How economically and racially integrated will the new Chicago be.

I POSTED THIS, IN ERROR, ON THE CHGO DEVELOPEMENT BOARD: ****************** How economically and racially integrated will the new and rapidly redeveloping Chicago be? To me, that seems like a HUGE question, but one we rarely examine as we watch the skyline soar and quality low and mid-rise construction take place. I would think we could use a more or less permanent thread to discuss these issues. There are a lot of issues out there and I hope we could examine them here. These include: • Are West Side and South Side gentrification merely an extension of North Side gentrification as the North Side has fewer and fewer areas to gentrify? Will West Side and South Side gentrification be dominated by North Siders and North Side developers? In other words, are we trying to recreate the North Side on the south and the west? • How integrated will the new South and West Sides be? The African American community has effectively revived many neighborhoods (particularly on the South Side). Will these areas be a magnet for more integrated living? What conflicts will this generate? And with that huge black middle class, is there any reason to fear that these areas won't remain integrated (the money is there for people of all racial groups to continue to live there)? • How much has race been linked to economics in gentrification up to this point? Will it continue to be linked in a similiar way as gentrification continues? • For all the problems that we had during the most racially divisive times, are we creating a city today that is every bit as dysfunctional today: the total lack of economic diversity in its most vibrant areas and (dare I say) far too white in its most vibrant areas? In a sense, are we turning our back on diversity? SO THIS IS HUGE: ARE RACE AND ECONOMICS TOO TRAGICALLY INTERTWINED IN CHICAGO'S GENTRIFICATION? • How much of a clash will we see in battles between immigrant groups who revive an area and the gentrification that comes afterwards. Often the very immigrant groups that revive a neighborhood can be ironically squeezed out because they can't afford what they created (i.e. Vietnamese and other southeast Asians in Uptown)? • Will the new Chicago be a battleground between gentrificaton and ethnic immigrant groups? Hispanic population will rise. Even more so, I'm fairly sure, Asian popullation will really go up. Will these groups be battling the wealthy for space in the new Chicago? • What effect will Chicago gentrification have on the following areas: neighborhoods on the fringe of Chicago close-in suburban areas In other words, will fringe neighborhoods like Rogers Park and Austin develop due to their accesiblity to downtown? If so, will this effect the ethnic demographics? How about close in suburbia? Will towns like Niles, which might have suffered in a previous era when outer ring suburbs outpace inner ring suburbs actually reverse the trend due to proximity to Chicago?>