says gun laws must "reflect the values of the people" - Chicago Tribune or even London -- Research Directory : Gang-related violence among young people of the Tamil refugee Diaspora in London), but when folks have no other choices...

I know there are already very large populations of folks that run Halal markets in the western suburbs and near SW suburbs like Bridgeview. There are some very good spots for a quick sandwich or kabob -- Halal places in South Chicagoland, Chicago - zabihah.com: your guide to halal eating Food will bring us together...

[ToriaT]

It would not happen. They would not end up there. A considerable number of them are in the western suburbs where the halal markets are or the near southwest suburbs. Frankly nobody wants to live in those areas. That's why they are selling lots for a dollar.

[PerseusVeil]

Currently there's not enough Syrian refugees being let in to really make a difference anywhere in the country. That being said, even if the quota on Syrians went up and Chicago got designated a refugee city, they're not going to be able to bring back a long bombed out neighborhood.

St. Louis, for example, received tens of thousands of primarily Muslim Bosnian refugees in the 90s, but the city didn't fling them at North City. Many ended up in a fairly rundown neighborhood in South City, which they helped to bring back to life. There needs to be some hope or else you're sending them from one war zone to another.

[Jimmyp25]

Originally Posted by PerseusVeil

Currently there's not enough Syrian refugees being let in to really make a difference anywhere in the country. That being said, even if the quota on Syrians went up and Chicago got designated a refugee city, they're not going to be able to bring back a long bombed out neighborhood.

St. Louis, for example, received tens of thousands of primarily Muslim Bosnian refugees in the 90s, but the city didn't fling them at North City. Many ended up in a fairly rundown neighborhood in South City, which they helped to bring back to life. There needs to be some hope or else you're sending them from one war zone to another.

John Kerry just announced they are increasing the amount of syrian refugees to be let into the USA by 2016 sometimes.

[PerseusVeil]

Originally Posted by Jimmyp25

John Kerry just announced they are increasing the amount of syrian refugees to be let into the USA by 2016 sometimes.

They're raising the refugee ceiling from 75,000 to a cap of 100,000, but that number is for refugees from anywhere in the world, not just Syria.

It's doubtful the current number of actual Syrian refugees being let in will change anything in Chicago at all, especially since cities that did see changes, like St. Louis, needed tens of thousands.

[ToriaT]

It won't change anything that is peanuts for a country our size compared to the flood in Europe. They will be dispersed throughout the country anyway.

[glass_of_merlot]

No

[PerseusVeil]

Originally Posted by ToriaT

It won't change anything that is peanuts for a country our size compared to the flood in Europe. They will be dispersed throughout the country anyway.

It's also worth noting that quite a lot of refugees that a country like Germany has received thus far (although not necessarily accepted and let stay) aren't even from Syria. The majority that Germany received in the first half of the year were actually other Europeans, primarily from the Balkans.