Friday, February 29, 2008
Recapturing Suburban Shoppers
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Saved By The Sell
By Michael Miner
Check out the "Chicago Reader's" coverage here.
Picture It! Sicily...1915!
(Courtesy "Compass Rose Cultural Crossroads")
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Turn Back Time, Part 2
(Photo by Leon Kay, Chicago L.org)
'Methods Reporters' Feature Uptown-centric Stories
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Get A Shovel!
If you live on Winthrop and have noticed this pattern and want to contact the building management, here is the info:
4429 N. Clifton Avenue
Chicago, IL 60640
Phone: (773) 769-1555
Fax: (773) 769-3085
Steven Brown, Property Manager
'Wilde Pug' Update
One Less Vacant Storefront?
If I Could Turn Back Time
Next time you're walking westbound on Wilson from Broadway, stop and imagine this block as it used to be. Check out the photo of Wilson Avenue circa 1914 above, courtesy of the Chicago Historical Society. You can see the Wilson Club Hotel on the right, and further down, the beautiful building currently housing "Nick's on Wilson" and vacant storefronts. What a grand avenue Wilson once was. The second photo shows a view looking south towards Wilson where current day "Truman College" stands with the side of the Wilson Club Hotel visible on the right.
Alert: 8 Year Old Child Approached On Wilson
We just wanted to make you aware that an 8 year old child was approached on the 1300 block of West Wilson, by a black male wearing a black jacket, driving a black van with tinted windows. The driver rolled down his window and told the child to get in his van. This occurred at 8:20am this morning. We just ask you to be aware of this incident and inform your neighbors!
23 District Community Policing
Questions or Concerns?
Call (312) 744-0064
Where Have We Seen This Before?
Anti-Condo Protest In Rogers Park
Monday, February 25, 2008
Argyle Street: Chinatown's Troubled Cousin
The Chicago Methods Reporter
“Argyle Street looked like death,” recalls Tam Van Nguyen, who frequented the Chicago neighborhood nearly 30 years ago, but only in the daytime.
“Gangs, prostitution, drug trafficking, vacant lots. There were very few open stores, and by 5 p.m. every day, gangs hung around the area. It was very scary.”
Argyle Street, which is regarded as Chicago’s North Side hub of Asian commercial activity, has come a long way since the 1970s. Improved community safety has been the driving force behind Argyle’s vast business growth over the years. In fact, crime on Argyle Street has followed the trend of crime in Chicago, where annual murders have decreased by over 500 since 1975. Now, despite a recent slump, shops and restaurants flourish on the street that was once too dangerous to walk on.
“Crime was certainly detrimental to business before the 1980s,” says Joyce Dugan, the president and CEO of Uptown United, an organization that promotes economic growth in the community. “People were afraid to go [to Argyle], so the business scene was awful. Once crime cleaned up, though, Argyle really became a thriving commercial center.”
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Uptown Gets Crazier On March 3rd
Uptown's new dining destination, El Pollo Loco, is opening on March 3rd, according to the Store Manager. For those of you not familiar with El Pollo Loco, it is a west coast-based fast food chain that specializes in charbroiled chicken and Mexican food. It is nice to have a reputable restaurant occupy the neglected property at Sheridan and Wilson.
More Blue In Uptown
These are the newly installed cameras on the McJunkin Building in the 4500 block of North Broadway. There are four cameras on the front of the building. They appear different in style than a typical Chicago Police blue light camera, which leads us to believe it is installed by the building management.
Welcome Back, Walgreens
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Islands In The Stream, Parking Free-For-All
photo courtesy: City of Destiny
Friday, February 22, 2008
Mum's The Word
Click here to read the latest issue of "Inside Online." Scroll down to page 12 to read "Wilson Yard Construction Yet To Begin" by Miriam Y. Cintron.
Our favorite part of the article is at the end: "Shiller's office did not return phone calls seeking comment." What a surprise.
Alderman Shiller's Blue Light Special
A reader writes in:
"Just got back from a walk with the dogs and noticed ladders by the McJunkin building. Didn't think anything of it until a closer look revealed blue flashing lights and cameras being mounted right by the alderman's office. Looks like two sets of 2-cameras facing north and south along Broadway."
Dover Street Historical District, With Schulter's Help
"There are some who aren't happy about the new label, a designation that prevents tearing down any buildings on the street that are historically or architecturally significant. It also prevents development that is out of character with the history of the existing buildings and precludes alterations of the historic facades of the homes.
