Ald. Beale mailer part 4 #Aldertrack

This recent mailer by Ald. Anthony Beale highlighting his support for the reform of the red light camera program. He had been getting hit by his opponent Harold "Noonie" Ward for the red light camera tickets.

Pullman to become a national monument

Via The Chicago Neighborhoods

Great news for the south side, hopefully the surrounding areas will reap the benefits. And just in time for Black History Month, we also learn the pivotal role of Pullman for Black history via Chicago Tribune. Especially since Pullman's main employer was a manufacturer of rail cars that had been staffed with blacks once these cars were on the rails.

Of course let's not forget labor history. Pullman was a site of a major strike once that saw federal troops intervene. Also the mainly Black Pullman porters agitated successfully for a union even if most of them didn't call Pullman home.

I forgot to note that next week, Pullman will be declared a national monument. I'd be excited to see what this development will bring! :)

Ald. Beale mailer part 3 #Aldertrack

Slightly different mailer for Ald. Anthony Beale that the other two already posted. He highlights his support for various projects in the 9th ward such as the reconstruction of the CTA 95th terminal, city colleges' logistics hub, the Walmart and shopping center in Pullman, Method factory, and more affordable housing. Of course he highlights bringing to his ward new jobs with higher wages and fighting to raise the minimum wage.

Anything said in the flyer below sway your vote?

9th ward action...

[VIDEO] Before I note once again the two candidates forums today, I wanted to share with you this recent video from 9th ward candidate Michael LaFargue. He is hoping to take the Alderman seat of current Alderman Anthony Beale.

LaFargue - currently President of the West Chesterfield Community Association - does a video featuring his background. He also features some of the other community activists and business owners of the 9th ward.

This includes Eddie Davis of Bass Furniture - 11431 South Michigan Avenue - who commented on the shopping mall that we recently noted here. The shopping mall that was once located at 115th/Michigan was demolished during the course of the last decade. Davis claimed the closure and demolition of this mall has hurt other nearby businesses.

It's a long video of roughly 15 minutes. Anything said in this video sway your vote?

Todays candidate forums for 9th ward candidates

• Chesterfield Community Council 9th Ward candidate forums at 11 AM
  McDade Classical School
  8801 S. Indiana
  Noted recently on this blog

• NAACP candidates forum with 9th Ward candidates scheduled for 1 PM
  Simeon High School
  8147 S. Vincennees
  Also noted on this blog

What would you like to see at 115th/Michigan

115th/Michigan - Summer 2014

Over at The Sixth Ward I did a post about this corner in June 2013. The pics seen in this post save for the final historic post was taken in the summer of 2014. Consider this something of an election year post as I believe this corner could be a key one when the red line extension is finally built.

There are four people running for Alderman including the incumbent and he has three challengers. Hopefully all of them have an eye on this corner and perhaps their vision may not even include the red line extension although it is my belief this corner would benefit from the proposed stop over Michigan Avenue. Whatever the vision hopefully it would include some form of transit oriented development.

Over the years the lot at 115th & Michigan had a number of buildings including a shopping center that had been razed during the course of the last decade. That lot included a number of retail stores (such as a grocery store and Perry Drugs), restaurants (such as The Coffee Pot), and more. The most recent development plans for that lot included a future shopping center including an Aldi's.

Family Dollar 115th/Michigan

The vacant lot to the east on 115th/Michigan

What I failed to do in the other post was show a picture of how this intersection looked back in the day. This business strip was actually an active area with plenty of activity but what happens over time things do change. Perhaps we'll see this activity again by the time the Red Line is up and running in the near future hopefully. Below is what you'd have seen at this intersection east of 115th/Michigan.

115th/Michigan in 1934

Now the burning question...what would you like to see here?

9th Ward candidates forum on Saturday #Aldertrack

This coming Saturday is proving to be a very packed Saturday for those of us who are following the 2015 elections. If you're following the 9th ward race there is another forum later on Saturday at 1 PM sponsored by the NAACP.

• The Chesterfield Community Council (CCC) will host the
  "9th Ward Aldermanic Candidates Forum"
  on Saturday, February 7, 2015 at 11:00 a.m.
  at McDade Classical School,
  8801 South Indiana
  The moderator will be Curtis "AC" Green, Radio Personality, 106.3 fm /1390 am Radio.
  All are welcomed.
  

