So three of Chatham's future leaders are quoted in this article from the
Red Eye. Unfortunately Chatham has been in the news unfortunately for various incidents of gun violence in recent years. The most recent incident occurred on 79th Street and resulted in the
death of a CPS special education teacher.
In any event three people you should know in that piece. You should know Jahmal Cole who wrote this great book about Chatham titled
The Torch of Decency, Rekindling the Spirit of Civic Organizations. And of course recently he's been hosting events often holding court at the Whitney Young Branch of the public library. He believes the issues of Chatham involves a lack of role models and intends to do "positive loitering" to help Chathamites take back their community.
There's also one of the founders of
Fleck's Coffee - Zuli Turner - who says that Chatham isn't a lost cause. Not only does she own the coffeehouse located @ 343 E. 79th St, she also owns and operates a daycare center Young Achievers Academy @ 520 E. 79th St. I'm sure many of us would agree with that sentiment.
Finally Alderman Roderick Sawyer's chief-of-staff Brian Sleet who gave a great real estate advertisement for Chatham:
Brian Sleet, chief of staff for Ald. Roderick Sawyer (6th), whose ward includes Chatham, said crime is confined to a few blocks. "The majority of Chatham is still a very safe, very positive area," he said.
Challenges for Chatham include lack of food options and transit-oriented development. The neighborhood needs a facelift because it looks the way it did in the 1950s, but the vibrant storefronts are now gone, Sleet said.
"The community is not under siege. It's really a great location. While there are some actual challenges, the majority of Chatham has a lot of good things going on and is moving in the right direction," Sleet said.
As for Mr. Cole you should check out his new project
My Block*My Hood*My City lately he's been visiting city parks - referred to ask
12 Parks in 12 Weeks - as part of this project. Recently he's been to Cole Park which in recent years has also been the site of a few incidents of gun violence.
Also check out this
infographic from Red Eye some statistics about Chatham. Also be advised that while the community area is a vast swath of area, the neighborhood itself is much smaller than depicted in the infographic as in general the boundaries are from roughly 75th Street to 87th Street north & south and Cottage Grove to the Dan Ryan east & west.