And those who aren't happy would be?
"Developers," according to Dover Street resident and owner of a Dover Street two-flat John Holden, who took the lead in getting his neighbors interested in applying for the city designation.
Dover Street is represented in the city council by two aldermen: Gene Schulter on the west and Helen Schiller on the east. Schulter was more supportive of the idea of landmark designation.
"If Alderman Schulter hadn't enthusiastically supported the district, the application would have languished," Holden says. "He emphatically stressed to the Landmarks Commission that his ward did not have a single landmark district and that it was overdue."
Developers in recent years had been tearing down all kinds of houses in Sheridan Park with Schiller's blessing -- and Holden and his neighbors were frightened after they lost a number of structures, including a Queen Anne on Beacon Street, which was the oldest building in Sheridan Park. It was torn down to make way for an eight-unit condominium building."
Thursday, February 21, 2008
News-Star Tells It Like It Is
In this week's issues, there is a great story about last week's hearing with the Board of Zoning Appeal.
There's also a great editorial about the "new rules" for Chicago aldermen.
Money quote: "When more than 100 people show up at City Hall to oppose an issue, the will of the community should be strongly considered over private interests. Don't ask residents for studies to back up what they are saying. It's a pretty safe bet that they know what's going on in their neighborhood, almost as much as their local alderman."
Will Alderman Shiller listen to the community on this issue? Email her at ward46@cityofchicago.org.
(Photo courtesy of News-Star)
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
UCC News Briefs
Larry Fischman, a developer who owns the building at 4715 N. Sheridan, has recently initiated eviction notices to all the residential tenants at the crime-plagued property. The building houses Cafe Too on the first floor. He intends to refurbish the residential units and offer the property at market-rate rents.
Changes at Salvation Army Tom Seay Center:
This location, at 1025 W. Sunnyside, will no longer serve as an overnight shelter for the homeless. The Center will continue to provide daytime support, including hot meals, literacy programs, and personal care. UCC has sent letters to both the Salvation Army and REST, a homeless shelter located at 941 W. Lawrence, expressing concern about high levels of criminal activity based on data from CAPS.
Zoning News:
-- Aldermen Mary Ann Smith (48) and Helen Shiller (46) are working on a streetscape of Broadway from Wilson to Devon. The street infrastructure near Broadway and Lawrence may be curbless to accommodate future outdoor festivals.
-- The Urban Land Institute is working with community members and elected officials on recommendations for enhancements of the Argyle Street commercial district.
-- Alderman Smith is launching a large redevelopment of the McCutcheon School campus. The school grounds will be linked to the McCormick Boys and Girls Club, providing access to amenities during school hours of operation. Additional programming will be introduced to assist the large population of homeless children at the school. Approximately 45% of the school's students are drawn from the Salvation Army family homeless shelter at Lawrence and Marine.
-- At its December meeting, UCC reviewed and approved plans for a special use permit by the North Side Federal Savings and Loan Association to build off-street parking at 1475 W. Foster Ave. The proposed parking area will accommodate up to 13 vehicles and includes green space and landscaping. UCC also approved plans for a special use permit by Robert Jeffrey Hair Salon to build a new location at 5142 N. Clark St.
Update: A few more news items that didn't make it in the UCC Newsletter:
- Truman College expects to break ground on its Student Center/Parking Deck in mid-March.
- There is a new program focusing on opportunities for ex-offenders - operating at 4750 N. Sheridan.
- Lawrence House has recently taken on clients of Thresholds, a psycho-social rehabilitation agency headquartered in Ravenswood.
- New indoor El stop
- Bus turnaround facility
- Kiss & Ride
- Bike Station
- O'Hare and Metra Station shuttles
- I-Go parking
- Day Care
- Retail
- Mixed-income housing
Support Your Local Newspaper
Mail payment to: News-Star
141 South Oak Park Avenue
Oak Park, IL 60302
Blast From The Voting Records Past
Aldermanic Voting Records 2000-2002
Aldermanic Voting Records 2003-2006
Feds Probe City Records on Alderman's Zoning Changes
Federal investigators have requested city records on four West Side zoning changes pushed by Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th), amid questions about Carothers' relationship with a Chicago developer who made secret recordings as an FBI mole.
