Friday, May 20, 2011

Clifton Apartments Get Bricked

A reader sends in the following pic and info:
"I just passed by the low-income apartments at 4416 N. Clifton that are still being rehabbed with TIF money. Thought you'd like to know that they are installing beautiful brick pathways that are nicer than what most buildings in Uptown have."

22 comments:

  1. If we are paying for the brinck pathways, at least we are paying for nice ones! :)

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  2. Oh, yes...we are paying for Voice of the People's nice brick pathways. And their nice new dumpster surrounds. And their all-new kitchens (with new appliances)...new fire escapes/back porches/back stairs (which are wonderful for their resident drug-dealers)...all new windows...new roof...new solar panels...new heating system...and re-pointing all the masonry. Most of it is being paid for by the taxpayers of the Wilson Yard TIF District, courtesy of Helen Shiller (without the input and without the approval of the taxpayers).

    This is exactly the sort of stuff that I want Alderman Cappleman and Mayor Emanuel to fix--the taxpaying neighbors of the Voice buildings (and don't forget the work across Clifton and the work on the Racine buildings--still ongoing) should NOT have to foot the bill for those corrupt slumlords...unless we get to force Voice to clear out the drug dealers and felons from their buildings, force them to clean up the trash and refuse on their properties, and force them to pay for all future maintenance and upkeep out of their own pockets. If Voice can't do that, then the City ought to be able to take posession of the buildings, sell them to the highest bidders, and use the proceeds to repay the lost investment of tax dollars that has been flushed down the toilet by those scumbags.

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  3. You forgot one important appliance!!! The brand NEW air conditioners were paying for so everyone can stay cool in the summertime. THEN they run up their electric bill sky high and get THAT paid TOO. Ahhhh, what a good life...SMFH

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  4. I am appalled by these comments, truly appalled.

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  5. Oops! Missed that, un-bias--thank you. And yes, their "rent" includes all utilities--and judging by the number of trips that Comcast makes to the building that is the subject of the post, I think that includes free (to the residents) cable.

    I am reminded of several things by this post--the new, expensive cars that some residents parked overnight at the curb; the ongoing fight their management company has going on with the Mama of the Black P-Stones to get her evicted from another Clifton building for sporadic rent payment (and she *happens* to work for the Cook County Courts); and the "working girl" who used to turn tricks out of her 4428 N. Clifton apartment--at least once a week, she would wake up all the neighbors at 3 a.m., screaming that her evening's "boyfriend" was trying to kill her...she was finally evicted, and I found her lease agreement blowing around outside after she packed her bags: she was kicked out for non-payment of rent, and her lease was for a grand total of **FIVE DOLLARS PER MONTH** above and beyond her Section 8 voucher.

    Let's get the brooms out.

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  6. Johnson, I hope you're appalled by what you're reading in the comments and not by the comments themselves. I wouldn't mind having Section 8 buildings get a little help, but what we are all paying for is wholesale rehabilitation of buildings that Voice intentionally let deteriorate over the years...and they make money hand-over-fist from the Section 8 vouchers alone. If you aren't putting any of your own skin into the game, then you have no motivation to protect and maintain the investment like the rest of us do--Voice apparently thinks that they will just get a few million more in grants to take care of their deferred maintenance so they can continue having their upper management living the high life on the public dole.

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  7. This is the tail end of how Shiller pissed away the Wilson Yard TIF's $112 million and our neighborhood is still designated as a blighted community.

    Montrose & Broadway should have been the heart of our bustling new Uptown retail center.

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  8. bear60640 thanks for posting what has been in my head for awhile.

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  9. Johnson: I hear you. It is upsetting to me how many people use this blog as an outlet for complaining and ranting instead of attempting to generate proactive, productive ideas. It would be nice if more time was spent trying to educate ourselves and learn more about our less-fortunate neighbors and who they really are, and all the different ways taxpayer money is really spent -- that might actually shed a bit of empathy on the situation. But it seems more people just enjoy being angry.

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  10. Jenn, I grew up without air conditioning, and did just fine... I think if I am footing the bill for housing, landscaping, heating, water, electricity, garbage pick-up and often food, asking them to live how I did , and how EVERYONE did in the history of the world until about 50 years ago, without air conditioning, would not be asking too much...

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  11. Jenn, you're new to Uptown. Perhaps if you would try to educate yourself about the Wilson Yard TIF and see how many people tried to get One Hundred Million Dollars - that's $100,000,000.00 - spent in a way to benefit the entire community and bring economic development to Uptown, only to have the alderman give it away to her tax-free, non-revenue-generating pets and buddies, you might understand the anger and frustration.

