Gentrification of Chicago

Sociologist and other researchers at times specify the specific type of gentrification by using terms such as: white gentrification, black gentrification, or Latino gentrification.[12][8] The agents of gentrification can be wealthier white residents moving in as well as wealthier black and Hispanic residents. Researchers have noted that different gentrifiers affect the ways in which local communities react to gentrification and how they see the invasion of space.[8]

Environmental gentrification (also referred to as ‘ecological gentrification’ or ‘green gentrification’) refers to the phenomenon in which property values increase based on the cleaning up of previously polluted grounds and the implementation of public or green amenities to attract affluent white residents.[13] These efforts are often marketed as “environmental sustainability” or “urban renewal” policies. In Chicago, environmental gentrification includes not only the creation of green spaces but also the inter-mixing of low-, middle-, and upper-class residents into mixed-income housing and schooling structures. While the intention may be to lessen segregation, the result can be heightened tension within a local community.

For environmental gentrification to occur, hazardous pollution conditions must already exist. In a study from 1993 to 2013, researchers identified hot spots and cold spots of elevated blood lead levels (EBLL) across Chicago’s 77 community areas.[14] Researchers found that most EBLL hot spots were located on the city’s South and West Sides, while the cold spots were concentrated in the northern community areas. The presence of these EBLL hot- and cold spots correlated to the EBLL found in Chicago youth, with Fuller Park, located on the city’s South Side, having the highest childhood EBLL rates in the city.[14] Additionally, EBLL in Chicago youth has decreased from 1999 to 2013, though this new, decreased percentage reflects that of the U.S. national average in 2002.[14][15]

Similar pollution patterns can be seen in the prevalence of brownfields in certain community areas. Brownfields, or unused properties with known or suspected environmental contamination, hinder potential land use initiatives.[16] When cleaned and redeveloped, these fields can be used for housing, retail businesses, recreational areas or parks, or community buildings; thus, acquiring a No Further Remediation letter from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) is needed to begin the process.[17] Brownfield cleanup and remediation efforts are paid for either by the current landowner or by the new purchaser; costs are determined, in part, by the size of the brownfield. Researchers found that black residents’ willingness to pay for cleanup or remediation efforts was less than that of their white counterparts. This disparity is likely the result of income inequality between both racial demographics.[17]

Some researchers have identified the City of Chicago’s (2000) Plan for Transformation of public housing (PFT) and (2004) Renaissance2010 (Ren2010) initiatives as the catalysts for a series of mixed-income strategies for poverty de-concentration, namely on the city’s South Side.[18] PFT, launched under the HOPE VI program, planned to rehab large public housing complexes, dispersing their low-income residents into smaller public housing units or privately-owned rental properties. Ren2010 was marketed to residents as an attempt to reform failing Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and replace them with selective-enrollment charters, most of which were or are privately owned. Both initiatives led to the creation of new mixed-income communities and paved the way for residential or commercial developments in, and the subsequent gentrification of, affected neighborhoods.[18]

Through sustainable ‘greening’ efforts to clean up sites of pollution and the merging of mixed-income persons into shared residential spaces, environmental gentrification efforts bring low-income people of color and affluent white people into proximity. This can cause tensions among native and prospective residents, as the former experiences a “root shock,” or a feeling of social or communal disorientation as a result of their displacement.[18]

Colloquially referred to as ‘The 606,’ the Bloomingdale Trail is a green space amenity located on the city’s Northwest side. In 2016, 46 interviews were conducted with residents of the four surrounding neighborhoods of the Bloomingdale Trail: Wicker Park & Bucktown and Logan Square & Humboldt Park. The residential dynamics between white, adult residents, and resident youth of color under the age of 26 were analyzed.[19] In their interviews, the youth of color expressed that white residents’ fear of them, as well as their subsequent labeling of youths of color’s leisure activities as "deviant" was linked to white residents’ hyperawareness of their minority status within the community. This awareness led to white residents going out of their way to avoid contact with the youth of color. These sentiments were echoed in the interviews with white residents, who frequently mentioned they were “scared” of the youth of color, and that, more specifically, their congregation in public spaces made them feel unsettled.[19] This friction impacted the occurrence and prevalence of citizen-based policing, or the monitoring of a community done by residents who use the non-emergency, 3-1-1 line to report perceived problematic behavior to law enforcement. [19]Youth of color reported that these efforts taken by their white neighbors made them feel alienated and un-welcomed in their own communities.

