Welcome to Chicago and WBEZ, Jennifer White

New WBEZ staff member & Chicago resident Jennifer White

WBEZ (Chicago Public Radio station at 91.5 FM) has a new staff member, Jennifer White, who is joining The Morning Shift show (weekdays at 9am) and working with other aspects of the station.  She was introduced this morning on The Morning Shift. She mentioned that she recently moved from Michigan, and while she is currently in Oak Park, she is open to living elsewhere in the city. The Sixth Ward writer JP Paulus was inspired to write the following blog to ask her to consider moving to one of our neighborhoods.

You can follow Jennifer White on Twitter @JWhitePubRadio (she responds to your tweets!).

Here’s JP’s pitch. We welcome our readers to comment, or write your own response:

Welcome to Chicago and WBEZ, Jennifer White!

My name is JP Paulus, and I am an 8 year resident of Chatham on Chicago’s South Side, after living a decade in the multiethnic North Side neighborhood of Uptown. I grew up in the Chicago suburb of Hoffman Estates and went to school at Northwestern University (living the city/suburb of Evanston during the summers). I am ½ white and ½ Asian, and my wife is African –American (with traceable Native American heritage), and 2 daughters who are a blend of us. I say all that so you get a sense of who I am, and the diversity of experiences in my life.

I heard your introduction on this morning’s edition of WBEZ’s The Morning Shift. Welcome to our city! I appreciate your openness to Chicago. While you’re currently enjoying the suburb of Oak Park, I appreciate your openness to get to know the city, and consider another place of residence.

I would like to make the pitch to live in my neighborhood of Chatham on the South Side of Chicago. It is one of several neighborhoods within the Sixth Ward (where this blog takes its name;  is not affiliated with any political organization. Also, since a recent ward re-map, we lost cover surrounding neighborhoods, such as where the blog’s founder lives)

The neighborhoods other people will tell you to live in Chicago are Downtown (which I would call Chicago’s 4^th side) and the near north side. There are lots of positives, and some of the “popular” negatives include the lack of parking (or heavy cost of said parking), the high cost of everything (from food to day-to-day items), and the “whiteness” of those areas.

 
One of the problems I feel is that many people who hype these neighborhoods ignore other neighborhoods where "normal people" live. This includes frequent Morning Shift guest Dennis Rodkin, who is considered an expert in real estate. But he never makes the case that a neighborhood like Chatham should even be considered.  I think that’s a shame, and keeps good people away from my home and neighborhood.

I would also submit to you a negative of the "popular" most people have never even thought about – it doesn’t matter to anyone if you lived there, and more importantly, if wouldn’t matter if you left. The space you occupy in those neighborhoods would be filled so quickly people wouldn’t have known you left. The local economy wouldn’t suffer, and no one would feel “I lost a good friend.” 

In the neighborhood that I live (Chatham), your presence truly matters. Even you posterior matters. Sitting on a bench at a local park (such as at Ruggles school) would mean “scaring” away teenagers or adults drinking alcohol and sitting in the park, and encourage other families to spend some time in the park, as it was meant to be.

That may not sound so attractive, but it is little things that I have observed that make a difference in keeping a neighborhood safe and even thriving, versus letting things fall apart.

Chatham is a historic pre-dominantly African American middle class neighborhood. The culture of the neighborhood paralleled that of suburb Hoffman Estates at the same time I grew up there. As you get to know people, you will hear Chatham come up again and again as a place where many African Americans (both in the city and suburbs) have a connection to.

And even in the current culture, there is a lot of good in Chatham that white media misses. Where I live in Chatham, according to police statistics, is 4 times safer than where I lived on the North Side of Chicago in Uptown (where condominium apartments sell for nearly ½ million dollars)

We in Chatham may seem to be far away (if you look at the map, and consider geographic distances), but when you factor in real-time traffic (such as everyone who crosses the street downtown, barely allowing even one car to turn, with at least 5 or 6 waiting to turn), we are not that far away.

I would also like to remind you that Chatham is home to one of your colleagues, and the church home of another. More importantly, there is a WBEZ office (with studio) right in the neighborhood. So rather than fight the snow (as you might be seeing today), you can travel a short distance to work if need be.

Another resident, Jahmal Cole, leads a group called “My Block, My Hood, My City”, and you can join him and youth as they too explore the city, and its many neighborhoods.  

But even within our own community, there is so much to appreciate and experience. Our community is steeped in history. Our local library, the Whitney Young branch, was built by African-Americans, only after the community protested to make that happen. The school where my daughter attends, the level 1 Burnside Scholastic Academy, was at the forefront of desegregating Chicago Public Schools in the 1960’s (we have recently installed murals which show the historical struggle). Gospel legends Thomas Dorsey and Mahalia Jackson, who both had homes in the neighborhood, and historical markers, record that.


