Yeah, thats the wonderful graffiti left by our local hooligans, it was done saturday night. Called 311 sunday am, and I talked to the aldermans office about it yesterday and act one cafe and I talked to tony who owns the 16 unit right next to it.
Its the wayne side of the crappy video store in the horrible minimall at morse and wayne.
I got tony to remove the motorcycle that has been sitting in the halfcourtyard apt complex at 6921 that had been sitting there for prob 5 years atleast. And the parkway in front of that place and the graffiti laden video store has been picked up.
The Brazers started in the early 1970s in the Pilsen neighborhood. They lived in the apartment buildings around 17th and Racine area, and they hung out at Dovark Park.
The Brazers were mainly a crew that enjoyed going to discos and night clubs and dressing in style. They had many tough brawlers among them that knew how to fight. They wore the same colors as La Raza did and still does which are red, green, and white.
La Raza and Brazer kind of have the same meaning; however, the Brazers did not come from La Raza street gang and vice versa. The Brazers soon were at war with Latin Kings, Halsted Boys, Morgan Deuces, and the Kool Gang.
The Brazers are said to have been led by Lalo in the early and mid-70s. The Brazers never really established any allies in the Pilsen neighborhood probably because they felt they didn't need help because they were such good fighters and didn't fear much. By 1976 enemy gangs were closing in on the Brazers fast and shooting at them, while the Brazers were not heavily armed.
The Brazers then moved up to the north side in 1981 or 1982, they also changed their colors to black and red when they moved up north (in Pilsen it was red, white, and green. On the North side it was black and red. Many prominent North side Brazers were: Choli, Chongo, Beto, and the Northside leader Tarzan who became leader when Brazers moved up north.
They relocated to Beacon and Leland, Chase Park, Lawrence and Paulina, Lawrence and Clark, Ashland and Ainslie by the early 80s. In the year 1980 the Brazers joined the Folk Nation and they began tagging pitchforks in their graffiti. In the early 80s the Brazers befriended the Gangsters Disciples, Simon City Royals, and Latin Stylers; this basically prompted them to become folks in 1980.
They had wars with the Gaylords, Latin Kings, Vice Lords, and Kenmore Boys.
In the mid-90s the Brazers opened shop in East Rodgers Park. The Brazers have never been that large in number and have declined over the years. They mainly only operate on the corner of Morse and Wayne.
What bugs me about the Common Cup, is they want no part of the culture of the neighborhood. Just their money. I'm not going to step over trash at dawn for a cup of coffee. Morse is changing, and your either part of the change or your not.
I see shop owners sweeping and washing off sidewalks, cleaning street windows and setting up art along Morse.
I see the Common Cup owner, heading for the cash registor. If they don't care about trash on their front lawn, then they don't care about trash in their kitchen. Pog
That video store and entire mini mall is a dump - too bad they can't demolish all of it! Anyone ever actually go in that video store? Blockbuster is going bankrupt, so how does that place stay open? I called 311 on graffiti too - I can't believe it's still up there and we have to deal with gangbanger idiots! Morse would look nice if they actually washed some windows and removed the ghetto gates in front of some stores.
Here is an idea, based on a court case which made it to the US Supreme Court. Property can be taken per eminent domain for economic improvement. So why not have the city take the mini mall and redevelop it and rid the hood of a bad element.
Here is an idea, based on a court case which made it to the US Supreme Court. Property can be taken per eminent domain for economic improvement. So why not have the city take the mini mall and redevelop it and rid the hood of a bad element.
Here is an idea, based on a court case which made it to the US Supreme Court. Property can be taken per eminent domain for economic improvement. So why not have the city take the mini mall and redevelop it and rid the hood of a bad element.
@POG Not sure how the Common Cup facters into this thread but best way to have anyone change their behavior is hitting them in the wallet. Dont frequent them and they will get the message.
That video store is pretty bad, it had alot of bugs and mosquitos in it in the summer and the carpeting and everything is so moldy and in general that place is very grimey.
Yeah that is one of the worst minimalls I have ever seen. And its parking lot is not patrolled at all.
People just park there for whatever reason all day.
academic one, just because the Supreme Court says the government has the right to seize your property for a "public purpose" doesn't mean it's morally correct.
What it means is that we have no property rights and have a thug government.