Researchers study census records, surveys, and information derived from other public records like building permits filed with the city to understand the factors associated with gentrification.[8][20] These factors will vary from city to city as well as their effects on gentrification.[21] In Chicago, researchers have found several characteristics that were common among gentrified tracks such as the proximity to the city center, central business district, the ethnographic and racial composition, and the availability of older housing stock.[21][8] In the past, wealthier residents of a city have resided outside the city center, but in the past two decades there has been an influx of higher income residents to urban neighborhoods, which some researchers claim are agents of gentrification.[21][20] Many gentrifiers are attracted to neighborhoods that a have relatively high minority composition, and researchers say that it is because the idea of living in a diverse neighborhood is appealing to gentrifiers.[8][20] One study used GIS, addresses, and statistical analysis to determine that gentrifiers were also attracted to access to public transportation since there was an association between proximity to Chicago's "L" stations and neighborhoods that were gentrified.[20]

Researchers have noted that neighborhoods with higher concentrations of black residents and lower public perceptions have not been gentrified.[6][20][8] One study concluded that if a neighborhood has a concentration of black residents higher than 40% then it was less likely to be gentrified, which was associated with less investment and resources for black residents.[6] This "neighborhood selection" was connected by researchers as being a contributing factor increased inequality for urban blacks in Chicago.[6] Proximity to interstates or highways was associated with a decreased likelihood that the neighborhood would gentrify because they are not heavily used by most typical gentrifiers.[20]

Papachristos et al. (2011) related the number of coffee shops, a marker of gentrification, to the decrease in crime rates in neighborhoods in Chicago between 1991 and 2005.[1] However, the study found that gentrification was associated with increased crime rates in black neighborhoods.[1] Chaskin and Joseph's (2013) research provided another perspective on how residents perceive crime in that part of their perception is colored by behavior that is technically noncriminal, but deviates from their preferred social norms.[22] With regard to schools, the current research does not indicate that schools are being negatively impacted.[5]

Research has associated demolition of public housing and low income housing options with gentrification, and it has affected black residents in cities like Chicago.[12] Some research specify that the problem occurs when developers and policy makers neglect to create affordable housing and focus their efforts on increasing property values and on building housing for new more affluent residents.[10] There are efforts being made to integrate the local community in the gentrification process to minimize adverse effects for low-income minority residents, "positive gentrification".[22] Still, others say that gentrification's lasting effects on communities lead to instability within neighborhoods, particularly Latino and black neighborhoods.[3] While the city does offer Housing Choice Vouchers, Holloway's (2015) research provides evidence that suggests that these voucher programs have contributed to increased segregation of low-income black residents and not helped black residents move to redeveloped housing.[23]

Humboldt Park, Chicago has one the largest Puerto Rican-American communities in the United States.[26] In the period of gentrification in the 1990's, Humboldt Park was a part of greater West Town's gentrification, which included Bucktown, Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village, Pulaski Park, Eckhart Park, Erie Neighborhood, and nearby areas.[2][29] Reinvestment and upgrade in homes in the 1990s has led to gentrification.[26] Researchers, Wilson and Grammenos (2005) described how proponents of redeveloping real estate in Humboldt Park saw it as "benevolent gentrification" as it would help increase property values, and some used the image of a stereotyped version of the neighborhoods Puerto Rican youth to portray Humboldt Park as a dangerous ghetto like space in need of redevelopment.[26] Another strategy that gentrifiers employ is to not use the name Humboldt Park and instead use the name West Bucktown in describing the location of housing in advertisements.[9] The Puerto Rican residents of Humboldt Park view redevelopment and gentrification efforts as an incursion on their cultural identity because of the history of radicalized policies and rhetoric that have been used by gentrifiers.[28]