We have a restaurant that has been featured nationally (Brown Sugar Bakery) and a restaurant that provides services to senior citizens, but has a great café that is open to the public.

We even have our own “blue white house” (Google it with quotes), which has recently been purchased by a citizen who grew up here.

And once you get established, you can bring people (friends, family, colleagues and more) to Chatham and help them see the beauty and culture here, and by doing so, help residents past and present remember that as well, and revive this great neighborhood.

I know there are so many more issues to discuss, photos to display, stories to tell and many other factors to consider. But I hope I gave you an opportunity to really consider a neighborhood that most others wouldn’t even think about – even though they should.

Thank you for your time, and I hope to see you on our streets soon (well, at least after the snow melts)

P.S. One of the best ways to know Chicago is to visit locally owned restaurants. We have some local chains that represent our city (such as Lou Malnati’s for pizza, especially in Lawndale—a whole story there).  Plan it in your schedule to eat somewhere new about once a week. There are TV/media shows that can give you a flavor of the neighborhood. Chicago’s Best TV is one way to find those restaurants, and of course, it would make a great Morning Shift topic (especially for the “less popular” neighborhoods)!  

Chatham one of the 10 worst Chicago neighborhoods?

Chatham community area

Other local communities such as Greater Grand Crossing & Englewood are noted, however, this is what was said about Chatham:

10. Chatham

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 32,100
Crime Index: 19th worst
Median Income: $35,393

Chatham is the final ‘worst’ Chicago neighborhood to make this list. Almost 14% of the people who live here don’t work, and homes go for less than $150,000 on average. Trust us, there’s a reason there’s no demand to live here.

Chatham is the hood between 79th and 93rd Street along 90/94.

I think the statement about no demand to live in Chatham is something I (not a Chatham resident) and many others who are from Chatham would take offense to.

Hat-tip Concerned Citizens of Chatham!

Progress IL: No confidence vote by faculty for City Colleges Chancellor

What is this all about?

City Colleges of Chicago faculty issued a vote of no confidence in Chancellor Cheryl Hyman at Thursday's board of trustees meeting.

Faculty members are concerned, in part, over tuition hikes, reductions in class registration time and proposed program consolidations as part of CCC's "Reinvention" initiative.

"We are exceptionally concerned that our chancellor's actions are destroying our mission, the values and the integrity of the City Colleges," Faculty Council President Jennifer Alexander said at the meeting, reported WBEZ.

More details on purchase of the Blue White House

Photo by Dennis Rodkin

Last month I wrote about this so-called blue White House @ 8401 S. Michigan in fact the first blog update on this big old house in years. Chicago Magazine wrote about this place over 5 years ago and finally has an update:

An unusual, quasi-presidential property on the South Side sold for $400,000 last week.

The “blue White House” is a 7,900-square-foot, ivory-pillared manse in Chatham that closely resembles its big sister on Pennsylvania Avenue—save for a vivid robin’s-egg blue paint job.

“I wasn’t crazy about the blue brick,” says Karen Tolbert, who on January 22 closed the sale with her fiancé, Dana Hillard. “But when I walked in, I just fell in love with it.”

Tolbert says that at a gathering that night to celebrate the couple’s purchase, Hillard’s friends begged her not to alter the 50-year-old home’s exterior. Hillard had grown up just blocks away. Tolbert couldn’t say no. “It’s a staple in the community, so [painting is] something I won’t be doing,” she says.

What happened to the person who rehabbed this house and originally put it up for sale?

Shaunda Brown, a Chatham resident who told Chicago she had admired the house as a child, purchased it that year and embarked on a $400,000 gut rehab, revamping the interior with granite countertops and hardwood floors, converting an old smoking room into a media room, and transforming a former ballroom into a spacious master bedroom.

Brown tried to sell the property in 2010 for $1 million. No one bit.

Foreclosure proceedings began in 2014, and by October 2015 the house was back on the market, its previous price slashed in half, to $425,000.

I hope that Tolbert gets a landmark designation for this unique home and that more will be know about the history of this home. Especially the people who originally built this house with the unique blue Italian brick.

Chicagoist: Man wants to own city's first gun shop in Chicago

More info via our ig

In this case in the River West neighborhood of downtown Chicago and even has the "tentative" support of his alderman. Even though in recent years the city and the state has had to acquiesce to court rulings involving conceal carry and gun control laws, we still struggle with the idea of citizens owning guns.

