Let's brainstorm ideas to revitalize the West Side!? (Chicago, Normal: real estate market, rent)

[Chicagoisthebest]

BRU67, Pete’s is in near west side

Although it still serves some east Garfield park residents. I still agree there still needs to be more food options in the west side though.

[G in MP]

Originally Posted by BRU67

Pete's Fresh Market is in West Town and it's been there for years, at least since the summer of 2014 when I moved to Tri-Taylor. I'm pretty sure it was built to serve the growing affluence in Tri-Taylor and the West Loop. It does provide a nice shopping option for EGP, but EGP was not the intended target.

Western Avenue is not in EGP. Again, it's in West Town. And that development is being driven by the rapid expansion of the West Loop and Medical District, and the affluence north, south and east of it. But until EGP improves substantially, those who work in those job bases are going to pick lower crime areas to live in.

Now, young millennials and other investors are buying multi-units in EGP. That's very true, and they're paying a lot of money for them relative to the crime and lack of amenities (IMO). But, insofar as I can tell, they're not moving into those properties themselves. They are speculating. And speculation does not mean positive change, as dtcbnd03's article establishes. Perhaps as a result of this, there are some hipsters there (I know a few personally), but their numbers appear small and insufficient to spur the kind of redevelopment we'll need to rejuvenate such a dilapidated Community Area.

A gifted program isn't the same as new schools. But still, it is good to hear about a gifted program. I've always believed that magnet and gifted programs are a key in keeping good families from moving to the suburbs, which is problematic if you're trying for long term improvement.

But is this new or has it been there awhile? Morton is 89% African-American and way below the state average in all academic categories - 10% ELA proficiency, 7% math proficiency and 21% science proficiency per 2019 data. But, if there's an influx of educated families into EGP due to development, then that new gifted program will certainly be a plus. Maybe we'll get a Nettelhorst going there!

Aldi's are good. They do provide fresh food for people at lower cost. But I think that's been there awhile. There needs to be more grocery stores, but that probably will not come until the demographics start to turn up in terms of income levels.

Guys, let's clarify this further...white millennials/investors are buying there. That's the problem in a nutshell, black professionals/investors aren't moving into the hood, ok. Not moving in there, not opening businesses there, none of that. They talk a good game though, "black lives matter", "institutional racism"...maybe wear some braids and purposely butcher the english language...but that's not the same as living in poor black areas, serving as a daily an example of what black upward mobility looks like. In my opinion, that's what it would take to revitalize such areas without entirely displacing the current residents. The alternative is just gentrification.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by G in MP

Guys, let's clarify this further...white millennials/investors are buying there. That's the problem in a nutshell, black professionals/investors aren't moving into the hood, ok. Not moving in there, not opening businesses there, none of that. They talk a good game though, "black lives matter", "institutional racism"...maybe wear some braids and purposely butcher the english language...but that's not the same as living in poor black areas, serving as a daily an example of what black upward mobility looks like. In my opinion, that's what it would take to revitalize such areas without entirely displacing the current residents. The alternative is just gentrification.

Yes, correct. They appear to be mostly white. And as I said, no, they do not appear to be moving there. It's pure speculation. And unless we bring a strong manufacturing base back here, which will provide jobs with good pay and dignity to those without a college education, any upward income mobility in the area will be driven by professionals, who are mostly white from a statistical perspective in this City.

I wonder if the new Biden Administration is going to help to that end. Trying to make sense of all the proposals and plans I'm hearing about, I'm not seeing how that's going to happen but that was a promise the campaign made. So I guess we'll see.

[Nearwest]

Originally Posted by Chicagoisthebest

BRU67, Pete’s is in near west side

Although it still serves some east Garfield park residents. I still agree there still needs to be more food options in the west side though.

This is correct. According to City of Chicago, Dept. of Planning, the Union Pacific RR overpass along Kinzie St. (400N) is the border between the Near West Side and West Town.


And, the railroad overpass at Rockwell St. (2600W) separates the Near West Side from East Garfield Park.

[Chicagoisthebest]

There just needs to be a stop or slow down of violence in the west side get rid of gangs and bring jobs and encourage people to get a college degree. The west side is improving compared to 10 years ago but it still needs to improve more by doing that.

[G in MP]

Originally Posted by Chicagoisthebest

There just needs to be a stop or slow down of violence in the west side get rid of gangs and bring jobs and encourage people to get a college degree. The west side is improving compared to 10 years ago but it still needs to improve more by doing that.