I'd like to see that horrible little strip mall at Morse and Wayne demolished and replaced with something attractive and appropriate, too.... but I want it done correctly.
"Correctly" means that some private developer makes the current ownership an offer it can't refuse, and develops the property with the developer's own money, and NOT our tax money. Land use and zoning rules apply, and a community has a right to apply those to prevent noxious development.
But we don't need more tax money allocated to this. We need relief on our property taxes.... and we need a city government that does not obstruct and harass the hell out of small business while taxing them into oblivion.
@ North Coast I don't agree with the Supreme Courts ruling. My reaction was WTF but its history and a law that's been upheld by the highest court. Government funds don't need to be involved directly. The city can seize it and sell it for a fair price to a developer and give that fair price to the original owner.
I agree with North Coast. I'm not down with "emnient domain". I equate it with displacement of people. I'm not saying that all the businesses in that Morse mini-mall are bad, but I've seen cases where good businesses get mowed down just because some developer wanted to put in businesses that they'll get a cut of the rent from (and some businesses that people really can't afford to buy from or would patronize for that matter) or to put up more condos that the average working person can't purchase.
I moved off Lunt and out of the neighborhood about 6 years ago after getting "gooned." I've been out of Chicago a couple of years and now I'm back for grad school.
I'm working on a paper about the neighborhood and I'd love to sit down and talk to any of you that have been around for the last few years and can fill me in on what I missed. I'll buy coffee. Sadly, not a Ennui.
I know this isnt uptown update, but craig, could we maybe have a new post for this, pretty please, ive been good craig.....
New Home for Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society 10.13.10—The Rogers Park / West Ridge Historical Society has found a new home. The organization will move from its current location to 1447 West Morse Avenue. The move is planned to be complete by early November. To celebrate, the Society is planning a series of events continuing through the end of the year. The Grand Opening of the new facility will take place on Sunday, December 12, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Volunteers are needed to prepare for the move and to staff events. Those interested in helping can call the Society’s offices at 773–764–4078 or send an e-mail to rpwrhs@aol.com.
I equate Eminent Domain with the complete destruction of property rights in this country and the assault on the middle class.
Property rights are supposed to be sacred in this country, but the concept has become a joke.
If somebody richer and better connected than you wants your property, he can take it for a "public purpose", a very loosely defined term.
And you have to pay your local government rent on it every year in the form of property taxes that can be doubled or tripled whether you can afford them or not, so it's laughable to think that you have "housing security" just because you paid off your mortgage. The rent you pay your local government to live in your own paid-for house will be used to subsidize the people who are empowered to steal your property from you by eminent domain proceedings.
And now you can suffer some scumbag previous "owner" who was foreclosed after not making payments for two years decide to take possession of "his" home, and break & enter to reclaim it, because maybe the foreclosure was "fraudulent" because of some lapse in procedure somewhere along the line.
What I take away from it all is that if you operate with completely no respect for anyone else's rights and game the system every way you can think of, you will be rewarded richly with great commercial property at dirt cheap prices, multi-billion dollar bailouts, or at least a rent-free 4 bed 3 bath house plus a few hundred thou in spending money from some nitwit bank. But if you are honest, prudent, try to earn your keep, and pay for what you get, you will end up broke and victimized.
Property Rights and Rule of Law have gone by the board in this lawless, anarchistic country.
The Brazers spray their gang graffiti on the side of a building and suddenly all venom is directed by you idiots at the business whose building got vandalized. If you don't want to rent a video from that store then stay the hell out of it. Do you have a business? Do you know how to run one? If not, then shut hell up. At least the tenants of that mall make some effort to clean up the parking lot on a daily basis. They are not responsible for the gang activity. Small business are not bad elements in this community.
Oh come on - I can't imagine anyone actually rents a video in that store - I wouldn't even walk through the front door. Wonder what really goes on in there.
"The bad element can't physically stop the improving of the neigborhood. The momentum is just too great."
Is it really? When I was up there in '03-'04 it was "getting better". It seems to me that RP is always "getting better" but it never actually is better. Why is that?
Have you been around the corner of Wayne and Farwell? Have you seen the Reside on Morse? That was 110 units that turned over on Morse and Lunt.
Thats alot of units. THere used to be constant noise all night long when I first lived in Rogers Park in 2007. It is still improving, the neigborhood was really really down in the dumps, so it takes longer for it to get to a point where "you" would think it finally is "okay".
