Pullman in Curbed Cup Final Four!!!

Via The Chicago Neighborhoods

 It's the end of the year and Curbed Chicago has their annual Curbed Cup. In the final four and the neighborhoods of Pullman, Uptown, Lakeview, and the Loop.

Unfortunately I missed the start of this neighborhood competition that pits up-and-coming neighborhoods of Chicago against each other. This is how Pullman is described:

The Pullman neighborhood on the far South Side had a very big year. The area, which is known and named for its connection to the Pullman Palace Car company, was designated as a National Monument by President Obama in February. Then in April, the soap maker Method opened its $30 million eco-conscious factory in the neighborhood. Pullman gained a lot of momentum this year, and the neighborhood doesn't appear to letting down anytime soon. When we called for Curbed Cup nominations, Pullman residents came out in droves to make sure that their voice was heard.

So far Pullman has edged out Bridgeport and the West Loop neighborhoods can they edge out the north side community of Uptown?

Vote here now and hopefully by tomorrow we'll know whether or not Pullman moves onto the final and hopefully a wonderful 2016 for that historic far south side community.

BTW, I wonder if our friends up there at Uptown Update are following this -  and they are.

Konkol: Roseland's Only Steak House Survives Tough Times Down At 'The Ranch'

Yolanda Pierce at right and two of her workers - Photo by Mark Konkol

All the times I passed this place on Michigan Ave and never been inside. It seems to be one of the few consistent businesses on this stretch. It survived a long time and apparently still does although times and demographics have changed since this business opened in 1969.

On a morning stroll, I hiked west from Pullman and under the 113th Street viaduct that leads to the wrong side of the tracks.

I walked past Palmer Park, where the faint scent of marijuana hung in the cool, humid air, and headed up the hill toward Michigan Avenue — Roseland’s once-vibrant shopping strip now populated by hustlers, pimps and dealers who openly cater to the vices of the addicted, the desperate and the damned — on my way to “The Ranch.”

That’s what locals call the neighborhood’s only surviving steak joint, where you can get a T-bone, charbroiled just the way you like it, with a baked potato and salad for less than 20 bucks. And they serve tasty breakfast — two eggs with hash browns and toast for under $5 — all day long.

The late John Kapsaskis opened The Ranch Steak House at 11147 S. Michigan Ave. in 1969. Back then, Roseland was home to mostly blue-collar white families who later fled to the suburbs when black folks moved in and good-paying steel mill jobs dried up. His son, Dino — “The Greek Cowboy,” as one photo behind the counter calls him — kept the family steakhouse going even as the neighborhood’s population changed and its economy slumped.

Inside the front door is a far different world than the one left behind on the sidewalk. A set of bull horns hang from the ceiling. A sign welcomes customers to a dimly lit dining room decorated with carved Indian chief statues and faded photos of cowboys, those rifle-toting white men on horseback from Hollywood westerns.

Yolanda Pierce runs the ranch although the family who owns it no longer appears to be involved. Pierce's ex-fiance who's family runs the business is out taking care of his elderly mother in Greece. So now it's Pierce:

She’s the blond-haired, blue-eyed gal, a former hair stylist from Griffith, Indiana, who runs The Ranch now that Dino Kapsaskis — the owner and her ex-fiance — packed up and moved to Greece to take care of his 93-year-old mother.

Pierce’s friends tell her she should be angry that Kapsaskis left her to run The Ranch by herself, unsure if he’ll ever return.

“Even though he is my ex, this is his business. Dino could have sold this place. He always said business is business. He felt like he was doing me a favor. If I go anywhere else I’ll make minimum wage. What can I do?” Pierce said.

“We still care about each other enough to keep it going. I’m not mad at him. He did what he had to do. I’m taking care of my mother. I take care of my daughter. I do what I got to do.”