My Block My Hood My City visits Altgeld Garden #mbmhmc

[VIDEO] I'm sorry this hadn't been shared here. Please visit My Hood My Block My City and consider buying a t-shirt or hoodie sweatshirt. You'll be supporting this project when you do.

Jahmal Cole is in the middle of a project that took him to at first different Chicago parks. For example he did one episode in Abbott Park where he met with Republican US Senate candidate Jim Oberweis.

Lately he's been going to different neighborhood and this week he visited Humboldt Park on the northwest side of town. Today we're going to look at his visit to Altgeld Garden located near the far south city limits of Chicago. Mr. Cole refers to the Garden as President Obama's old stomping grounds there was where the President made his living as a community organizer.

There is one landmark of note here for the Garden.

"The Wall" or "The Wall of Death" lists the names of deceased Altgeld Residents --- going back decades. It's a tradition at the Gardens to write the names on the wall, so the person's name will be set on stone and never forgotten.  This is social capital at its finest. In the Pullman community, residents that live on a different tier of the Socioeconomic ladder, hang fancy art work on the gates in their alleys. At the Altgeld Gardens, the local residents write names on the wall. Beauty can't be stratified.

Via The Sixth Ward

CTA Red Line Extension

Yup I did promise a post on the Red Line extension. This post was originally posted to The Sixth Ward blog on August 23, 2009. Of course there has been further updates since then and will be crossposted here. In addition some of the information here is out of date as there have been CTA and Pace bus service changes over the years. However, I do sincerely hope to be on the first run on the first day of service on the future extension.

The following pictures in this post were taken from the slideshow presentations of Red Line extension alternatives. Particularly the presentations you would have seen at either Woodson Library or Olive Harvey College on June 3 & 4, 2009.

This route is the locally preferred alternative. It would roughly leave 95th Street and would be elevated along the Union Pacific Railroad with stops at 103rd, 111th, 115th, and 130th streets. There is no indication of where exactly the terminal would be although other stories about the CTA's approval of a Red Line extension would have the terminal near the South Shore rail line.

This pic is a conception of the 103rd Street Red Line station. One aspect of the proposed L extension is to eliminate the long bus rides to the 95th Terminal. If the Roseland L gets built I can only imagine that we may see another reorganization of bus routes along the extension.

For example, if students at Julian & Corliss High Schools in addition to Olive Harvey College may have to get off at 103rd Street to get to their respective campuses. That could mean that the 103 bus may no longer be routed to 95th and it'll just be an east-west bus between the current 103 bus terminus at 104th & Pulaski and the current terminus of the 106 bus at 103rd & Stony Island (well it's that bus barn on East 103rd).

I can only imagine that the 106 will be eliminated especially if the 103 will no longer be routed to 95th Street. If a bus rider had to go north on Michigan they would have to change buses instead of being able to stay on the bus to ride North on Michigan Avenue. Either way this routing should eliminate any concern there might be regarding our young people from area schools or any other traffic that comes into 95th on any given weekday.

Also since there are stations along the way I could see other routes being changed such as the Pace 353 bus. If the route of the 353 bus could terminate at the 115th Street stop instead of going to 95th. When that happens King Drive south of 95th could lose their bus service.

Well I know I can't figure out all the possible changes and before anything should happen the extension has to be built first.

NAACP 2015 candidates forum

Also on Saturday the NAACP forums will be later that afternoon at Simeon High School - 8147 S. Vincennes Ave.- and these forums will include candidates for wards 6, 9, & 21. Candidates from ward 9 will kick off the festivities starting at 1 PM. This event was advertized at The Sixth Ward last month and the flyer is below for this event.

#chiberia: CPS classes are cancelled due to the snow...

You may have seen this announcement if you follow CPS' FB and Twitter profiles. This is important news so sorry if this is breaking into your enjoyment of tonight's Super Bowl between the Patriots and Seahawks.

Also I wanted to share with you the city plow tracker to see if the city is coming down your street to clear it.

If you want to see a radar picture here's WGN's Chicago Weather Center radar.