Wednesday, July 16, 2008

A 16-Year Uptown Resident's Letter

A long-time resident of the 46th Ward wrote a letter to the alderman's office, which he shared with Uptown Update:

I have to say, I am so concerned about the state of Uptown today.

Walking from a friend's Edgewater apartment to my condo on Malden, WHY must I be confronted by a myriad of homeless, mentally ill, abusive, drunk, drug fueled, and generally wandering hordes of 'thugs'? ... The 'strip' between Montrose and Wilson, on Broadway, is such a disgrace.

All the news concerning the 'Wilson Yard' is grim. 'Uptown Slum' in the making. This development seems to be a make-or-break situation for our community, and it looks like the slippery slope just got worse. What about those re-election postcards sent out, with the stylized artist's conception of the finished Wilson Yard?

Does the Alderman realize most real estate brokers suggest selling in winter, thus avoiding potential buyers from seeing the vagrant messes on the street? Does the Alderman realize that most of this goes beyond extra police presence, in that the horrible stage has been firmly set?

Where is the common sense.....and where is the commitment to the future?

And the alderman's answer to her long-time constituent? Nothing. Nada. Silence. As usual, "Alderman Shiller was unavailable for comment."

Which makes Uptown Update wonder... who is representing the interests of the residents of the 46th Ward? Certainly not Helen Shiller. She won't even acknowledge them.

14 comments:

  1. Why does this author seem to feel these problems are the governments issue to deal with and not their own personal issue that they should be attending to? These are people that they are speaking of, not concrete or telephone poles!

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  2. otto,

    you missed the point of the letter. The author is basically saying that if you can't handle the poor that you've got now, then its probably a bad idea to build a giant building full of them, especially given that it will be managed in the same poor way that every other building is managed in this city. Has Holsten giving us any reason to believe that his management will be anything other than a disaster? No.

    Additionally, Holsten will have absolutely no reason to perform any upkeep on Wilson Yard at all. He will already have pocketed millions from the construction, and the rent checks will come almost entirely from the City regardless of the state of the building, so he's almost incentivized to be as cheap as absolutely possible. There is a five year backlog of people waiting to get into CHA housing, so he'll have not shortage of tennants, not matter how shitty the building is going to be.

    saskia has some good ideas on what can be done to make public housing work, and I personally think it would be in our best interests to start to coalesce around those concepts. Wilson Yard is coming and there is little we can do to stop it. In my humble opinion, the best course of action is to unite behind a movement for some form of community management and/or oversight.

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  3. Thanks, windycity. I recommend that everyone read that Boston Globe article. Anyone have the link? IMHO, what happened with Grove Park is all too possible here. The developer will get lots of money to build the place but will there be enough money to maintain it? Will the obligation be handed off to someone else? What about the fact that it is still a vertical housing complex and that it is not economically mixed? Somehow they could work a deal for mixed housing for Cabrini but not here. Holsten is a clout developer. Chicago has a poor track record on both CHA managed properties and clout developer managed properties. Area residents have legitimate concerns.

    As to Otto's comment that the issues mentioned in the article should be their own personal issue that they should be attending to, don't misread asking for help from the government with abandoning one's own obligations as a citizen. The person wrote a letter for goodness sake! That is a start. Without making this an extremely long post, this is a large part of the problem around here. The reason why there are troubled people in Uptown is due to massive failures (in mental health policy, government budgeting, regional planning, corrupt politics) as well as personal failures. Just as I don't hold the homeless completely responsible for their plight I don't hold the average citizen responsible for not loving enough or caring enough to radically change their life to do something about it. I really do commend people who see someone suffering and see it as an issue between themselves, their own spirit and God. But not everyone is willing to do that and that should be ok. The reason why we have government is to solve collective problems collectively.

    Uptown's issues stem from much more than a lack of love and cannot be fixed if we only loved and respected our most unfortunate citizens more.

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  4. The developer will get lots of money to build the place but will there be enough money to maintain it?

    Whether or not Holston has enough money to maintain the building is a seperate issue. Assume Holsten gets 10K per year, per unit for maintenance(and given how much the units cost, this isn't impossible), what motivation does he have to not just pocket the money? He'll have no shortage of tennants and rent regardless of the condition of the place. This is why I think we need to push for community oversight of the Wilson Yard development.

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  5. Sadly, there's no point in contacting Alderman Shiller. It must be nice to get $100,000 a year to do nothing.

    Ultimately, I feel the problem is Mayor Daley. A good leader takes resposibilty for not only his actions, but the actions of those below him. Somehow everyone around him gets blamed for his shortcomings. If Daley were more involved with his neighborhoods, not the Olympics, things would be a whole lot better.

    My point through all this rambling, is that the aldermen have no one to answer to in non-election years, so don't expect Helen to show her face until January 2011.

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  6. Windowless wrote:
    "I also notice Otto posted at 1:32 am, when most of Helen's payrolled pedofiles are up trolling the internet."

    I guess you would know more about this than me. I was up late installing floor tile in my entry way with my wife of 15 years. Some projects take us longer than others. Thankfully it didn't take as long as the hard wood flooring we installed 2 weeks ago! That was quite a process.

    You seems like a very considerate neighbor with a lot of concern for other people. I'm sure it was a mistake to have written such vulgar things here, one that I hope you will not make again.

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  7. BillyJoe,

    You always seem to point out that things are better than they were 10 years ago, and while true, you're ignoring two key points.

    First, just because something is better, doesn't mean we shouldn't improve it. You're using a classic bait and switch to imply that everything is fine. What does the Vis Vitae(the condos across from Carols) have to do with the Wilson Yard development? Do you honestly believe that there will be no problem at Wilson Yard because of some condo building a mile away? Are you honestly implying that if some parts of the ward get better then to "even things out" we should add a slum?