It seemed the city didn't even want to allow the sale of firearms in the city only to adopt rather onerous rules such as where a gun shop can be located. Still many Chicagoans may not be happy as even in this new year we hear stories of gun violence even in this cold weather we've been having lately.

Still this future gun shop & range owner Chistopher O'Connor may have the right idea when he says: “Chicago has created a culture where guns equal crime, because only criminals can have guns."

As for the basic concept:

O'Connor is eyeing a space at 613 N. Union Ave., near the Tribune printing presses, which will be home to a spacious gun range if his plans come to fruition. It will also sell guns host classes that would provide the “tools and training to become responsible armed citizens,” O'Connor told Chicagoist.

O'Connor is spearheading the project in part because he saw unmet demand for gun training in Chicago, where concealed carry and gun sales have both been in and out of legal purgatory until recently.
...
The sporting aspect would be the focus of his gun store. Sales would be secondary at best, O'Connor said, since local regulations won’t allow more than 20% of a Chicago gun facility’s floor space to be devoted to sales.

BTW, O'Connor further opines:

When asked about the epidemic of shootings, from Sandy Hook to Charleston, O'Connor said he thinks of those as a rare events overexposed by the media. “You never hear about the guy who defended his convenience store against an armed assailant,” he said.

Case in point the attempted robbery on 87th Street where the assailants ran into a clerk with a piece. 

Horrific numbers on youth unemployment

In sharing some startling statistics as far as youth unemployment Rich Miller of the Capitol Fax linked to a recent Mary Mitchell column on this subject:

It is particularly disheartening that Chicago had the highest percentage of black 16- to 19-year-olds (14.3 percent) who were out of work and out of school in 2014.

There’s just no getting around the barrier a lack of education presents.

These alarming jobless statistics could also explain why there is so much violence in black and brown communities.

Still, it is unlikely the private sector is going to rain down jobs on the West and South Sides or that a state government drowning in debt is going to launch a massive job training and employment operation.

Instead of begging for jobs, we ought to be nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit.

In the past, unemployed teenagers went door to door with a rake and lawn mower looking to earn some bucks. College-bound seniors sold snow cones on front porches in the summer and shoveled snow in the winter.

Instead of waiting for someone to hand them a job, these youngsters understood it was on them to make a way.

These unemployed young men who hopefully can find an honest way to make themselves some money can hopefully become future entrepreneurs. Not only could they fill up spaced in the storefronts of our community, but they can also help create jobs for other youths. One way to look at this and come up with a solution.

That hasn’t changed.

West Side Blogger: With Another $3.5M Sale, Investors Double Down on South Shore Real Estate

Photo by DNAinfo/Sam Cholke

Bill Barr took note of a recent DNA Info article on the investment of a real estate company into the south side's South Shore neighborhood:

Out-of-state investors have increased their bet on housing in South Shore, buying three more buildings and spending a total of $13 million to buy seven properties in one month.

Broker Jeff Baasch of Sperry Van Ness said Wednesday that a group of Florida-based investors have paid nearly $3.5 million to purchase 136 units across three buildings near the Jackson Highlands area of South Shore.

In early December, the same group paid $9.5 million for four buildings, also near the Jackson Highlands.

Baasch said the new buildings, 6750 S. Merill Ave. and 6952 S. Paxton Ave., will be renovated. He said a vacant building at 7270 S. South Shore Drive will get a major overhaul.

Baar's comments I somewhat agree but what do you all think?

Get rid of the gangs and crime and South Shore would thrive. Some of the best views of Chicago can be had from the classic apartment buildings accross form Jackson Park along 67th street, while excellent transportation to the loop from Metra's (Illinois Central) trains on 71st. Someone sees the opportunities.

So whatever happened to that Blue White House in Chatham?

A Chicago magazine article from 5 years ago surfaced on FB discussing the blue White House replica in Chatham located at 8401 S. Michigan. The house had been for sale at prices approaching $1 million dollars.

I decided to find any photos on instagram for this house and found one from an instagrammer named marquisdefacade who took a more recent shot (3 weeks ago) of this residence that showed the doors boarded up. Then found information on this house and current status in which it was found that the house sold this month for $400,000.

So the people who helped to redevelop this house had to have taken a loss. It surely didn't take $400K just to rehab this home.

Either way glad to see that someone has bought the home now here's hoping they can give this unique residence the tender loving care that it deserves.

Related 

• Question - Where am I...?
• Curbed Chicago: A replica of the White House only blue
• Chicagoist: It's New to Us: Sky Blue "White House" Replica in Chatham
• Follow-up: Wreckage - waste of a once-beautiful building
•  Want another look at the blue White House replica in our community? 
• The blue "White House" is back....  

