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Showing posts with label neighborhoods. Show all posts
Showing posts with label neighborhoods. Show all posts

Monday, November 20, 2023

REVISIT: Where is Roseland Heights?

This was posted to The Sixth Ward Blog on March 5, 2012 not long after the ward remap at the time. The topic of Roseland Heights being recognized was a topic of discussion within the Roseland Heights Community Association then.

I attended the recent Roseland Heights Neighborhood Association meeting where they discussed a number of topics that affected that particular community. It could be about landscaping, street lighting, trash, fly dumping, parks, ect. But they devoted a lot of time to the recognition of Roseland Heights.

At their November meeting they devoted a lot of time to address the remap situation. One of the subjects that came up was the recognition of neighborhoods. Look at any current map of Chicago neighborhoods or even the community area maps and Roseland Heights (which is bounded by 95th on the north, Dan Ryan Expressway on the west, Bishop Ford/Calumet Expressway on the south, and King Drive on the east)  is not to be found. The maps are made up by the city, the community area maps were created originally by the University of Chicago, and another map made up by the real estate businesses.

The maps change when the city recognizes a particular area. They may also change when real estate people decide to distinguish an area from the surrounding area. For example you build some new houses in Englewood, you may not like the general reputation of Englewood so you would elect to give your development a new name. One that is marketable!

That may well have been the case in Roseland Heights but then that neighborhood organization has been in existence since at least 1956. So why is it that particular neighborhood isn't recognized at all?

But then apparently there is another thread. It seems on a past map - according to association president Clevan Tucker - Roseland Heights did exist. He was looking up information regarding Abbott Park and he threw out the names of Olympia Park or Champion Park and I'll just assume those are the original designation for Abbott Park near 95th & Michigan.

However old that map was, what happened between now and then where Roseland Heights lost their recognition? Oh and I forgot to add that Roseland Heights according to a neighborhood map provided by the city is considered part of Rosemoor. I took a detail of that map and put an image here.

Also notice the thin Strip of Roseland in light green that comes on the west up to 95th Street. The western part appears to be State Street and the eastern part is Michigan Avenue and then it widens out by 107th Street. The purple shade is Roosemoor which does include most of Roseland Heights and Chicago State University.

Friday, October 20, 2023

CapFax: Alderman attacked....

 Ald. Julia Ramirez (Ward 12) was attacked by constituents who were "protesting" a proposed tent camp in the Brighton Park neighborhood.

I would say citizens have a right to be concerned about immigrants to be housed in their communities. There have been stories out there about crime involving these immigrants who have been bused from places such as Texas primarily. Something needs to be done and there needs to be a better plan than a tent camp or just allowing them to shelter at district police stations.

What we don't need is footage of an Alderman (or Alderwoman but never Alderperson yuck) being whisked away from their constituents because of a violent mob (verbal or physical abuse). I'm glad to see today that the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council denounces the actions of the crowd.

Here's raw footage from what happened on Thurday via WGN News [VIDEO]

Saturday, July 29, 2023

ABL: DANGEROUS Illegal Aliens THREATEN Black Chicago Residents!

 

[VIDEO] Anthony Brian Logan isn't a Chicago resident and allow me to make that clear, he is one of those citizen YouTube personalities who talk about what's going on in the world. He's talking about Chicago and the issues of one neighborhood - particularly Woodlawn - and their issues with the migrants who have taken up residence at a neighborhood school Wadwsorth Elementary.

So he looks at a report from our local CBS affiliate WBBM-TV or CBS 2 Chicago and listen to resident comments towards city officials which include a deputy mayor, a deputy police superintendent, and an Alderman in this case Jeanette Taylor. Of course the town hall got heated though it underscores in some respects how unhappy some people in this city are with these migrants coming into their neighborhoods.