I got the landlord at 6914 N Wayne to put up a fence up so that drugdealers, gangbangers and homeless people dont hang out there anymore. Ask anyone on Wayne if things havent improved. How did I do that? I constantly called 911 when anyone sat there and called the landlord alot and alot and alot. And suggested either a fence or a manager on site.
Also the Four Greystones south of Farwell on Wayne are now Color Coordinated and Look very sharp. The former Roach Motel at 6828 N wayne has much better residents in it now.
Are all the bad elements gone? No. Why? Well every single beat up and worn out building hasnt been rehabbed yet. But you would have to be blind to not see the difference.
Are we saying that crime has to be nonexistent and there is to be NO graffiti and then the Neigborhood is okay?
Anways, just ask craig about morse before Reside on Morse and Before Act One Cafe, actually you can just look at the blog to see the drug dealing photos.
The drug dealing still goes on, but at nowhere near the level when that rats nest (four plus one) was up and running.
THere is also now Chuckies and Glenwood Bar, more foottraffic and eyes on the street is good.
And Seth in what way is Rogers Park not getting better?
I would like criteria. Crime happens in every neigborhood. So that will never completely go away.
Why dont you ask the gangbangers how the neigborhood is? Im sure they would bitch and moan about the improvements and how it isnt like how it used to be.
Also to just look at the neigborhood development folder at skyscrapercity forum chicago section, there is a thread there for Rogers Park. It lists all the developments and improvements that have happened just the past few years.
I haven't seen those buildings, but I'll check them out.
What I mean is, Ennui went under. There was that theatre on Lunt and Glenwood - it's empty. The little shop under the north side of the Morse stop is empty. So is the former cafe Descartes next door. So maybe there are some new businesses in the area, but that's 4 business that were there when I lived on that street that are gone now. The Heartland and Armadillo's Pillow down the street are barely hanging on. Of course there are improvements, but it's hard to see where they are outpacing the setbacks. It seems like 2 steps forward 2 steps back.
If you're saying crime is down because of community involvement that's great. But what else is improving? What does the neighborhood need to really, finally turn the corner?
Some business dont make it. Thats all. But Common Cup is doing okay despite my boycott for them not picking up the litter on the parkway outside their place.
Act One and Mayne Stage is being bankrolled by a pritzker, Thats HUGE! Thats millions of dollars of investment. Pritzker also has a bed and breakfast, cats cradle next to the newly renovated frank lloyd wright house (emil bach house) on sheridan.
Thats how backward this neigborhood was, a frank lloyd wright house was a six flat, so only in the past 5 yrs or more recent someone bought and restored it to a single family and it has awesome tulips in the yard now.
So real money has been poured back into the neighborhood.
Retail is tough in these times, but the retail space at the pratt and sheridan building has been improved and something new is going in one space painted orange.
Look at Loyola and how much is going on there.
There are alot of business in Rogers Park that just didnt manage their money well and maybe outlived their usefulness. Ennui just fell into the wrong hands, I think it was just a bad operator.
Look at the building at wayne and morse it is a one story retail space that has morse gyros in it and the cleaners, It has been totally redone.
Look at Morse and Wayne and down Wayne to Pratt on Google streetview then and then look at it now. Physical property improvement and upkeep of the parkways has improved alot.
And that many times has to happen before retail explodes.
Do you remember wicker park and bucktown in the nineties?
It wasnt as fancy and exciting as now, but alot of the groundwork was being done then and previously in the eighties, that neighborhood didnt happen overnight.
And neither will Rogers Park, but its Heart is no longer broken, it said so on the silent radio of the mayne stage earlier this year.
Ive only moved into the area some 5 years ago but in that time improvements to the area have been made. Those mentioned as well as the Dominicks on Clark and Howard upgrading, the addition of Uncommon Ground on Devon, addition of Aldis, Greenleaf Art Center, Glenwood bar. As for Ennui, I heard that a large rent increase no longer made the location profitable.
The Emil Bach house, designed by Wright, was never in its history a rental, let alone a 6-flat.