    Second, the ward is getting better because of the efforts of people that Alderman Shiller is directly trying TO KEEP OUT. You can't on one hand threaten and mock the condo owners, and then on the other hand praise them for how much the community has changed. BTW, there are also long time renters and homeowners in the area who are now finally getting a critical mass of like minded people around them. I think we can assume that they are not big Shiller supporters. What has she done to actually spur this development?

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  8. This is billyjoe's post from 9:16 a.m., which had to be edited because he played the grammar police card:

    ~~~~~~~~

    "Walking from a friend's Edgewater apartment to my condo on Malden, WHY must I be confronted by myriad homeless, mentally ill, abusive, drunk, drug fueled, and generally wandering hordes of 'thugs'? ... The 'strip' between Montrose and Wilson, on Broadway, is such a disgrace."

    In my opinion the strip between Montrose and Wilson is much less a disgrace now than it was 10-15 years ago.

    "All the news concerning the 'Wilson Yard' is grim. 'Uptown Slum' in the making. This development seems to be a make-or-break situation for our community, and it looks like the slippery slope just got worse."

    At the same time people are fretting about Wilson Yard, sections of Sheridan, Kenmore, and Winthrop Sts. have been gentrified during the last decade. So have the areas around Clark and Lawrence, and the other N/S and E/W side streets between Lawrence and Wilson and Montrose, and between Broadway and Clark. The nightclub and restaurant district at Lawrence and Broadway is thriving--greatly. There is now a luxury condo about to open across from Carol's Hillbilly Heaven.

    "Does the Alderman realize most real estate brokers suggest selling in winter, thus avoiding potential buyers from seeing the vagrant messes on the street?"

    If buyers don't ponder those questions themselves, like driving around in the area where they're looking to buy during different times or day, too bad.

    "Where is the common sense.....and where is the commitment to the future? And the alderman's answer to her long-time constituent? Nothing. Nada. Silence. As usual, 'Alderman Shiller was unavailable for comment.'"

    Based on my observations and responses to this letter writer's so-called complaints, there is absolutely no need for Alderman Shiller to "comment." Sure, Uptown ain't perfect, but many parts of it are certainly better, much better and not worse, than
    they were in the 70s and 80s.

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  9. WindyCityEagle: Im merely pointing out that the opinion of the letter writer focuses on Wilson Yard as being the "all and end all" of what's currently going on in Uptown, and that its presence will ruin the genrification progress made so far.

    I'd like to compare Wilson Yard's relatively small scale with that of the now-gone and vast Cabrini Green project, which for years sat within blocks of Chicago's Gold Coast. Cabrini Green was a hellhole, but it certainly didnt keep new people from coming in and buying residences in Old Town area and up and down nearby Clark and LaSalle Sts. In fact, the areas encircling Cabrini Green increased so much in value that they eventually foreshadowed its demise.

    Travel west on Montrose from the Wilson Yard (WY) site. Do you honestly think WY's construction is going to wipe out the gentrification that's been happening, and which stretches for miles up to and beyond Western Avenue? Does WY really threaten Wrigleyville and Lakeview to its immediate south, or the Southport corridor that's also in relative proximity?

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  10. "Travel west on Montrose from the Wilson Yard (WY) site. Do you honestly think WY's construction is going to wipe out the gentrification that's been happening, and which stretches for miles up to and beyond Western Avenue? Does WY really threaten Wrigleyville and Lakeview to its immediate south, or the Southport corridor that's also in relative proximity?"

    If Wilson Yard fails, it probably won't affect all these area's you mention, but it sure as hell would affect Uptown, which is the whole f'n point.

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  11. BillyJoe,

    So again with you its bait and switch. You point out that Uptown(and much of the rest of the northside) has gentrified, all the way to Western Ave. And since WY can't destroyed neighborhoods that far away, it can't possibly be all the bad.

    I'd like to compare WY's relatively large scale with the CHA housing currently on Magnolia Ave. Those few houses are turning Magnolia into a popular gang hangout. They've taken over Broncho Billy park and made the street unsafe to be on after dark. They've already killed one student from Truman college and caused fights, disturbances and robberies with numerous others. WY is slated to be TEN TIMES THE SIZE. By extension, its not unreleastic to expect TEN TIMES THE CRIME. Thats the concern of the residents in Uptown. Sometimes I run past the corner of Montrose and Broadway, and currently I feel safe doing so, but if that corner turns into another Magnolia, there is no way I'd do that for fear of my safety. No exercise is worth my children growing up without a father.

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  12. So, I was getting all wound up and ready to post, went to sign, came back AND....I lost it. I read Caring Neighbors post and said to myself, "Self, that's one smart person we got there."

    I will simply say this (echoing what other people have said): just because "it's better than it was 10, 15, 20 years" does not make today's problems acceptable.

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  13. this letter cuts to the chase, as they say....
    'Otto' has a rather myopic view on the situation, in my opinion.
    Without question, we all care about the well being, and hopeful future, of the homeless, ill, and / or generally crazy people we encounter on the streets of uptown........however, the 'social services experiment gone wild' up here, is a miserable failure.

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  14. Yes Yes

    I agree with the writter. I have lived here for many years. I see it getting worse by the year. You go to alderwomen and she is a real joke. I look for the police or alderwomen to do something to better our area. I cannot go out and rope up all the undesired,the gangs and drug users. If I could I would and have a uptown area we all could be proud of....It has really gotten bad. I say if people refuse the help and don`t try to better themselfs well it time we tell them to move on and out of our area we all would care to call safe and secure for us and our children to live in..........

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