Last year, Carothers' New 29th Ward Campaign Committee got $11,000 in contributions from Morgan Properties Inc., which lists FBI mole John Thomas as "manager."
The contributions came in payments of $9,000, $500 and $1,500, with the last one made on Feb. 23, 2007 -- four days before the aldermanic election, records show.
Last April 9, the committee returned all $11,000, offering no explanation in campaign records except "refund of excess contribution."
Carothers, the powerful chairman of the City Council's Police and Fire Committee, did not return calls seeking comment. He also declined to answer written questions.
Thomas is the Chicago developer-turned-FBI-mole who played a pivotal role in one of the two federal cases involving Tony Rezko, the indicted developer and political fund-raiser who is accused of business fraud and of seeking kickbacks and campaign contributions for Gov. Blagojevich from companies seeking state pension business.
The Sun-Times has reported that Thomas recorded hundreds of hours of conversations for federal investigators. Sources said the government had Thomas -- who is cooperating in hopes of getting probation for a felony fraud conviction in New York -- secretly record conversations with an unidentified Chicago alderman.
One of the 29th Ward zoning files that federal authorities requested from the city dates to May 2005, when Carothers introduced a zoning change for vacant land at Roosevelt and Central to be converted from manufacturing to heavy commercial.
The applicant for that zoning change was V-Land Chicago Roosevelt LLC. Jason Gigot, listed as a contact for the applicant, could not be reached. Nor could attorney John Pikarsky. Jay Javors, spokesman for listed property owner Roosevelt and Canal LLC, did not return calls.
Two of the three other zoning files pertain to the same property and were jointly introduced in August 2006 by Carothers and Ald. Emma Mitts (37th), his protege.
The applicant on those, Grand Central Center for Business LLC, was seeking to change zoning from manufacturing to mixed-use. The land, part of a so-called planned development, required -- and received -- a green light from the Planning and Development Department.
The fourth application was introduced by Carothers in 2007 on behalf of the Chicago Board of Education for Knute Rockne Stadium in Austin.
Three years ago, Carothers' name surfaced in the Hired Truck scandal. Carothers, a former Streets and Sanitation Department deputy, received $2,500 in contributions from Naperville businessman Martin McDonagh, who later pleaded guilty.
McDonagh allegedly made the contributions to Carothers at the request of John "Quarters" Boyle, who was sentenced to seven years for accepting $214,000 in cash, gifts and campaign contributions for steering Hired Truck business to favored companies.
At the time, Carothers said he knew Boyle from their days together on the city payroll. Carothers was not charged, said he did not ask Boyle to muscle truckers for gifts. And he returned the money.
Is the FBI going to investigate the 46th ward zoning changes, especially in light of recent contributions by the property owner of Labor Ready?Monday, February 18, 2008
O.N.E. Does NOT Support Labor Ready!
"Jamiko Rose, executive director of ONE, called this afternoon to ask where stoplaborready.org obtained the mis-information that ONE supports Labor Ready opening a northside office. Jamiko re-iterated that ONE has taken NO position; its member organizations could not reach concensus on the matter. Some member organizations are individually supportive - while others are absolutely opposed. Therefore, ONE has taken no position.
It appears that the Board of Zoning Appeals was told lies on Thursday. Who will correct the lies?
Sunday, February 17, 2008
We're Not Ready
Labor Ready Sent a Felon to Work
Labor Ready Takes Up to 50% of Pay
Labor Ready's Ethics Questioned By Many
Labor Ready on Wikipedia
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Shiller Only Alderman Who Refused To Vote For New Police Superintendent
Why is Alderman Shiller the only alderman who refused to cast a vote on January 9 for the appointment of Jody P. Weis to Superintendent of the Department of Police? Check out the vote roll call here and draw your own conclusions. Is she not elected to vote on issues? It's worth contacting her office on Monday to get their spin.
'Pure2o' Sign Arrives At Clarendon And Leland
The sign announcing the upcoming "Pure2o" condo development was recently posted at Clarendon and Leland. The website says "coming soon." Check back there soon for more info.
Update: Joe Zekas over at "YoChicago" posted a link with more info on the "Pure2o" development. Check it out here. Thanks for linking to it Mr. Pirate.
Zoning Change Proposal At 4557 Sheridan
Zoning Board Weighs Labor Ready Request
News-Star
The Zoning Board of Appeals said it would be several weeks before it announces its decision on a special-use zoning variance that would allow Labor Ready Midwest Inc. to open a day labor branch office at 4830 N. Sheridan Road.