Citizen: Treasurer Summers Honors Dr. King by Launching “77 Proud” Initiative

This story involves Mr. Jahmal Cole and his My Block My Hood My City project.

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., City Treasurer Kurt Summers on Monday brought together faith and community leaders to address disinvestment in Chicago’s communities and announce a new initiative that promotes non-violence by providing access to economic resources. “77 Proud” consists of 11 financial education resource fairs that will take place across the City from January to March. The announcement took place at Stone Temple Church on Chicago’s West Side where Dr. King spoke at a rally 50 years ago.

“Each of our 77 neighborhoods has great potential, but they don’t each have the same access to opportunity or to investment,” Treasurer Summers said. “As we honor Dr. King, it is dire that we immediately take a stand against the violence, the inequalities and the injustices that exist in Chicago’s communities. By investing in Our Chicago and providing tools and education to those who need it most, we can help empower more Chicagoans to pursue Dr. King’s dream.”

Treasurer Summers also spoke to inequity in the justice system and disinvestment in Chicago’s neighborhoods as it relates to the more than nearly 500 deaths that took place in 2015 and almost 30 that have taken place since January 1, 2016. Founder of My Block My Hood My City, Jahmal Cole, has partnered with the Treasurer’s Office to implement 77 Proud and help spread a message of peace across the City.   

What's going on at CPS?

The Capitol Fax alerts us to the after effects of the school closings of 2013. I wonder if they prove to be further unpopular if computers, furniture, etc wasn't accounted for.

• CPS says it has no records on what happened to any of the books from the closed schools.
• There are more than 9,400 desktop and laptop computers listed on inventories of schools that were closed. Of those, 3,724 were “redeployed” to other schools or to CPS headquarters, according to CPS, which says the rest were “disposed” of — though how or where isn’t clear.
• More than 33,000 chairs and roughly 12,000 desks and 6,000 tables were listed in good condition in the closed schools, CPS records show. About 9,500 of those chairs, 3,900 desks and 1,000 tables apparently were moved to other buildings. It’s unclear where the rest went.

In the meanwhile also on the Capitol Fax we learn of a proposal that would allow the city of Chicago and CPS to declare bankruptcy as currently the law in this state doesn't allow them to do so. In fact the Republican leaders in the General Assembly are hosting a press conference as I publish this.

Well as I understand there is a deadlock in Springfield as far as a budget and Democrats have a majority in both houses of the General Assembly what are the odds the bankruptcy proposal sponsored by the Republicans goes nowhere?

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?

Decision 2016: 6th ward GOP Committeeman

It's that time of year again while petitions have been filed and now we are in petition objection hearing season.

We were just alerted to the race for Republican Committeeman  in the 6th Ward. Committeeman Darnell Macklin e-mailed us info regarding his race. Candidate Jimmy Lee Tillman withdrew from this race and other opponent Aja McClanahan reportedly has been removed from ballot although this information from the Chicago Board of Elections doesn't reflect that fact as of yet.

And Alderman Roderick Sawyer the current Democratic Committeeman of the 6th Ward has no opposition in his race. Four years ago he faced off against Richard Wooten for that office in addition to facing him twice for 6th Ward Alderman in 2011 & 2015.

Feel free to let us know if there are any races we should cover for the 2016 primary elections. We already see an interesting election taking place in the 1st Congressional district for example.

Marathon Pundit visits Englewood

On Sunday, John Ruberry of Marathon Pundit visited the neighborhood of Englewood to snap shots of the ruins throughout the community. His pic above is the Masonic Temple near 64th/Green a building that is consider endangered and who knows if anyone is willing to spend money to restore this building.

However there are some houses in Englewood looking for TLC especially greystones and other classic houses that you may find there. Who knows with some of the vacant lots in the residential areas perhaps in the future a developer or property owner can leave their own architectural legacy as has been done in Chatham.

Pullman is the Curbed Cup 2015 winner

We had to wait a few days for the official call, but thanks primarily to a strong effort in the comments and voting by Pullman residents and supporters they did it. Pullman is the 2015 neighborhood of the year for Curbed Chicago. Here's hoping for a great 2016 for that historic and architecturally significant community on the far south side of town.

Englewood Whole Foods Market event on January 6th

Been wanting to share this before the New Year but hadn't had the opportunity.

The Englewood branch of Whole Foods, which the upscale grocery chain announced plans for a year and a half ago, is inviting community members to learn about job opportunities at the store on Jan. 6.

The event, set to start at 6 p.m. at Kennedy King College, at 740 W. 63rd St., in the college's Great Hall, will feature information about jobs at the new grocery store—the first to open on Chicago's South Side—and sample products.