Before it changed hands 5 years ago, it was owned by an affable and extremely attractive young man who inherited it from his parents, who lived there for decades. He and I used to chat once in a while when I was living on Fargo, a decade ago, and encountered him in his yard as I walked down Sheridan. He tried for many years to sell the place at a really high price, $1 Million, and I guess he finally adjusted his sights a little and dropped the price when he figured out that not many people are going to pay $1M for place up here.
It's never been a "problem" house, unlike others in the area.
But you're correct in saying the neighborhood has improved substantially in the past few years. It really has come up from the worst point, which was 1999, Things turned sharply up at that time- with the south end of the neighborhood, close to Pratt, being cleaned up and many bad businesses making their exit.
Ennui went under. ...theatre on Lunt and Glenwood - it's empty. The little shop under the north side of the Morse stop is empty. So is the former cafe Descartes next door. ...that's 4 business that were there when I lived on that street that are gone now. The Heartland and Armadillo's Pillow ... barely hanging on.
There have always been ups and downs with businesses in any neighborhood. I miss Ennui, too, but I miss the previous ownership a lot more than the most recent incarnation, which wasn't well run.
Overall, there have been a lot more gains than losses in the neighborhood over the last 10 years. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next 10 years will bring.
42 comments:
Yeah, thats the wonderful
graffiti left by our local hooligans, it was done saturday night. Called 311 sunday am,
and I talked to the aldermans office about it yesterday and act one cafe and I talked to tony who owns the 16 unit right next to it.
Its the wayne side of the crappy video store in the horrible minimall at morse and wayne.
I got tony to remove the motorcycle that has been sitting in the halfcourtyard apt complex at 6921 that had been sitting there for prob 5 years atleast.
And the parkway in front of that place and the graffiti laden video store has been picked up.
Alot of police presence yesterday.
Which is nice to see,
chuckies was open again yesterday.
Looking good.
Sometimes its two steps forward
and one step back.
what gang is that anyways?
The Almighty Brazers. Their corner is at Morse and Wayne. Known among it's members as Murder World.
I thought there was more gangster disciples around. Or they are more Howard?
What race are the brazers?
Who are they allied with?
From the Chicago Gangs website.
The Brazers started in the early 1970s in the Pilsen neighborhood. They lived in the apartment buildings around 17th and Racine area, and they hung out at Dovark Park.
The Brazers were mainly a crew that enjoyed going to discos and night clubs and dressing in style. They had many tough brawlers among them that knew how to fight. They wore the same colors as La Raza did and still does which are red, green, and white.
La Raza and Brazer kind of have the same meaning; however, the Brazers did not come from La Raza street gang and vice versa. The Brazers soon were at war with Latin Kings, Halsted Boys, Morgan Deuces, and the Kool Gang.
The Brazers are said to have been led by Lalo in the early and mid-70s. The Brazers never really established any allies in the Pilsen neighborhood probably because they felt they didn't need help because they were such good fighters and didn't fear much. By 1976 enemy gangs were closing in on the Brazers fast and shooting at them, while the Brazers were not heavily armed.
The Brazers then moved up to the north side in 1981 or 1982, they also changed their colors to black and red when they moved up north (in Pilsen it was red, white, and green. On the North side it was black and red. Many prominent North side Brazers were: Choli, Chongo, Beto, and the Northside leader Tarzan who became leader when Brazers moved up north.
They relocated to Beacon and Leland, Chase Park, Lawrence and Paulina, Lawrence and Clark, Ashland and Ainslie by the early 80s. In the year 1980 the Brazers joined the Folk Nation and they began tagging pitchforks in their graffiti. In the early 80s the Brazers befriended the Gangsters Disciples, Simon City Royals, and Latin Stylers; this basically prompted them to become folks in 1980.
They had wars with the Gaylords, Latin Kings, Vice Lords, and Kenmore Boys.
In the mid-90s the Brazers opened shop in East Rodgers Park. The Brazers have never been that large in number and have declined over the years. They mainly only operate on the corner of Morse and Wayne.
they also tagged the wall on glenwood just south of farwell... just called it in to 311
What bugs me about the Common Cup, is they want no part of the culture of the neighborhood. Just their money. I'm not going to step over trash at dawn for a cup of coffee. Morse is changing, and your either part of the change or your not.
I see shop owners sweeping and washing off sidewalks, cleaning street windows and setting up art along Morse.
I see the Common Cup owner, heading for the cash registor. If they don't care about trash on their front lawn, then they don't care about trash in their kitchen.
