Reading this article in the Chicago Journal suddenly struck me. Is the city ever-so-slowly kicking into survival mode and saying "Hey! We're losing residents, manufacturing jobs will never come back, and we need to stop holding out and redevelop our land to suit our changing needs--ie housing for professionals." Pilsen residents rightly want to prevent this from occurring in their neighborhood, but the forces they are fighting against may be too great.
Perhaps Chicago needs to give up on (much of) its manufacturing base to survive the next few decades, even if that means screwing over some of its immigrant workers. Besides, the recent Census Bureau article stated that many of Chicagolands newer immigrants are bypassing the city and heading straight for the suburbs.
Here's the article. I'm particularly interested in how Pilsen's community group was so harshly treated by the city. Tell me what you guys think:
Chantico Lofts approved
Pilsen Alliance is kicked off 25th Ward zoning advisory board
By LAURA PUTRE, Editor
Near West
A controversial Pilsen condo project received approval last week from the cityÂ's Zoning Commission, and is expected to win approval from the full City Council.
Chantico Lofts, a 42-unit condo conversion proposed for an industrial warehouse at 16th and Carpenter, has met with loud opposition from the Pilsen Alliance residentsÂ' advocacy group in recent months. The development by Bucktown-based Lipe Properties required a zoning variance to allow for more than 20 units.
Alejandra Ibanez, head of the Pilsen Alliance, said she was disappointed by 25th Ward Alderman Daniel SolisÂ' decision to approve the zoning change after several neighborhood meetings on the matter. The Pilsen Alliance had rallied to try and get the building zoned industrial, in the hopes that a manufacturing business could be lured there and bring more jobs to the area.
Â"We did everything we could as a community,Â" Ibanez said. Â"But we donÂ't have the political clout with the old-boy network thatÂ's worked a certain way for decades.Â"
On Wednesday, about 25 members of the Alliance descended on City Council chambers to present Solis with a mock check Â"for selling out the community.Â" Solis managed to evade demonstrators, however, before they could actually hand him the check.
Solis said in a phone interview that he supported Chantico Lofts because of 11 affordable housing units it would bring to the neighborhood were Â"better than what the city would require.Â" He added that the Pilsen AllianceÂ's desire to reserve the site for industry Â"doesnÂ't make any senseÂ" with a nearby Planned Manufacturing District already set aside for light industrial purposes.
Pilsen Alliance members protested the development at neighborhood zoning advisory board meetings, saying it would pave the way for gentrification in the community that would displace the neighborhoodÂ's working-class residents. A few Latino residents of Pilsen have also made public statements in terms of race, saying that they feel the development would specifically displace working-class Latinos.
Solis said heÂ's baffled by such comments, and mentioned that Pilsen Alliance protestors are supported by the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, which is not based in the neighborhood. Â"IÂ'm not going to have the JCUA tell me what IÂ'm doing in my neighborhood,Â" Solis said, adding that the protestors Â"have accused me of selling out the community. All those accusations are ridiculous.Â"
Â"IÂ've been working in Pilsen since 1974, before some of those people were born. IÂ've been involved in building schools, helping people become homeowners. Some of their people have lived only two, three years in the neighborhood, yet they present themselves as saviors of Mexicans in their community. I think theyÂ're wrong. I respectfully disagree with them. We donÂ't need to be saved by young white guys.Â"
For their vehement objections about the project at meetings, members of the Pilsen Alliance were recently kicked off the 25th Ward zoning advisory board that it was instrumental in helping create. Solis said he has started his own zoning advisory board in recent weeks, which includes members of the Resurrection Project, Alivio Medical Center, and the 18th Street Development Council.
More than half the members of the previous 21-member zoning advisory board were affiliated with the Pilsen Alliance. The AllianceÂ's legwork on a referendum last year, after frustrations with residents not having a say in zoning variances, brought about the 25th Ward zoning advisory board. The referendum passed with 95 percent approval from Pilsen residents.
Solis said he and the Pilsen Alliance differ on class issues. Â"My main problem with Pilsen Alliance is that I believe a mixed-income community in Pilsen is important,Â" he said. Â"They seem to believe that the only people who can live in Pilsen are working class. I think that is an insult to the average working class individual who wants to progress in this city or this country. If youÂ're a waitress or youÂ're a factory worker, you progress and do better and want to stay in housing stock in your own community. In Chinatown, for example, we see this. We can do the same thing in Pilsen.Â"
Ibanez said the median income of Pilsen residents comes to $27,000 a year, which would qualify a resident for a mortgage up to $93,000. Â"When theyÂ're talking about affordability and set-asides, they need to look at the community theyÂ're building in,Â" she said.
Developer Steve Lipe said about half the units in Chantico Lofts are on reserve with deposits. About 35 percent of people reserving units hail from Pilsen, with another 30 percent from surrounding neighborhoods like Brigeport, Lipe said. Full construction is expected to start in August, with move-in dates projected for next spring or early summer of 2006.
Â"We have lost some buyers who didnÂ't believe it was going to happen,Â" Lipe said. Â"I think that unfortunately because of groups like Pilsen Alliance, itÂ's causing good projects not to be done.Â"
Despite the controversy, Lipe said he would continue to consider sites in Pilsen for possible future devlopments> |
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