The other day I was walking around the Streeterville neighborhood, and I do believe it was noted in the WBBM-TV report. And near the intersection of St. Clair & Ohio there's a hotel there and you see these migrants (presumably I might add) just standing around loitering near the hotel and in a nearby alley. That alley is next door to a Dunkin Donuts. I'm amazed that this going on one block away from Michigan Avenue - the Magnificient Mile.

Just so that you might not be persuaded solely by the commentary offered by ABL, I will share links to the WBBM-TV report both video and a written report from the Hyde Park Herald.  [VIDEO]

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Could social media be utilized to influence people to move into a neighborhood?

 Over at the Capitol Fax today there is a post about a Peoria, ILL resident who is using her reach on TikTok to influence people to live there. She doesn't work as a real estate agent or even for Peoria itself she is sure to tell people about what to do there (say entertainment or restaurants), what movers to rely on, or certainly another important aspect finding a job in a particular city.

The question I may ask is what things are available for people to do in say Roseland or Pullman? What restaurants exist? What entertainment options? What kind of retail?

Also the price of housing - that is rent or a mortgage. What kind of people live there? Certainly what types of opportunities entrepreneurial or employment might exist?

Perhaps there a person out there pondering these things whatever neighborhood in the city they live in. Of course if we're lacking in those attributes that makes a particular community attractive what can be done to change that?

The Chicago Neighborhoods

Saturday, June 18, 2022

ABC 7: Private security firms to patrol Beverly, Morgan Park and Mt Greenwood

 

[VIDEO] Out of ward 19. Ald. Matt O'Shea wasn't seen in this report however he was quoted as stating that his part of the city is safe, but acknowledged that police are stretched thin. Security will be unarmed and if they see illegal activity will remain on scene and call police. This extra layer is appreciated by residents as you see in the above story.

Monday, September 6, 2021

Sept. 5th Pullman Nat'l Monument Opening

 

[VIDEO] I see there were other festivities on Labor Day that featured the Governor of Illinois and the Mayor of Chicago among other dignitaries. And of course the Alderman of Ward 9 Anthony Beale was around for this since the nat'l monument is in our ward. Here's to the positives of this new tourist destination on this part of town.

This was recorded by local YouTuber artistmac. Enjoy!

I hope you get a kick out of those antique bikes called penny farthings and the two gents riding them in period clothing.

I hope everyone had a restful and safe Labor Day weekend.

Friday, September 3, 2021

Urbanize Chgo: Historic Pullman Nat'l Monument ready for Labor Day grand opening #Ward09

The Chicago Neighborhoods

Something to look forward to this weekend the National Monument in the historic Pullman neighborhood in our part of the city will have a grand opening this coming weekend.

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Pullman tourism poster


 I've been following the work from The Chicago Neighborhood for years. The talent he brings in designing brands for Chicago's neighborhoods and for the many parts of the city that tourists should come visit is impressive.

Thursday, December 24, 2020

Historic Pullman on Christmas Eve 2020

 

[VIDEO] It's a bit snowy in Pullman isn't it. As depicted in these scenes uploaded this morning as we seen in this video of the historic planned company town/Chicago neighborhood, now a national monument.

I hope you all have a safe, festive, and happy holidays this year.

Thursday, May 14, 2020

White Castle 2 E. State Street in Roseland #Ward09 #tbt

You may well have seen this photo below on social media taken in the mid-1980s of the White Castle that formerly stood at 111th & State Streets or actually 2 E. 111th street. I'm most familiar with this location since often looking for a hamburger slider fix this was where my folks went. At some point during the 1990s this location was closed and demolished.
Then looking for photos I found an even older photo of the White Castle taken in 1937 according to the information on the photograph. Could be the same building and I don't recognize the neighborhood around it.
Via Pinterest
Of course back in the 1980s the White Castle was surrounded by a post office to the north and then to the east on 111th Street was the YMCA. The post office is still there however the YMCA is long gone though the building itself remains.

I hope you enjoy this look back and a break from the dire news regarding coronavirus.