Labor Ready Midwest Inc., a division of TrueBlue Inc. based in Tacoma, Wash., provides temporary, blue-collar staffing. It wants to open a Labor Ready branch office on the border between the 46th and 48th Wards. To do so, a special use zoning variance is required.
About 100 Uptown residents from the two wards turned out to testify before the ZBA Friday morning, packing two sections of the city council chambers. Opponents claim that locating a day labor agency does not meet the requirements of the city's zoning ordinance and would affect the quality of life in the already struggling Uptown neighborhood.
Residents also contend that Labor Ready doesn't do enough due diligence in checking potential workers' backgrounds for felony convictions and sex offenses. The proposed site sits across the street from two elementary schools, a play lot, and a Chicago Boys and Girls Club.
Labor Ready requires job applicants to complete a self-administered behavioral survey that asks applicants questions about past drug use and other behavior that might pose a safety risk on job sites.
Uptown-resident Cindy Anderson and a former 46th Ward aldermanic candidate, questioned why the Ravenswood Industrial Corridor, a mile south of the proposed Labor Ready site, wasn't considered.
""Why didn't we consider this because (a day labor agency) is already a permitted use," Anderson said.
Alderman Helen Shiller, 46th, told board members that she had 50 letters of support for the day labor agency, including letters from Uptown social service organizations.
"Clearly people are looking to work," Shiller said. "In my opinion, we have a developing community and a lot of needs. This is just a small niche."
Two of the ZBA's five board members were not able to attend Friday's meeting. The ZBA requires three "yes" votes to approve special use requests.
Labor Ready opted to let the absent board members listen to recorded testimony so that the entire ZBA could weigh in on the decision.
Gigi McCabe-Miel, who chaired the meeting, said that the ZBA would notify Labor Ready and residents of its final decision "in a number of weeks."
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Reminder: Be There Or Be Square
The zoning meeting for Labor Ready's variance is scheduled for Friday, February 15 at 9am in City Hall.
We're hoping to get as many people as possible to attend and show their support on this issue. Attendees to the hearing can sit in the gallery. Please look for a few of your neighbors wearing orange. They will have buttons for you to wear and we should like our supporters to sit together in the gallery.
City Council Chambers, 2nd Floor
121 N. La Salle St.
Chicago, IL 60602
Roaches, Bad Goat Meat Close Uptown Restaurant
An African restaurant in the Uptown neighborhood was ordered shut down Wednesday after city inspectors found a cockroach infestation and food -- including tripe and goat meat -- being stored at unsafe temperatures.City Department of Public Health inspectors discovered a cockroach infestation in the kitchen, as well as cooked food held at unsafe temperatures (goat meat at 120 degrees, chicken at 116 degrees and tripe at 102 degrees -- all well below the 140 degree minimum required) at the TBS African Restaurant, 4507 N. Sheridan Rd., according to a release from the department. Wednesday's visit by the Health Department was a routine, unannounced inspection, the release said.
Representatives of TBS will face an administrative hearing on March 27 and pay a fine expected to total $1,000.The enforcement action was the 16th in 2008 in which Health Department inspectors have closed a food establishment for violations of the city Health Code.
UU Commenter Gets Props
"I don't think (the Labor Ready) day labor office is a bad idea for the 46th ward, but that close to a Boys & Girls club and an elementary school is a terrible idea.
Maybe there's space near (Ald. Helen) Shiller's office in the McJunkin Building?"
Anonymous comment left on "Uptown Update"
Not In My Backyard?
News-Star Our Views
Once again a silent alderman has played both long-time residents and those new to Uptown against the neighborhood's complex socio-economic problems.
Alderman Helen Shiller's has shown a lack of transparency in not seeking community input from all Uptown residents and only notifying a few of a proposed special-use zoning variance to locate a day labor agency in the 46th Ward. In doing so she has placed the neighborhood's most vulnerable residents in the middle-children and adults who are most desperately in need of full-time, permanent jobs.
This is more than a simplified argument of "not in my back yard." It's about putting a Band-Aid on Uptown's legion of chronically unemployed residents. Offering temporary jobs for pennies a day does not put the neighborhood's homeless and chronically unemployed on the path to living-wage jobs and permanent housing.
