What's up with Uptown? (Chicago, Sheridan: how much, house, law)

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by iwynns

no seriously now, what can she possibly do that would work against gangs in uptown?

Do you have any idea what's going on up there??

Helen Shiller has devoted her time to getting as many social services, section 8 housing, soup kitchens and methadone clinics into as small an area as humanly possible.

Then she works her butt off to try and get the police away from Uptown because they're "harassing" people. Hell, she was busing in people from the courthouse and shelters to vote for her during alderman elections. You go into her office to complain about people pooping all over the playgrounds and throwing bottles everywhere before they go vomit all over your front porch and she responds "listen honey, this isn't prissy lincoln park, so why don't you just go back where you belong".

Nice. I'm so sorry I dare try to bring my stable life into your ward and quietly pay my taxes, water my flowers, clean the garbage in front of my condo and be pleasant to my neighbors. Uptown was built for people to live in, not a "safety zone" for people who could care less about society and responsibility. There's a huge difference between having your neighborhood overtaken by the wealthy who chase out the prior residents and having a neighborhood full of hard working people who just want to enjoy Chicago. The Uptown residents who are being "pushed out by gentrification" aren't hard workign blue collar folks who are tossed aside. It's a cracked out mess that uses the area as a dumpster. The people moving in aren't all airhead morons who make $2,000,000 a year and eat puppies. Mostly younger people working jobs downtown.

The woman "wants to help all the unfortunate", but I guess she was napping during the 60's through 80's as we saw what happens when you throw every homeless and poor person you can find into a buiding together, give them food and expect everything to just work itself out.

[iwynns]

yeah drover, i'm a 'troll'. so?

thanks for the post chicago60614. i guess the point i'm trying to get across is - if you move into uptown, don't expect edgewater. it's sort of like a yuppie moving into north lawndale and complaining about filthy alleys. shiller is right when she says it's not lincoln park, but i guess she doesn't have to be so rude about it. although i'd be the same way if i were to get so many complaints from new residents about stuff that's been going on for decades...

i mean come on people, it's uptown! you made your own bed when you moved in.

[Chicago60614]

It's because she doesn't remotely try to improve the situation, or accept that a lot of the outrageous issues are because of people brought in through all her little projects.

Then if anyone even remotely complains, she hits the panic button and freaks out on them that it's not Lincoln Park - and pis* off - you people don't belong here. That was the reaction a woman got from her staff when she asked about street lights that haven't been working for over a week near her home.

She won't say a peep about crime - at all. People are actually holding a huge march to the alderman's office tonight to demand she at least address the issue. The media has all been invited as well.

Friday night there was another "street riot" with around 40 people involved and a cop was hospitalized. Saturday a guy walking his dog looked under a bush at that intersection and found stashed:

a large stick
two bricks
empty bottles
a tire iron
a heavy bike lock

A man was mugged at 7am in that same area Thursday, and three people were shot there last night.

There have been town hall meetings and CAPS meetings, as well as people marching and protesting the gang element in the neighborhood. It's honestly just a small group in a confined area that is causing chaos for the 95% of the people in the area that just want to live their lives. Shiller never showed up for ANY of the meetings. What do you expect when you cram in two R.E.S.T. shelters, one Salvation Army shelter, one Salvation Army day center for the homeless, four Cornerstone shelters, a transitional shelter program from Inspiration Cafe, a transitional housing program located at 1207 W. Leland for active drug users with mental illness from Heartland Alliance, another transitional housing program located at 1325 W. Wilson from Heartland Alliance, four nursing homes for people with mental illness, and numerous large SRO buildings, many of them for people living with mental illness.

She finally broke her silence and put out this statement:

"Alderman Helen Shiller invites you to take part in a free workshop/brainstorming session on a potential Green Center in the 46th Ward. You have been invited because of your interest and/or expertise in some area of green and sustainable technology. While still in the planning stages, this Green Center may include:

Aquaponics

Vermiculture

An education lab component (for elementary through university students and teachers)

A storefront market

Greenhouse

Info on green building supplies

Sustainable practices in building design

Much, much more!
Please join us for a lively discussion of all aspects of this project."

[analyticalkeys]

Sounds like you need to tie this woman up and throw her into one of these riots.

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by iwynns

irishtom, you're just plain racist and/or can't empathize with poverty stricken youth. how would you like it if you were shot because you were born into a broken home?

I'm unaware that being poor or from a broken home causes one to act like a savage. People make choices, those that choose to act savagely should be treated as.....savages.

I save my liberalism for those who choose to work for a living not for deadbeats and trash.

[iwynns]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

I'm unaware that being poor or from a broken home causes one to act like a savage. People make choices, those that choose to act savagely should be treated as.....savages.

I save my liberalism for those who choose to work for a living not for deadbeats and trash.

what kind of choices do black youth living in bad neighborhoods have besides joining a gang?

[eevee]

Originally Posted by iwynns

what kind of choices do black youth living in bad neighborhoods have besides joining a gang?

oh boo hoo hoo! I'm black and I grew up in a crap neighborhoods and I'm not some street ho w/ 4 babies by 4 different baby daddies! there are plenty of black men out there who grew up in similar circumstances yet didn't end up as gangbangers. there are a LOT of resources out there for low income minority youths. I should now, I used a lot of them. there's only so many resources you can throw out there before realizing that a large chunk of "men" like those in that video can't be helped if they don't want to be helped. they likely had plenty of other choices than joining a gang, but joining a gang is cooler than taking part in an after school program or joining a sports team for some of them. yes, in many situations, resources are lacking, schools are deficient, etc. but there are choices. I'm tired of people using that line, as if there's nothing else out there, as if the only choice left for poor black young men is to join a gang. I'm not going to waste my time feeling bad for the fools that don't see them or turn their backs on them.

so to sum up my rant, I agree 100% w/ what IrishTom said (he just did it more succinctly)

[Lookout Kid]

Originally Posted by iwynns

i guess the point i'm trying to get across is - if you move into uptown, don't expect edgewater. it's sort of like a yuppie moving into north lawndale and complaining about filthy alleys.

I just don't think you know much about Uptown. Much of Uptown and Edgewater are actually pretty similar. You act like Uptown is the "hood", while in reality it's only a fraction of the neighborhood that is rough. But Uptown and Woodlawn are nothing alike. Uptown averages about three murders a year in a neighborhood of 65,000 people. It's long had a mix of rich, middle class, and poor (check out the mansions on Hutchinson or on Castlewood--or the Imperial Towers)--though the balance is now shifting towards people with more money.

[Avengerfire]

It should be interesting to watch how the protest tonight is covered by the T.V. stations.

[WhaThe]

Originally Posted by iwynns

what kind of choices do black youth living in bad neighborhoods have besides joining a gang?

If I had to pick a place to be poor it would be in the US. Top 3 anyway.

Assuming they are old enough, they have the military for one.

But I do sympathize. I had a friend here who I asked why he joined a gang when he was younger. Being young and black, the only child of a single mother, he told me about growing up in a bad hood. You get tired of getting your ass kicked basically. Or at least my friend did. A gang can minimize that a bit. Protect you, make you feel you are part of something bigger. Of course there are costs for that protection. You can get some ugly marks on your soul. Some of the things I've heard I would have a very hard time living with.

Some of the kids I've known in gangs where not real into the whole thing. It was more a matter of survival and they didn't see any choice either.