Pog
Well that was an interesting lesson in gang history.
I temporarily parked my car at Wayne and Farwell last night waiting for a spot to open. Lotta guys just walking around the same spot.
Chuckie's looks nice, might check it out after work Friday.
So i guess they are hispanic then
if they are from pilsen.
Is that progress?
The GDs cant make it on morse
and so its back to the dwindling brazers?
Cops on Morse tonight
one narc car and one squad car in front of the golden mini mart.
That video store and entire mini mall is a dump - too bad they can't demolish all of it! Anyone ever actually go in that video store? Blockbuster is going bankrupt, so how does that place stay open?
I called 311 on graffiti too - I can't believe it's still up there and we have to deal with gangbanger idiots!
Morse would look nice if they actually washed some windows and removed the ghetto gates in front of some stores.
10/14/10
730am today graffiti blasters
spraywashed the building and got rid of the graffiti.
Here is an idea, based on a court case which made it to the US Supreme Court. Property can be taken per eminent domain for economic improvement. So why not have the city take the mini mall and redevelop it and rid the hood of a bad element.
Here is an idea, based on a court case which made it to the US Supreme Court. Property can be taken per eminent domain for economic improvement. So why not have the city take the mini mall and redevelop it and rid the hood of a bad element.
Here is an idea, based on a court case which made it to the US Supreme Court. Property can be taken per eminent domain for economic improvement. So why not have the city take the mini mall and redevelop it and rid the hood of a bad element.
@POG Not sure how the Common Cup facters into this thread but best way to have anyone change their behavior is hitting them in the wallet. Dont frequent them and they will get the message.
That video store is pretty bad,
it had alot of bugs and mosquitos in it in the summer
and the carpeting and everything is so moldy and in general that place is very grimey.
Yeah that is one of the worst minimalls I have ever seen.
And its parking lot is not patrolled at all.
People just park there for whatever reason all day.
Any ideas when the Morse Endless Streetscaping will be finished? Not much point cleaning up in front of your store when there's no freaking sidewalk.
academic one, just because the Supreme Court says the government has the right to seize your property for a "public purpose" doesn't mean it's morally correct.
What it means is that we have no property rights and have a thug government.
I'd like to see that horrible little strip mall at Morse and Wayne demolished and replaced with something attractive and appropriate, too.... but I want it done correctly.
"Correctly" means that some private developer makes the current ownership an offer it can't refuse, and develops the property with the developer's own money, and NOT our tax money. Land use and zoning rules apply, and a community has a right to apply those to prevent noxious development.
But we don't need more tax money allocated to this. We need relief on our property taxes.... and we need a city government that does not obstruct and harass the hell out of small business while taxing them into oblivion.
@ North Coast I don't agree with the Supreme Courts ruling. My reaction was WTF but its history and a law that's been upheld by the highest court. Government funds don't need to be involved directly. The city can seize it and sell it for a fair price to a developer and give that fair price to the original owner.
I agree with North Coast. I'm not down with "emnient domain". I equate it with displacement of people. I'm not saying that all the businesses in that Morse mini-mall are bad, but I've seen cases where good businesses get mowed down just because some developer wanted to put in businesses that they'll get a cut of the rent from (and some businesses that people really can't afford to buy from or would patronize for that matter) or to put up more condos that the average working person can't purchase.
Wow, Tom Mannis must have done that - he's back in the 'hood now.... great
I moved off Lunt and out of the neighborhood about 6 years ago after getting "gooned." I've been out of Chicago a couple of years and now I'm back for grad school.
I'm working on a paper about the neighborhood and I'd love to sit down and talk to any of you that have been around for the last few years and can fill me in on what I missed. I'll buy coffee. Sadly, not a Ennui.
Shoot me an email if you can help me out.
I know this isnt uptown update,
but craig, could we maybe have a
new post for
this, pretty please, ive been
good craig.....
New Home for Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society
10.13.10—The Rogers Park / West Ridge Historical Society has found a new home. The organization will move from its current location to 1447 West Morse Avenue. The move is planned to be complete by early November. To celebrate, the Society is planning a series of events continuing through the end of the year. The Grand Opening of the new facility will take place on Sunday, December 12, from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Volunteers are needed to prepare for the move and to staff events. Those interested in helping can call the Society’s offices at 773–764–4078 or send an e-mail to rpwrhs@aol.com.