    Just keep on judging, though. Because we can never get enough of newbies telling us how to think and feel about things that happened while we actually lived here and battles we actually fought.

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  12. I would definitely like to learn more about the TIF project. It's hard to educate myself via government documents (ie http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/dcd/supp_info/tif/wilson_yard_tif.html) since there's so much legal jargon to sift through. Plus such documents obviously doesn't capture the debates that came before the final decisions were made.

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  13. Jenn, I'll chalk your unfortunate sanctimony up to you being new to the neighborhood and uninformed about the public policy parade of horribles and political cronyism that so dominated Helen Shiller's tenure.

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  14. How about just basic maintenance and upkeep of the property? Participation in community service, picking up trash, planting flowers in the neighborhood...Be appalled if you want. Instead of being appalled by neighbors expressing their feelings, be a bit appalled by the people who are receiving help and not giving back to the community by just appreciating what they have been given and help keep the neighborhood clean as well as caring for their homes. This neighborhood is just exhausting.

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  15. how old are these places that they need to be practically gut rehabbed? the housing at corner of leland and malden looks fairly new exterior and has been in the process of rehab since last summer.

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  16. So this is why the Uptown Theatre wasnt fixed?

    Appalling, Schiller really misspent the TIF money, what a legacy......

    The reason why Im such an avid follower is because I grew in Chicago and im 37 and I couldnt figure out why Uptown was still so blighted, I grew up in Lincoln Park
    and lived for a few years in LakeView and it seemed like there was a forcefield just south of Irving Park that couldnt be breached for some reason.....

    Now after the past few years and blog entries like this Im finally learning why, thank god after so many many years there is new leadership in this area which sorely needs something else besides invested the money into just one type of enterprise......

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  17. No, Jeffo. The Uptown Theatre is in the 48th Ward. It is NOT part of the Wilson Yard TIF.

    However, Shiller did allocate more than $10 million from the WYTIF to fix Voice of the People buildings, which VotP had not maintained. Shiller only gave $3 million to the Wilson El. (Which Peter Holsten had said on several occassions deserved and would receive a top to bottom overhaul.)

    Shows where her priorities were. She managed to spend the last $50 million ($50,000,000.00) from the TIF in the last year of office on things like a greenhouse for Uplift HS. Still didn't fix the Wilson el.

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  18. seems like there are many areas around Uplift School that could have served a purpose similar to a greenhouse that would have been far less expensive and a positive addition to the neighborhood. Why can't the school "adopt" an area to maintain and beautify like streets and stretches of highway are? Hard work is so beneficial

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  19. Well, Jenn, if you've given up on educating yourself from primary sources, you can always try...google, or...the blog you're posting on.

    Although, it looks like you've already read enough of this blog to concluded it's "an outlet for complaining and ranting instead of attempting to generate proactive, productive ideas." So just keep entertaining us with your judgments.

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  20. I did not intend for my last post to be interpreted that way; I have not "given up" on using primary sources, but rather I'm assuming legal documents are not going to help me as much when trying to understand people's frustrations. I agree that I need to develop a better sense of the anger fueling people's posts before I make my own comments, and that is a large part of why I turn to this blog. I recognize that the people who write here are exactly the people who likely took (and take) an active stance out in the community, beyond the anonymity of the internet.

    But you must recognize that my timing is less than ideal and out of my control. I'm tuning in during a year when much of what I'm reading stems from the aftermath of a lot of past emotionally charged, anger-provoking events (the TIF decisions, views on Helen Shiller), making it hard for someone who's relatively new to the community to get a true sense of the history here. It also makes it hard to feel like I've moved into a neighborhood that works to embrace everyone, whether rich or poor, young or old, new to the neighborhood or a resident of many years.

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  21. Okay, yeah I keep forgetting that.
    Well Schiller shouldve donated some money to the adjacent ward to help out the Uptown theatre since it would directly impact the neighboring ward.

    Ward boundaries are so crazy....

    Jenn, I personally dont think its hard to get a handle on Uptowns issues.


    Take a look around the city and all its neighborhoods, and then look at Uptown...
    There isnt another neighborhood like Uptown is there?

    Its a neigborhood that has been artificially held back for many many years. As I mentioned
    I grew up in Chicago and I have never understood why Uptown continued to be so shabby until I read about what was happening under Schillers rule.....

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  22. That's what happens when you spend other people's money. It's an "in your face" insult from Helen to the people of Uptown who have to make do with overcrowded schools, dark streets and not enough police for the amount of crime in the neighborhood. Lavish money on aesthetics and cheap out on what needs to be done.

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