The New York Times looks at a struggling Chicago middle-class neighborhood
A couple of months ago, I wrote about working-class Chicago South Side neighborhoods that have trouble keeping their business corridors running because potential businesses were scared off by the South Side's notoriety.
This is a different side of the same phenomenon.
In the earlier piece, I mentioned Chatham, a middle class neighborhood that remained a safe area (for anyone who could afford to live there) since the 1960s. But over the past few years, things started to go wrong - crime rates increased, the number of foreclosures exploded and several long-time businesses closed, while others are struggling.
This New York Times article (and the accompanying video) looks at Chatham's recent history, touching on the challenges and issues the community facing and what those issues say about the rest of the South Side and Chicago in general. The article skims on some issues (like the notion that former public housing residents are behind the increase in neighborhood crime - Chicago News Cooperative investigation and Chicago Housing Authority study suggest that reality isn't quite that clear-cut). But overall, it's a pretty good primer.
I would recommend reading the whole article, but, if you don't have time to read long pieces, you can always look at the accompanying video (which won't embed for some reason, so I had to give a direct link)
Those issues matter. The fate of Chatham matters. Because South Side is more complex than most people realize, and there is not going to be any meaningful change until more Chicagoans understand that. Because you can't solve a problem if you can't even diagnose it correctly.
This is a different side of the same phenomenon.
In the earlier piece, I mentioned Chatham, a middle class neighborhood that remained a safe area (for anyone who could afford to live there) since the 1960s. But over the past few years, things started to go wrong - crime rates increased, the number of foreclosures exploded and several long-time businesses closed, while others are struggling.
This New York Times article (and the accompanying video) looks at Chatham's recent history, touching on the challenges and issues the community facing and what those issues say about the rest of the South Side and Chicago in general. The article skims on some issues (like the notion that former public housing residents are behind the increase in neighborhood crime - Chicago News Cooperative investigation and Chicago Housing Authority study suggest that reality isn't quite that clear-cut). But overall, it's a pretty good primer.
I would recommend reading the whole article, but, if you don't have time to read long pieces, you can always look at the accompanying video (which won't embed for some reason, so I had to give a direct link)
Those issues matter. The fate of Chatham matters. Because South Side is more complex than most people realize, and there is not going to be any meaningful change until more Chicagoans understand that. Because you can't solve a problem if you can't even diagnose it correctly.