Wednesday, May 13, 2020

Editorial: The Avenue could again become magnificent #Ward09

The Chicago Neighborhood
This editorial from the Chicago Sun-Times makes reference to last year's fire at the former Gatelys Department store on the Michigan Avenue shopping strip south of 111th Street. It's probably time to redevelop that corridor, especially in time for that Red Line extension whenever it gets funded and construction starts.
Keep an eye on the Roseland neighborhood’s Michigan Avenue, once a retail strip so popular it was called Chicago’s second Magnificent Mile.

Shoppers could find anything from school supplies to furniture to brand new cars.

Rocked by two devastating extra-alarm fires within the last year, and now slammed by a pandemic that’s likely to change forever how we shop and gather, the faded and struggling commercial strip faces a tough future.

But “The Avenue” — as this stretch of Michigan Avenue between 115th and 107th was called in its heyday — now is being targeted by the city for possible redevelopment.

The plans were in place before the coronavirus broke out and they’ll need to be modified. But given that the COVID-19 pandemic has hit all traditional retail strips hard — have you seen the boarded up stores on North Michigan Avenue these days? — saving The Avenue should be even more of a priority.

When neighborhood shopping dies, neighborhoods die.

The Avenue’s day as a regional commercial giant are not likely to return. People just don’t shop in brick-and-mortar stores the way they used to, and the street’s major retailers, such as JCPenney, are long gone.

But the buildings still stand and could be reused in potentially exciting new ways. And if done correctly, the lessons learned here could be applied to troubled commercial streets in neighborhoods elsewhere on the South and West sides.
Probably excerpted a lot more than I should've so I'll stop there and hope that you'll read the whole thing.

The editorial itself makes reference to this strip's proximity to the Pullman National Monument. How could the businesses and the community leverage that. The Avenue - at least for those old school residents might refer to the strip - might not return to the glory days. I still would like to see what plans could develop with revitalization. What entrepreneurs can become successful in this area.

Wednesday, October 30, 2019

CTA Red Line extension update

Rendering 103rd Street Red Line station - CTA 
Over at The Sixth Ward on Tuesday I shared a tweet to a Curbed Chicago article with regards to various upcoming transit projects throughout the city. One project that many who live near the 95th terminal is the planned CTA Red Line extension. One reason that Curbed article was of interest to me is the seeming progress in which case is to merely fund engineering & design work.

Of course the reason for this interest is mainly the safety and activity of the area. The 95th terminal is one of the busiest of the CTA. The CTA Red Line connects with not only CTA and Pace suburban bus routes, also intercity bus services with Greyhound and Indian Trails buses. So there's definitely a lot of activity there especially during the week.

The main thing is building this extension further south to the city's southern limits might mean less activity at 95th. Or perhaps hopefully for local leaders in the community less opportunities for criminal activity. Either way another stated and important purpose for this extension is to cut commuting times for those individuals who must use public transit who must travel to other parts of the city.

Thursday, February 14, 2019

State Theater 11016 S. Michigan Ave #tbt

The State Theater is one many movie theaters that existed on what was known in local parlance as The Ave. South Michigan Avenue in Roseland during far more prosperous times was a very active destination for local shoppers until the local economy changed after the 1970s.

According to Cinema Treasures this theater was opened in 1922 and as you read in below ig post from Pete Kastanes was demolished in 1997.


Here's a Google streetview image of the corner where this theater was located near 110th & Michigan.

Here's another ig post from Kastanes of a 1936 program from the State. Sometimes I forget how different going to the movies was for movie goers back in the day.
Here is a listing of other theaters that existed along The Ave/Michigan Avenue according to Cinema Treasures.