If you read the rest of the article she'll not that this place considering it's location isn't making a huge profit but she emphasizes how she helps her employees:

She doesn’t just do it for herself and her own family. The Ranch is the lifeblood that keeps a lot of people — her dishwasher, waitresses and cooks and even Kapsaskis, whom Pierce sends cash she considers “rent” — on the winning side of “the struggle.”

“They say when you eat at Outback Steakhouse or one of those chain places you’re paying for the owner's private jets and fancy houses. What we make helps everyone here. Nobody makes a lot of money. Here, you’re paying for our people to buy clothes for their kids,” Pierce said.

“I just feel like I don’t care if it’s a struggle. I’m gonna keep it going and that’s how Dino feels, too. No matter what, we’re going to try to keep The Ranch open for as long as can. Either things are going to get better or … whatever.”

I suggest you read the whole thing. This is a course on how to run a business in a difficult community to own a business. You may not agree with everything Griffith says about parking meters or minimum wage

Here's hoping The Ranch survives for any position renaissance that I expect Roseland to one day have. Especially when the CTA Red Line is finally extended further south. Plus I hope that the Pullman National Monument will have an effect on the surrounding communities as well.

Mid-century modern homes in Chatham

8459 South Michigan - Eric Allix Rogers

In 2012, I posted about the modernist architecture legacy of Chatham over @ The Sixth Ward. The many homes that were outside of the general character of that Black middle-class community had been documented over the years. And recently was documented at New City with the photography of one Eric Allix Rogers. I'd suggest you give it a read.

The takeaway is that 60 or so years ago Blacks were finally able to move away from the then Black Belt what we call Bronzeville today. While there may still be a dearth of housing options for that generation of Blacks even in spite of the end of restrictive covenants many found a place to create the suburban lifestyle they sought but weren't able to access.

Chatham was one place many were able to not only purchase a home in a nice area, they were also able to build a home. Probably a matter of buying an empty lot or tearing down a building to custom build a home. How many places in Chicago would one be able to do this today?

Could we do this with our potholes?

I saw this piece of art near the intersection of Michigan/Ohio in downtown Chicago. It was formerly a pothole and then recently saw that a piece of mosaic artwork has been embedded in this pothole. My comments on ig was basically in support of such activity by an artists. Surely there are other parts of the city that may not get the services it should get where someone who cares about the community can do something such as this.

 Sooner or later unfortunately the city will probably destroy this piece, the artist Jim Bachor is not sanctioned by the city to do this. It's probably a wonder that Bachor hasn't been arrested by authorities for his activities and doing such a bold thing but going to such an active part of town to fill in a pothole with his materials.

I know there are more creative people in our communities who could do this with our potholes. Knowing this can only cost money if the businesses and residents of our community was able to do this with our potholes. Our IG post on this is below

I would like to see the creative people in our community do things like this for our potholes. Very creative indeed. This former pothole is located at Michigan/Ohio near the Guess store. #art #creative #publicart #streets #chicagogram #michiganavenue

A photo posted by The Sixth Ward (@thesixthward) on Nov 13, 2015 at 2:48pm PST

Buy-N-Save Supermarket: What would YOU like to see here?

Last week I walked along 103rd Street and these two images are examples of some of the shots I had taken. Not sure how long this store at 209 E 103rd St has been closed, but it was a surprise when I found out it had been and in a boarded up state. The next is what would you like to see here? Is it possible to attract another grocer here?

CPS enrollment: Drops, rises and consequences

Via @ChiTribGraphics

A page you should look at via Chicago Tribune. That in addition to the graphic above:

Chicago Public Schools released 10th-day enrollment statistics and projected changes to school budgets and special education staffing as a result of the changes in enrollment. This is the first year CPS is using this student-based budgeting policy where enrollment is more important than ever. Changes to funding and positions will be finalized based on enrollment as of the 20th day of the school year.

For two of our local schools:

• Bennett
• Harlan 

And of course search for more 10th day enrollment information here.