I equate Eminent Domain with the complete destruction of property rights in this country and the assault on the middle class.
Property rights are supposed to be sacred in this country, but the concept has become a joke.
If somebody richer and better connected than you wants your property, he can take it for a "public purpose", a very loosely defined term.
And you have to pay your local government rent on it every year in the form of property taxes that can be doubled or tripled whether you can afford them or not, so it's laughable to think that you have "housing security" just because you paid off your mortgage. The rent you pay your local government to live in your own paid-for house will be used to subsidize the people who are empowered to steal your property from you by eminent domain proceedings.
And now you can suffer some scumbag previous "owner" who was foreclosed after not making payments for two years decide to take possession of "his" home, and break & enter to reclaim it, because maybe the foreclosure was "fraudulent" because of some lapse in procedure somewhere along the line.
What I take away from it all is that if you operate with completely no respect for anyone else's rights and game the system every way you can think of, you will be rewarded richly with great commercial property at dirt cheap prices, multi-billion dollar bailouts, or at least a rent-free 4 bed 3 bath house plus a few hundred thou in spending money from some nitwit bank. But if you are honest, prudent, try to earn your keep, and pay for what you get, you will end up broke and victimized.
Property Rights and Rule of Law have gone by the board in this lawless, anarchistic country.
I guess craig is going for highest post count with fewest blog entries.....
But I think that it will be really cool to have the RP historical society in the the HEART of rogers park for awhile
I guess their deal to get the firehouse on greenleaf either fell through or they just want to fix it up before moving in
The Brazers spray their gang graffiti on the side of a building and suddenly all venom is directed by you idiots at the business whose building got vandalized. If you don't want to rent a video from that store then stay the hell out of it. Do you have a business? Do you know how to run one? If not, then shut hell up. At least the tenants of that mall make some effort to clean up the parking lot on a daily basis. They are not responsible for the gang activity. Small business are not bad elements in this community.
Well I think moving out of the neigborhood is one way to react to a gooning.
Another way to react is to stay put and fight the good fight.
But if you dont own property then I guess there is no point.
But really, the neigborhood is still gentrifying and improving every year in spite of any "gooning" or any other crap that the bad element has done.
The bad element can't physically stop the improving of theneigborhood. The momentum is just too great.
Oh come on - I can't imagine anyone actually rents a video in that store - I wouldn't even walk through the front door. Wonder what really goes on in there.
@Razldazlrr:
You are truly a moron.
This is an interesting twist.
"The bad element can't physically stop the improving of the neigborhood. The momentum is just too great."
Is it really? When I was up there in '03-'04 it was "getting better". It seems to me that RP is always "getting better" but it never actually is better. Why is that?
What do you mean Seth?
Have you been around the corner of Wayne and Farwell?
Have you seen the Reside on Morse?
That was 110 units that turned over on Morse and Lunt.
Thats alot of units.
THere used to be constant noise all night long when I first lived in Rogers Park in 2007.
It is still improving, the neigborhood was really really down in the dumps, so it takes longer for it to get to a point where "you" would think it finally is "okay".
I got the landlord at 6914 N Wayne to put up a fence up so that drugdealers, gangbangers and homeless people dont hang out there anymore. Ask anyone on Wayne if things havent improved.
How did I do that? I constantly called 911 when anyone sat there
and called the landlord alot and alot and alot. And suggested either a fence or a manager on site.
Also the Four Greystones south of Farwell on Wayne are now Color Coordinated and Look very sharp.
The former Roach Motel at 6828 N wayne has much better residents in it now.
Are all the bad elements gone?
No.
Why?
Well every single beat up and worn out building hasnt been rehabbed yet. But you would have to be blind to not see the difference.
Are we saying that crime has to be nonexistent and there is to be NO graffiti and then the Neigborhood is okay?
Anways, just ask craig about morse before Reside on Morse and Before Act One Cafe, actually you can just look at the blog to see the drug dealing photos.
The drug dealing still goes on,
but at nowhere near the level when that rats nest (four plus one) was up and running.
THere is also now Chuckies and Glenwood Bar, more foottraffic
and eyes on the street is good.
And Seth in what way is Rogers Park not getting better?
I would like criteria.