Friday, November 30, 2018

Chicago History Today: 103rd/Eggleston then & now #fbf

Just think how often I pass through this general area and it's fascinating how this area has changed over the years. 103rd Street and Eggleston back in 1905 about 113 years ago! This is courtesy of a photo provided by local historian J.R. Schmidt.
Here's how Schmidt described this scene from the early 20th century:
We are on 103rd Street at the railroad crossing, midway between Halsted and State. In 1905 this was the site of the Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad’s Fernwood station, so various businesses had been established in the immediate vicinity. Yet traffic along the street was so light that people commonly walked down the middle.
Of course as you see there are a lot of changes to this stretch. You can go over to his post from 2015 to see how this area looks today. Just think this will be the next stop from 95th once the CTA Red Line is extended.

Oh wow, another shot of a streetcar! 

Monday, July 23, 2018

111th & Michigan Roseland, Chicago

Found a photo of this corner 111th/Michigan on twitter - which was retweeted on @thesixthward.
Chicken Unlimited was once where the currency exchange is currently located. This is how this corner looks now. Quite a vast difference.

As you will see below some buildings are missing and while the Google Street image below is from 2015. The building in two years time looks vastly different and it has me wondering if this is the same building as Chicken Unlimited. Now I wonder! 

Friday, June 22, 2018

Washington Monthly: South Side story

The Chicago Neighborhoods
 Sorry to have sat on this since the spring. A story about the Pullman neighborhood. Or "How a historic Chicago neighborhood became a national model for community revitalization."
Yet one lower-income South Side neighborhood manages to defy the ironclad logic of the favored quarter: historic Pullman, a vibrant enclave in the middle of the South Side that is home to equal numbers of African Americans, Latinos, and whites. (Not all South and West neighborhoods are poor, but most of those doing well economically—Hyde Park, the Near West Side, Bridgeport, and Beverly—are predominantly white and Asian.)

Strolling down Pullman’s St. Lawrence Avenue, whose shaded sidewalks are fronted by side-by-side duplexes, you notice the same redbrick charm that characterizes the North Side. Yet in Pullman, you can land a well-kept three-bedroom duplex down the block from a cozy café and around the corner from one of the city’s top-rated public elementary schools at a price that wouldn’t go far in swank precincts across town. Residents enjoy many of the conveniences of North Side living, too. At the new Pullman Park development, there’s a Walmart (watering this former food desert), a clothing store, a Planet Fitness health club, a locally owned dry cleaners, and Pullman’s first sit-down restaurant in decades.

The relative peace and prosperity of Pullman in the midst of the hard-hit South Side highlights the promise of “asset-based” community development—the idea that focusing on the strengths of a particular place is just as important as targeting the problems. This model offers practical lessons for other neighborhoods across the country suffering from economic disinvestment and social unraveling. In Pullman’s case, a remarkable degree of resilience has arisen from these assets: high levels of civic engagement; a physical environment that encourages walking and social interaction; access to resources tied to historic preservation; and an ambitious community developer planting stakes in the neighborhood.

If the name Pullman sounds vaguely familiar, it’s likely because of the legendary railroad sleeping cars built here from 1881 to 1955. Pullman was no grimy slum, but actually one of the most celebrated urban planning projects of the nineteenth century—providing a good place to live was part of owner George Pullman’s mission to elevate the character of his workers. The London Times declared the elegant public buildings and squares flanked by single-family homes for managers and handsome brick townhouses for workers “the most perfect town in the world.” The other reason you may have heard of Pullman is that in 1894 the company’s workers responded to wage cuts with no reduction in rent at company-owned housing with a historic strike.
Read the whole thing!

Friday, March 16, 2018

Three snapshots on 87th Street, Wednesday

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to reenact the shots taken on New Year's Eve 2007 on 87th Street - posted to Sixth Ward blog . Back in January I did a throwback post also at The Sixth Ward blog with an old photo of the Seaway Bank sign from 2007. Just bear in mind that 87th Street represents the northern most of the 9th Ward from the Dan Ryan to roughly King Drive.

Unlike back in 2007 when these shots were taken on a simple point and shoot digital camera, these photos were taken on my iPhone with an olloclip lens.