Not only college. Even just start off with a cnc machining course, go from there. Me, I took an emt course, then started working that, it lead to other better opportunities over the years.

Plumbers' union been advertising on tv recently, just saw a commercial the other day. I don't remember trade unions needing to advertise on tv before, so I guess they been hurting for applicants nowadays? There's resources out there, but you need to be resourceful to utilize them. Gotta be amercan as opposed to american't, pioneer spirit.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Chicagoisthebest

There just needs to be a stop or slow down of violence in the west side get rid of gangs and bring jobs and encourage people to get a college degree. The west side is improving compared to 10 years ago but it still needs to improve more by doing that.

I don't know what you mean by "improving" but if some of these west side community areas we are talking about here were their own city, they would be the most violent in the world. We haven't seen this many homicides in Chicago since the early 1990s, and I'd argue they are more concentrated now than they were back then. And Garfield Park, Austin and North Lawndale are three areas where this violence is very concentrated.

Now, property values in some west side neighborhoods are rising, but this is being driven by speculators. Until those people gain the stones to actually move into these places, there will be no improvement, just high transaction prices built on a bet that the next guy will be being willing to pay more. This Ponzi scheme will ultimately collapse if real improvement does not occur soon.

[Manson Lamps]

Originally Posted by G in MP

Guys, let's clarify this further...white millennials/investors are buying there. That's the problem in a nutshell, black professionals/investors aren't moving into the hood, ok. Not moving in there, not opening businesses there, none of that. They talk a good game though, "black lives matter", "institutional racism"...maybe wear some braids and purposely butcher the english language...but that's not the same as living in poor black areas, serving as a daily an example of what black upward mobility looks like. In my opinion, that's what it would take to revitalize such areas without entirely displacing the current residents. The alternative is just gentrification.

Thing is...these areas aren't incubators for creating these professionals, so even if "buppies" start moving in, they'd still have to come from elsewhere and potentially displace the current residents. Still gentrification, just a different variant.

Also, black folks generally move to hood areas out of absolute necessity, not because it's exciting on some level or because they so desperately want to live in urban environment that they're willing to compromise their safety.

[Peer79]

Originally Posted by BRU67

^^^ Agree 1,000%, This is what's needed to bring the entire City back, not just the parts where we can attract young professionals - which I call the Emerald City. Otherwise, we run a risk of becoming Detroit 2.0 if the professional job market starts to contract. The effects of COVID on office jobs is not yet clear and there have been and still are a lot of cities competing for those types of jobs, because it's a lot easier than taking the harder and more complicated steps of incentivizing manufacturing and finding places to locate it.

The Biden Administration has promised to bring manufacturing jobs back. Taking them at their word, I'm curious as to what they'll do.

Biden is the epitome of an establishment globalist. The 4+ decade politician and the credit card company's guy in the Senate is not concerned with manufacturing jobs. Even if he was inclined to bring manufacturing jobs to the Midwest, I don't know what specifically he could do that would have much impact. It already appears that he will cater to his base, the middle and upper class Progressive crowd.

[BRU67]

Originally Posted by Peer79

Biden is the epitome of an establishment globalist. The 4+ decade politician and the credit card company's guy in the Senate is not concerned with manufacturing jobs. Even if he was inclined to bring manufacturing jobs to the Midwest, I don't know what specifically he could do that would have much impact. It already appears that he will cater to his base, the middle and upper class Progressive crowd.

He directly promised to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. during the campaign ("Build Back Better"). And enough people in battle ground states bought it to carry him to victory. But I can see why you'd feel that way. I'll need to see that in action from a long time cornerstone of the party which brought us NAFTA and the TPP - with Republican support of course, potential flamers!

I think the mechanics of that, as a gross oversimplification, would be decreased regulation in the U.S. and increased pressure on low wage, high polluting countries to improve their labor and environmental practices to level the playing field more. Listening to various policy proposals and plans, let's just say I'm not hopeful. I'm not saying his administration will not break from the past and actually fulfill the promise he made to get PA, MI and other states to support him. I sincerely hope it does. Not only has outsourcing turned most of the south side into a disaster, but we're shoveling welfare into red states as well. This is a big reason why our political situation is now so unstable.

But there's a basis for some cynicism, yes. Were I a betting man, I'd say that if you've got a portfolio with plenty of international stocks, you are going to like the next four years. If you don't, maybe not so much, but I guess we'll see.