Crime happens in every neigborhood.
So that will never completely go away.
Why dont you ask the gangbangers how the neigborhood is? Im sure they would bitch and moan about the improvements and how it isnt like how it used to be.
Also to just look at the neigborhood development folder at skyscrapercity forum chicago section, there is a thread there for Rogers Park. It lists all the developments and improvements that have happened just the past few years.
I haven't seen those buildings, but I'll check them out.
What I mean is, Ennui went under. There was that theatre on Lunt and Glenwood - it's empty. The little shop under the north side of the Morse stop is empty. So is the former cafe Descartes next door. So maybe there are some new businesses in the area, but that's 4 business that were there when I lived on that street that are gone now. The Heartland and Armadillo's Pillow down the street are barely hanging on. Of course there are improvements, but it's hard to see where they are outpacing the setbacks. It seems like 2 steps forward 2 steps back.
If you're saying crime is down because of community involvement that's great. But what else is improving? What does the neighborhood need to really, finally turn the corner?
Some business dont make it.
Thats all. But Common Cup is doing okay despite my boycott for them not picking up the litter on the parkway outside their place.
Act One and Mayne Stage is being bankrolled by a pritzker,
Thats HUGE! Thats millions of dollars of investment. Pritzker also has a bed and breakfast, cats cradle next to the newly renovated frank lloyd wright house (emil bach house) on sheridan.
Thats how backward this neigborhood was, a frank lloyd wright house was a six flat, so only in the past 5 yrs or more recent someone bought and restored it to a single family and it has awesome tulips in the yard now.
So real money has been poured back into the neighborhood.
Retail is tough in these times,
but the retail space at the pratt and sheridan building has been improved and something new is going in one space painted orange.
Look at Loyola and how much is going on there.
There are alot of business in Rogers Park that just didnt manage their money well and maybe outlived their usefulness.
Ennui just fell into the wrong hands, I think it was just a bad operator.
Look at the building at wayne and morse it is a one story retail space that has morse gyros in it and the cleaners, It has been totally redone.
Look at Morse and Wayne
and down Wayne to Pratt on Google streetview then and then look at it now. Physical property improvement and upkeep of the parkways has improved alot.
And that many times has to happen before retail explodes.
Do you remember wicker park and bucktown in the nineties?
It wasnt as fancy and exciting as now, but alot of the groundwork was being done then and previously in the eighties, that neighborhood didnt happen overnight.
And neither will Rogers Park,
but its Heart is no longer broken,
it said so on the silent radio of the mayne stage earlier this year.
Sorry for jumping down your throat.
haha.
Ive only moved into the area some 5 years ago but in that time improvements to the area have been made. Those mentioned as well as the Dominicks on Clark and Howard upgrading, the addition of Uncommon Ground on Devon, addition of Aldis, Greenleaf Art Center, Glenwood bar. As for Ennui, I heard that a large rent increase no longer made the location profitable.
Greenleaf art center has been there awhile.
Geofredo, small correction here.
The Emil Bach house, designed by Wright, was never in its history a rental, let alone a 6-flat.
Before it changed hands 5 years ago, it was owned by an affable and extremely attractive young man who inherited it from his parents, who lived there for decades. He and I used to chat once in a while when I was living on Fargo, a decade ago, and encountered him in his yard as I walked down Sheridan. He tried for many years to sell the place at a really high price, $1 Million, and I guess he finally adjusted his sights a little and dropped the price when he figured out that not many people are going to pay $1M for place up here.
It's never been a "problem" house, unlike others in the area.
But you're correct in saying the neighborhood has improved substantially in the past few years. It really has come up from the worst point, which was 1999, Things turned sharply up at that time- with the south end of the neighborhood, close to Pratt, being cleaned up and many bad businesses making their exit.
Ennui went under. ...theatre on Lunt and Glenwood - it's empty. The little shop under the north side of the Morse stop is empty. So is the former cafe Descartes next door. ...that's 4 business that were there when I lived on that street that are gone now. The Heartland and Armadillo's Pillow ... barely hanging on.
There have always been ups and downs with businesses in any neighborhood. I miss Ennui, too, but I miss the previous ownership a lot more than the most recent incarnation, which wasn't well run.
Overall, there have been a lot more gains than losses in the neighborhood over the last 10 years. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next 10 years will bring.
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