[VIDEO] Next-level squatting?
Well these people were able to get into this house, so somehow they got keys. And according to this report there is a mortgage document that shows an address in the south suburbs not this city location - which wasn't established.
What do you all think of this situation? Should the police have kicked these alledged squaters out in this situation with the evidence presented? Should there be a simpler process for situations like this?
This is near 98th and Michigan. Known for their Jones hamburgers. I haven't patronized this business in years and at that this was when I was much younger. I wish I could give you a review of how good the burgers and service was here.
[VIDEO] Sometimes I enjoy the local commentary of the YouTube channel Chicago Like a Local. He takes aim at a recent trend in modern residential architecture.
He calls the homes you see in this video blocky or "Minecraft" homes. I may lament the construction of housing that doesn't fit the style of a particular neighborhood. At the same time perhaps you may have a neighborhood where the housing isn't in great condition.
In fact homes like these could be one sign of gentrification. Chicago Like a Local does refer to these homes as overpriced.
Lately I've been taking aim at Roseland and I wonder how many people wouldn't mind seeing homes like these built in Roseland, for example?
Also will this YouTuber ever go to the far south side?
Check out the two proposals to develop the long vacant lot on the southwest corner of 115th & Michigan which used be home to a retail strip back in the day. The development would be perfect for the soon to come CTA Red Line extension where a stop would be located nearby.
A grocery store would be a good pick-up for that corner and certainly a cafe or restaurant. In addition to whatever retail that may come there will be some housing with some green space. And then of course a park & ride for those who will be taking the Red Line.
When you see these proposals what are your thoughts? What would like to see at 115th & Michigan?
[VIDEO] Not exactly a pressing topic right now, though one discussed with regards to our city's history. Of course we can talk about segregation in Chicago and it's ongoing economic and social impact to this day. This video is over six years old.
After $15 million update in 2018, the Governor’s Mansion will close for more renovations. https://t.co/ktq0b7Th5o pic.twitter.com/Iqjcl1NPJ0— Curbed Chicago (@curbedchicago) October 4, 2019
CTU wants to negotiate affordable housing issues https://t.co/eeWL9tFAx1— Rich Miller (@capitolfax) October 9, 2019
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| Via Chicago Neighborhoods |
The $18 million Pullman Artspace Lofts will be built on land that's been vacant for 88 years.https://t.co/BlW7gLqdgk— Chicago Reader (@Chicago_Reader) July 10, 2018
The historic Pullman neighborhood is getting 38 units of affordable housing inside a new $18 million artists' enclave—some 124 years after Pullman railroad car workers went on strike over the company's refusal to lower their rents after cutting their pay.I might have a few shots of the land where these lofts are to be located to be shared in the future. There was a period of time that I strolled through Pullman either on foot or driving where I took a series of photographs. And surely the work in Pullman is still not completed at least not yet!
The Pullman Artspace Lofts, a new apartment building to be built between two long-abandoned Pullman workers' housing units, sits on three-quarters of an acre on Langley Avenue, just south of 111th Street. The three-story, 32,000-square-foot complex sits on land that's been vacant for 88 years. The construction itself marks the first new residential development built in Pullman in nearly half a century. It's unique because it will house 2,000 square feet of community space intended to be used as an art gallery, meeting place, classrooms, and community room. It's expected to open in early fall 2019.
The Artspace Lofts is a home-grown project in a neighborhood that has more than its share of artists, including painters, musicians, filmmakers, sculptors, and ceramicists, said architect Ann Alspaugh, a board member and past president of Pullman Arts, a neighborhood nonprofit whose volunteers have worked on the development for the past eight years.
"It's [the result of] a lot of hard work by a lot of people," she said, noting that the project required meeting and even exceeding local and state landmark and historic district requirements, obtaining unconventional funding, and conducting detailed feasibility studies.
A look at what $250K get you in Chicago right now @ChicagoMag https://t.co/0Ih0xh7SEc— Adrian E. LaTrace, Jr. (@ajlatrace) March 27, 2018
525 E. 112th Street, PullmanNot far away from Roseland and you can get a house for almost a quarter of a million dollars. Pullman is a great neighborhood anyway of great historic value and it's no wonder it's part of a national monument!
An integral community to Chicago’s role in rail, heavy industry, and labor rights, the Pullman neighborhood has another unique designation as the city’s first and only National Monument. And for $250,000, you can purchase a historic row home (pictured above) that has been fully overhauled and updated for contemporary living. It’s worth noting that this property is currently the most expensive on the market in the neighborhood—still a fraction of the amount that wealthy rail enthusiasts are spending on restoring old Pullman Palace Cars for cross-country travel.
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| Rendering of the west option Michigan CTA station - CTA |
Activist Lou Turner, though pleased the project is going forward after decades of discussion, said he also wished it hadn't taken so long and had concerns that some residents may get pushed out by gentrification once the L goes through.And then of course the properties CTA would need to purchase to build the extension:
"There could be unintended consequences," said Turner, director of undergraduate and graduate studies in the African-American Studies department at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "This area has the largest stock of affordable housing in the city."
Turner said the CTA's draft environmental impact statement on the proposed $2.3 billion project does not address the issue of gentrification, which has driven up property prices by as much as 48 percent in some areas along The 606 trail on the city's Northwest Side. A final environmental impact study is needed to secure federal funding.