While the Englewood branch is slated to open in September, one hope of the “workforce development conversations” at the event is to get Englewood residents working at existing Whole Foods, so they can transfer back to the Englewood store right when it opens, marketing director Keith Stewart explained.

Also Chicagoist referred to this article via DNA Info. The ig post you see embedded below is a regram from Bruce Montgomery's profile who last year was taking a photographic record of the progress at 63rd & Halsted.

Four days ago Repost @techaccesstv: #EnglewoodRising #AllGoodintheHood #teamwholefoods #goodinenglewood

A photo posted by The Sixth Ward (@thesixthward) on Dec 8, 2015 at 12:33pm PST

2015 the year that was

 Earlier this year Chicagoans went to the polls to either vote out their incumbent Alderman or to vote in new ones. In addition, the city threw the mayoral contest to a run off for the first time and resulted in a victory for Rahm Emanuel and a second term for mayor.

As a result of the recent municipal elections Ald. Roderick Sawyer replaced Ald. Howard Brookins as chairman of the city council Black Caucus. Ald. Sawyer has been all over the McDonald shooting and the release of the police footage of that incident.

In addition, Ald. Brookins is running for the 1st Congressional District seat held by Bobby Rush. Congressman Rush had reportedly been looking at retirement until he revealed later that he plans to run for re-election in 2016.

Though he's been re-elected a recent reversal of events during the last two months of 2015 has activists calling for his resignation. The reversal involves a police shooting last year of Laquan McDonald shot by a police officer 16 times and any footage of this incident suppress by Mayor Emanuel & state's attorney Anita Alvarez.

Speaking of the state's attorney as a result of her alleged role in the suppression of police footage of the McDonald incident activists are calling for her to resign as well. For the moment while the next mayoral election is 2019, Alvarez has a primary coming up next year. She already has some seemingly strong opponents going up against her so we shall see if she can eke out the Democratic nomination - which is certainly a shoo-in for being elected in November.

Another Chicago politico in Circuit Court Clerk Dorothy Brown as a result of federal investigations into her campaign has lost the support of the Cook County Democratic Party. She had originally been slated but federal warrants caused Democratic "bosses" in Chicago to remove their original slating.

We're still following the Whole Foods Market coming to 63rd & Halsted. Thanks to Bruce Montgomery on instagram we've been seeing some progress as far as construction of the future site of Whole Foods Market Englewood.

Disclosure: One of the bloggers here at The Sixth Ward is a team member at Whole Foods Market.

In addition local lender Seaway Bank celebrated 50 years in business. While loyal customers and the bank's employees are celebrating there are some hiccups and that includes the sudden resignation of their new President & CEO who had been installed in 2014.

Also another local lender Highland Community Bank failed and taken over by a Indiana-based bank. As a matter of fact in different times Seaway had been in talks to buy the bank located on 87th Street near Ashland Avenue.

BTW, on the south side Pullman after a new factory opened up and a national monument designation is in the running as of this posting for 2015 Curbed Cup neighborhood of the year. In the meanwhile near the end of the year Chatham was the recipient of further attention thanks to the many modernist homes built in the area over the years.

What is a story you followed during the past year? What are you predictions and expectations in 2016?

Curbed Cup final Loop vs. Pullman

Hotel Florence Pullman

Pullman advances and you have until tomorrow night on New Year's even to cast your vote for the neighborhood of the year over at CurbedChicago. Hopefully you're vote will be for the Pullman neighborhood which has had quite a year in 2015.

the Pullman neighborhood on the city's far south side has had a huge year. Its historic district has become the first national monument in Chicago and there's even growing support for a full blown national park campus. Pullman also welcomed the first new factory to open on Chicago's south side in three decades. The colorful factory is not only generating much needed revenue for the neighborhood, but it has also set a very high bar for other companies when it comes to being environmentally friendly.

To be sure I like the loop but home for me is the South Side and it's a no brainer that this part of town would get my vote. Hopefully Pullman is back again for the Curbed Cup in 2016.

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.

John's Hardware featured on TV!

Our independently owned John's Hardware, based in Englewood, was featured on WCIU's "You and Me" morning show.

Thanks to Judge Fredrenna Lyle for posting this news on her Facebook page!



You can also find the segment here.

Help support the store by visiting

johnshardwareandbicycleshop.com

7350 S Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60621

(773) 483-7443

Our very own Jahmal Cole featured on TV

2 Saturdays ago, ur very own Jahmal Cole was featured on ABC 7's African-American centered public affairs show "Heart and Soul."

See it for yourself!

You can also visit the ABC 7 Chicago website for the segment.


Congratulations!