What's new at the namesake school....

See the ivy growing over the windows at the closed Shedd School. Vegetation growing over the windows to the kindergarten classroom and across the way over the windows to the auditorium. At least the rest of the property appears to be well maintained as the grass is cut.

The city council Black caucus wants McCarthy to go

Photo by Rich Hein/Sun-Times

A press release was e-mailed to us yesterday regarding this. It surprised me although, I realize many aren't happy with our police superintendent. I never thought this would turn into a full rebellion as columnist Mark Brown states:

The demand for the firing of Police Supt. Garry McCarthy by the City Council’s Black Caucus shapes up as the biggest aldermanic rebellion faced by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in his four and a half years on the job.

“It’s bold,” agreed Caucus Chairman Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th) of the surprise call to oust McCarthy, although Sawyer disputed my characterization of it constituting a “rebellion.”

I don’t know what else to call such an in-your-face move announced less than 24 hours before the police superintendent, long viewed as an Emanuel favorite, is scheduled to appear before the City Council for his annual budget hearing.

And now the playing field, what are the possibilities? Do we even know?

 From a political standpoint, the move to dump McCarthy puts the onus for combating Chicago’s violence even more directly on the mayor than it already was, while also complicating his fight for a budget proposal that relies on a $588 million property tax hike.

Emanuel has continued to voice full confidence in McCarthy’s leadership, even as the city’s homicide totals have sharply increased this year.

Fourteen of the city’s 18 African-American aldermen, including some of the mayor’s usual supporters, stood shoulder to shoulder to make it clear McCarthy no longer has their confidence. A few white and Hispanic aldermen joined them.

Although dissatisfaction with McCarthy has been building for years, Sawyer said the decision to call for his ouster actually came together rapidly in a matter of hours Monday after one black alderman — apparently a fairly influential one — stated over lunch in an off-handed manner that it was time for McCarthy to go.

That led to a series of hastily called meetings in which Sawyer first tested the idea and then sought to make sure everyone was on board.

When did this "rebellion" become a problem?

When Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), the budget committee chairman and one of Emanuel’s strongest loyalists, stepped to the microphone with the rest, it became plain the mayor had a serious problem on his hands.

I’m not quite sure how Emanuel finesses this one. If he gives in and shows McCarthy the door, he looks weak. And if he ignores the aldermen, he runs the risk of appearing deaf to the concerns of an African-American community that bears the brunt of the violence.

I suppose the Mayor and McCarthy needs to come up with a new strategy to at least make it appear that police are doing something about the violence. Then and only then would McCarthy step aside for someone else, whoever that may be. Time will only tell.

Harlan Community Education Advisory Committee. #harlanfalcons

Photo credit Levois J.

Received this e-mail from the President of the Roseland Heights Community Association. Interesting
development, and I'm hoping the surround community would be willing to be involved with Harlan Community Academy High School:

• Hello Everyone,
  
  
  As you may be aware, Harlan High School has a new prinicipal. She has asked for community support to lead the school to good standing status.
  
  I have spoken with many of you about the importance of the schools in our community. The challenge facing Harlan requires a concerted effort and our support to reach the level of performance that is evident in a school, parents and community working together.
  
  You are being invited to be a member of the Community Education Advisory Committee. Communities invited to attend represent Chesterfield, Roseland Heights, Rosemoor, Vernon Park and West Chesterfield.
  
  The meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 14, 2015 at 4:30pm at the West Chesterfield Community Center, 9351 S. Michigan.
  
  If you are Community Association President receiving this email and you have an association member who is serving as the education liaison for your organization, please feel free to extend this invitation to them also. If you have any questions, please feel free to give me a call at 312-972-8239.
  
  I look forward to our meeting. Thank you in advance for your anticipated participation and cooperation.
  
  Sincerely,
  

  
  Sharon Banks-Pincham

Now I wonder whatever came of Principal Reginald Evans. Where is he today?