Englewood is about to "buy the block"

Via @buyblackeconomics

You might have seen this on Curbed Chicago this week and to the Resident Association of Greater Englewood it's a good idea to be able to determine the direction of their neighborhood. You determine the direction of your neighborhood by buying up the real estate or someone else from outside of your community will.

Englewood residents organize to take back their block https://t.co/yJgcs9KsBA pic.twitter.com/M7wjJjoR3S

— Curbed Chicago (@curbedchicago) July 23, 2018

Englewood residents filled a room in the historic bank building at 63rd and Halsted in May to learn about purchasing apartment buildings in the neighborhood. During a pair of panels, landlords discussed how best to gut rehab a building and deal with difficult tenants, while banks and nonprofits gave advice on handling a past foreclosure or building a good credit score. The event was called “Buy the Block”—implying, as organizers said repeatedly that day, “or somebody else will.”

“The people I see who are purchasing property in Englewood don’t look like us, by and large,” Gloria King-Wright, loan officer at Seaway Bank, told attendees. “They’re investors, they’re speculators.”

“We need to buy the land in Englewood. Do believe there are people who are buying blocks at a time—at a time. You can’t complain about gentrification if you don’t own anything,” said Antoine Butler, a landlord, to a round of applause. “The property value is rising. They’re not gonna tell you that. They’re not gonna let you know that Englewood is probably the hottest land in the city of Chicago right now.”

Seaway Bank, interesting to see that long-time banking brand noted on Curbed Chicago.

Anyway, I went to the Portillo's located in the South Loop having lunch with a friend of mine. He just made a random comment noting how that general area along Taylor Street just west of the Chicago River had changed and now there's a Portillo's store there. Then noting the Whole Foods Market on 63rd & Halsted stated simply that this what the city "will do to Englewood".

There probably weren't many people fighting for Taylor Street since it's not known as a residential neighborhood to the same extent as Englewood. So at least Englewood has people fighting for the direction of their neighborhood. So hopefully they will be able to buy their block and give the neighborhood what it truly deserves.

From time to time you might have seen various buy the block messages on our ig page. Some memes regarding this which I wholeheartedly agree. What would you do if you have the opportunity to purchase a whole block?