Puerto Rican residents within the community have felt threatened by the changes in their neighborhood because they fear gentrification will destabilize their community and voiced their concerns.[26] Individual Puerto Rican residents have led the effort to resist gentrification and promote strategies that in their eyes will protect their Puerto Rican community.[26] For anti-gentrification activists change in their neighborhood is especially personal because they see it as detrimental to their cultural identity.[26]

Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood is located in the South Side community area and celebrates its recognition as a historically black neighborhood.[8][12] It is predominantly composed of lower-income black and African-American residents and is an example site of black gentrification.[12] Goetz (2010) published a study that supported the claim that gentrification led to the scarcity of public housing, which disproportionately affected residents that rely on the availability of public housing.[12] According to Boyd (2008) gentrification has occurred due to city officials, incoming wealthier white residents, and black elites who have not made it their primary concern to maintain the availability of affordable housing and instead focused on upgrading the neighborhood.[10]

Boyd's (2008) ethnographic study used the term defense development to describe how South Sides black elites were attempting to maintain a sense of control within their community through public and economic policy as a result of feeling that gentrifiers were encroaching on their space and disrupting their community network.[10] However, Boyd (2008) states that their efforts to limit the influence of outside gentrifiers has had the undesired effects of increasing the rate of gentrification overall and disproportionally affecting lower income residents.[10]

The demographics Pilsen, Chicago changed from being composed primarily of residents of European ancestry to those of Latino ancestry in the 1960s.[3] According to a study published in 2016 between the years of 2000-2013 Pilsen has been experiencing gentrification as coffee shops, artisan bakeries, and upscale restaurants open up on or near 18th Street.[30] In 2000, Pilsen was 89% Hispanic, and by 2013 the neighborhood was 81.6% Hispanic.[31] During that time, white residents increased from around 8% to around 12% of the total population.[31] The increase of traffic from tourist and changes in the demographic composition has worried some local residents, while recognizing that the neighborhood has benefited from the economic growth.[32]

Thalia Hall was purchased and renovated in 2013 for public use as a community and business center.[33][34] Mexican-American residents were concerned with the new redevelopment and the influx of higher income residents into the neighborhood that would negatively impact their Hispanic cultural community.[35]

Originally settled as an exclusive commuter suburb turned resort area, Uptown emerged as the leading retail and entertainment destination outside of The Loop in the 1920s and 1930s. During this time, a number of luxury apartment hotels, movie palaces, and other entertainment venues were built, such as the Aragon Ballroom, the Riviera Theater, and the Uptown Theatre. In the later half of the 20th century, it became a destination for immigrant communities. During the 1960s, Native American and southern Appalachian populations migrated to the area. An early example of urban renewal, Harry S. Truman college, was built in the 1970s, displacing a significant number of primarily southern migrants. Later in the 1980s, Uptown became a destination for southeast Asian migrants, centering primarily around Argyle Street. Today, Argyle Street is still home to Chicago's 'Little Vietnam' district, though the southeast Asian population has been steadily decreasing over the past decade. As neighborhoods further south along the lakefront have become pricier, more and more higher income populations are starting to look to Uptown, with a number of SRO buildings and at least one hospital and an elementary school being converted into luxury apartments. Recently, the Broadway Bank Building was bought by developers and a number of the non-profits housed there chose to relocate rather than stay in the neighborhood, citing the changing demographics of the neighborhood. The area has largely been re-branded as an entertainment district, anchored by many of the same venues that made it a destination a century ago. The largest, the Uptown Theatre, is currently in the early stages of being renovated. The impact the renovation will have on the neighborhood is unknown, but it is likely to speed up the investment in the surrounding area as low income individuals continue to be displaced.

Housing advocates have been extremely vocal about the loss of affordable housing in Uptown, staging demonstrations and protests outside remaining SROs, demanding the city take action and pushing for developers to add affordable units to the neighborhood, rather than paying for it elsewhere in the city.