Click on all pics for larger resolution.

Across the street is a Family Dollar store. If you can see the grand opening sign near the front entrance don't let that fool you, this particular store has been open since sometime in 2007. A local community organization wrote in their newsletters that year that they wanted a grocery store at this location. Even 10 years later no grocer has stepped forward to turn this back into a grocery store. Before 2007, this space was home to a locally owned Food Basket store.
 Moving along on 87th Street, here is a branch of Illinois Service Federal. Earlier in 2007 it was the site of a fatal bank robbery which made the local news. A teller was killed by gunfire during that violent incident. Since then ISF has gone through their own changes with a new ownership group hailing from Ghana who now owns this Black-owned financial institution.

Finally got a shot of the new sign at the former Seaway Bank which sports new signage because of it's ownership under Self-Help Federal Credit Union. Seaway Bank itself failed in January 2017 and was purchased in a FDIC auction by State Bank of Texas. Then in May 2017 Self-Help took over deposits and branches of Seaway after SBT sold them to the credit union.

There are more photos from 87th Street that I would like to post in the near future. At least on a much nicer day closer to Spring was I finally able to retake these shots. Of course there are other changes on 87th Street worth noting not captured in these three shots.

Thursday, February 22, 2018

Tribune: Politics, funding impede Pullman restoration as monument approaches 3rd anniversary

Via The Chicago Neighborhoods
This Tribune article updates us on the progress of that Pullman National Monument announced by then President Barack Obama in 2015:
Since 2015, Pullman National Monument has moved sluggishly toward these goals. The state-owned grounds are in the midst of an extensive cleanup from decades of industrial waste. The National Park Service’s visitors center, planned for the clock tower building, has been pushed back at least a year. Plans mapping out the monument’s long-term future were supposed to be completed within three years but are only now beginning. State and federal money has been minimal, and progress on some projects has been slowed because of several federal government shutdowns and an unprecedented two-year state budget standoff.

The one project that could move forward, an apartment building for artists, is on hold after federal officials told the developers to seek additional input from the public.

“My wife and I have been here for 50 years, and we’ve seen different cycles and levels of interest from people working in Pullman,” said resident Mike Shymanski. Progress “takes time and takes patience, but once the restoration is done it’ll be around a long time.”

Pullman was expected to draw 300,000 visitors per year by 2025, however, with its current annual attendance at only 50,000, those estimates seem ambitious.

Now, the park is contending with a president who is less supportive of conservation. The Trump administration recently shrunk two Utah national monuments, bringing about at least two legal challenges and legislation to counter the move.
Here's something from Tribune Graphics showing a map of the Pullman area under the national parks.
While it's not looking that good there are some positive developments:
The first floor of the state-owned Hotel Florence could open even sooner, possibly over the summer after contractors finish building an accessibility ramp and restoring and furnishing the elaborate interior.

The park service also plans to work outside the monument to generate buzz through a grant from the McCormick Foundation to develop curriculum in area classrooms on nationally significant themes: transformation of passenger rail travel, urban planning, Pullman’s role in the American labor movement and the porters’ civil rights movement.
What are the plans for the Hotel Florence? I'm very keen on finding out!

Thursday, December 7, 2017

CBS Chicago: Chicago Cop Shot In The Hand During Chase In Rosemoor

[VIDEO] This is why I heard the helicopter in my neighborhood last night? A police officer was shot near Chicago State University last night.

Officer was said to be fine after being shot in hand and one suspect in custody. Another piece of trivia is that the incident actually took place in Roseland Heights. Rosemoor is the neighborhood across the Bishop Ford Expressway to the south.

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

9th ward job fair & hiring event

9th ward job fair & hiring fair at Tuley Park - 501 E. 90th Place tomorrow Wednesday, November 15, 2017 from 9 AM to 2 PM. Refer to flyer below if you seek more information!