While we agree that a majority of those individuals who will use Labor Ready for temporary employment are hardworking individuals looking for an honest day's work, Labor Ready has not done enough to establish how it intends to address potential problems arising from loitering and a lack of background checks to weed out criminal elements, save for a "self administered behavioral survey."
The location of a day labor agency in a largely residential neighborhood near child-centered facilities and a burgeoning commercial district presents too many potential problems that may endanger the safety of children as well as deter retail and commercial investment along the 4800 block of Sheridan Road.
We encourage Labor Ready to consider a location in an industrial corridor near public transportation and away from homes and schools, and ask that the surrounding business community assist Labor Ready in finding such a location.
We also believe that Uptown's public and private interests can do better to make a more concerted effort to assist those residents who for what ever reason, be it substance abuse or a wrong turn on the side of law, access proven and well-supervised job training and job placement programs.
Finally, we urge the Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals to listen respectfully and carefully to the concerns of residents on both sides of the argument, and not let the sound of a rubber stamp reverberate through City Hall out of "aldermanic courtesy."
Uptown Residents Oppose Day Labor Agency
News-Star
Uptown residents and civic organizations only have one shot to voice their concern about a proposed day labor service at 4830 N. Sheridan Road that sits on the border of the 46th Ward adjacent to the 48th Ward.
The Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals is set to make its final determination at 9 a.m. Feb. 15 at City Hall, on a special-use application submitted by Labor Ready Midwest Inc., a division of Tacoma, Wash.-based TrueBlue Inc., a $348 million company that provides temporary, blue-collar staffing to a variety of industries.
The Uptown Chicago Commission is also encouraging residents to attend Friday's ZBA meeting and voice their concerns.
A majority of those who oppose the location of a Labor Ready office in Uptown said that it does not meet the requirements for a special-use variance.
Residents have expressed concerns that the dozens of workers who are expected to line up daily in front of the Labor Ready office may pose a danger to children who attend two elementary schools and a Boys and Girls Club located across the street on Sheridan Road.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Au Revoir, Hotel Chateau?
MEETING ABOUT POSSIBLY VACATING THE HOTEL CHATEAU!
From my office-mates at the REMAX:
The Hotel Chateau hearing will be tomorrow, February 14, at 9:30am at the Daley Center, room # 111.
Please extend an invitation to anyone who cares about the neighborhood that we work and live in!
Off Target? Like A Broken Record...
"OFF TARGET: Uptown residents keeping watch over the Wilson Yard property at Montrose and Wilson are a vigilant group. Many of them reminded me that the site's developer, Peter Holsten, vowed in December that construction on the Target store would begin in January. He said so in the Sun-Times.
January is gone in the winter slush, and yet no construction has started. I know that thanks to many e-mails. So a conversation with Holsten was mandatory but not revelatory.
"Nothing's wrong and we are in good shape but I cannot talk about it," he said. Many retailers have been delaying or scrapping store expansions because the economy is pinching their earnings and banks are less eager to lend."
Zoning Changes For Sale
As previously posted on Uptown Update, many Uptown residents, including Uptown United, Uptown Chicago Commission and many block clubs, have expressed concern about the proposed Labor Ready location at 4830 North Sheridan. Residents report that Alderman Helen Shiller strongly supports this day labor office.
Could it be a coincidence that the owner of 4830-4 North Sheridan, Slater Realty and Investments, made a $250 campaign contribution to Citizens for Helen Shiller in November 2007? This contribution was made within weeks of the zoning change application.
Update: For those of you who would like to keep track of who donates to our Alderman, we added a handy link entitled "Campaign Contribution Database" off on the right. Towards the bottom of the search fields, enter a name such as "Shiller." You may have to narrow down the results by entering something in the "received date" field. It's hours of endless fun. Try it out! November 2007 was a VERY profitable month for our alderman.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Take A Gander At These Ganders
In Case You Missed It...
All That Jazz
We're Zoned Out
We just came across these letters received by residents living near Broadway and Wilson. Any ideas what our Alderman is up to now? We remember this area was to be downzoned from B3-3 to B3-2, back in May. And why does it take 9 months to finally get this change on Broadway rolling? What is the difference between a "neighborhood mixed used district" and a "community shopping district?"
Update: We added the other mailing received by a nearby resident. It appears that the mailing dealing with common address "4601-19 North Kenmore Ave" pertains to the vacant lot to the west of McDonald's on Wilson. See the photo below.