"It's a concern, but at the same time I am very happy," said Turner, who like Jones had pushed for the extension with the Developing Communities Project, a group that once included President Barack Obama.
Under the east option, the CTA elevated structure would be built east of the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way from 99th street to 118th street. This option would affect 260 parcels, including 106 buildings, 90 of which are residential, officials said. Under this route, more single-family residences would be affected, officials said.By next year it's said we'll know which option east or west the CTA will pursue as their preferred routing. That way any property owner will brace themselves for the impact. Thus anyone in the way would have to move.
Under the west option, the line would run west of the Union Pacific Railroad from 99th street to 118th street. This option would affect more commercial and industrial properties, some 205 of them, officials said. About 46 would require building demolitions; 26 are residential.
Those homes and business owners would be compensated, including for moving costs, under federal regulations.
Roseland resident Aaron Mallory discovered his four-unit building could be demolished under the extension.
“It’s an investment property, so I have mixed feelings,” he said.
Mallory said he doesn't want to lose the building, but he also supports an extension of mass transit.
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| Something you may have seen on our ig |
Simeon Career Academy senior Hakeem Day would rather be working with his hands than in the streets.The reporter for this story Andrea Watson has a poll up asking "Should our teens learn the trades?" My answer would be yes, we need carpenters, mechanics, pipe fitters, plumbers, etc. Trades in addition to helping our young people get into college. Different programs and different options.
“I’ve been interested in construction since I was a little kid and this gives me the opportunity to practice for the future because I plan on doing this in the future,” said the 18-year-old Roseland resident.
He is getting that opportunity through a new youth and trades After School Matters program.
Aaron Mallory, 28, of Roseland started the program through his nonprofit God Restoring Order, or G.R.O. He’s working with a group of high school teens from schools including Simeon, Morgan Park and the Noble charter schools
The goal is to improve the community one block at a time by rehabbing the abandoned homes, and Mallory is doing just that with the help of local teens. They’re finishing up work on their first home near 109th Street and Wentworth Avenue.
With Chicago in the midst of a housing crisis we can't help but see the promises of these luxury developments coinciding with the displacement of Chicago's working class and the hastening demise of its affordability for anyone making less than $72,000 a year (that's how much you'd have to make to reasonably afford a studio apartment at $1,825 a month, based on this popular rental formula).Now it makes me wonder where are rents in this part of the city range. For those who want something affordable in a safe and good community would it still be out of reach for those looking for a place to live?
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| 8459 South Michigan - Eric Allix Rogers |
Some residents hope Pullman could be the next hot neighborhood on the South Side if things continue to look up.And with the Walmart and Methods factory mentions Ms. English is looking for something else to round things up here:
President Barack Obama's designation of Pullman as a national monument earlier this year, along with the new Method Soap Factory has helped put Pullman back on the map, residents and Realtors said. A new Wal-Mart and other retail stores have provided more shopping options to the neighborhood.
“I think it’s going to be the next big thing outside of Hyde Park,” said Aundrea English, 36, who has lived on the 10700 block of South Champlain for the last three years.
What attracted her to her home was simple, she said. The neighbors were friendly, and she fell in love with the make of the historic rowhomes. The solid foundation, the bricks, the “east coast feel,” all had her sold after touring her house for the first time.
“I wanted to be in something trendy, but it had to be affordable,” English said. “I can’t afford Hyde Park, I can’t afford Bronzeville. ... so this was perfect.”
The neighborhood is improving, she said. When she first moved in, there were a lot of renters, but now just about everyone owns their home. She said it makes a difference.
"I can’t wait to see what’s next," English said. "All we need are some live music places, and a couple of places to stay, some sit-down restaurants. Those things are coming."Perhaps they can finally come up with a plan for the Hotel Florence. In the meanwhile what are the realtors saying:
Mike Wolski, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker, has been selling homes in Pullman for 10 years. He said that he has seen more people taking an interest in the area's rowhouses.Here's hoping the future of Pullman can only serve to change the future of Roseland that is to the east of Cottage Grove.
“The neighborhood is one of a kind,” Wolski said, “It was built as a company town in the 1880s, and virtually almost all the original houses made in the 1880s period are still standing. Most of the houses are in good shape and people want to be a part of that. The architecture is really and truly one of a kind. There’s nothing else like it in Chicago.”
He said homes have been selling at prices between $75,000 to $140,000, depending on the condition.
On Aug. 29, Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives (CNI) and Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) of Chicago partnered together to host an open house and block party for some newly renovated homes. Three such homes were for sale on Bolton’s block, and now only one is left.
Sale prices have gone up in North Pullman, said Brian Caron, a managing broker with AMS Realty because “newly rehabbed homes are in demand in Pullman.” Between 2011-2014, the average prices on their renovated homes has gone up, from under $70,000 to now $95,000, Caron said.
Wolski said increased list prices of these homes are a huge improvement over the foreclosure sales that the block saw in previous years.
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The excessive amount of vacant homes have attracted developers, said Conrade Carpenter, of City & Suburbs Realty, who know the homes will be in demand once they are rehabbed. That is showing up in the higher prices being paid for those properties, which are some cases as high as they were in the 1960s, said Carpenter, who grew up in the area. He said the resurgence is happening even with the stigma that the area sometimes gets because of crime.
“I have seen the changes of the neighborhood over the years, [especially] with the new development things going on and Pullman being historic," he said. "It's coming back."
