Monday, January 11, 2016

Neighborhoods I wish I could see in the Curbed Cup Chicago

Curbed Chgo
Now I could say for this year, but something to aspire to in the future. By this I mean maybe not 2016 but hopefully 2017 or 2018 for as long as Curbed Chicago continues to publish their blog. I got my eye on three communities within this blog's main geographical coverage area that hopefully will get more attention.

To start I got my eye on Roseland. Hopefully were the 2015 Curbed Cup winner Pullman goes so can the surrounding neighborhoods.

Whatever benefit Pullman gets with a national momnument hopefully the positive effects will spillover into at least Roseland. There is a commerical area in Roseland between at least 111th and 115th streets which deserves more investment. There's Roseland Hospital which is certainly one of the assets of this community. As with another community that I will mention in this post, Roseland is basically a blank slate which with the right investment could turn this impoverish community around. I hope one of those investments is the future CTA Red Line extension.

The next community I would like to see place in the Curbed Cup is definitely Englewood. There are those who say Englewood is a community with potential to become the next hot neighborhood. While we can view that area as a blank slate some of their assets are coming into play.

Consider the Green Line L which is an asset, Kennedy-King College, and then the coming in 2016 Whole Foods Market at 63rd/Halsted. As with Michigan Avenue in Roseland, the 63rd/Halsted area hopefully can again become an area of commerce as it once was. In fact in its hey day it almost rivaled downtown Chicago.

Another thing to note with Englewood is that we here at The Sixth Ward have come to note the very passionate activists who for example started RAGE. If Englewood did place in the Curbed Cup I'm sure it would be thanks to the push by RAGE members to get the votes necessary as Pullman did at the end of last year.

Finally I want to throw in the Chatham neighborhood. One of the reasons I started The Sixth Ward is to really talk about this area as an historic bastion of the Black middle class. Unfortunately it has gone on the decline in recent years however that neighborhood is known for their activism and are willing to fight for Chatham's reputation.

Chatham's assets mostly is the housing the bungalows and the modernist housing dotted through the community - which got some attention at the end of last year also. The history is a good asset for a future Curbed Cup, but I'm hoping that we can hear of some development plans in the future. Perhaps we can see further improvment along 79th Street or even 75th Street in addition to Cottage Grove or State Street on the periphery. Regardless if Chatham can get the right attention it's time to see them in a future Curbed Cup and hopefully the many community organizations there will put some focus into it.

What other neighborhoods should Curbed Chicago have their eyes on at the end of 2016?

No comments:

Post a Comment

PLEASE READ FIRST!!!! Comment Moderating and Anonymous Comment Policy

While anonymous comments are not prohibited we do encourage you to help readers identify you so that other commenters may respond to you. Either read the moderating policy for how or leave an identifier (which could be a nickname for example) at the end of the comment.

Also note that this blog is NOT associated with any public or political officials including Alderman Roderick T. Sawyer!