One word that popped into my mind while reading this week and considering the question of whether community is dying, thriving, or just bumbling along; I thought of the word reincarnation. I think that neighborhoods and communities are doing all of those things, they are being born, bumbling along, living, and dying; then remarkably they are being recycled and reincarnated into something different than they once were. For example we learned of the Cabrini-Green housing project, which once housed nearly 15,000 low income people, that became so violent and corrupt that the only solution was to tear it down, to kill it. Cabrini-Green was born, lived, bumbled along, then died, and now is reborn into something different. From a Chicago Sun Times article by Maudlyne Ihejirika I found this of interest: “A 150,000-square-foot, three-story Target bringing 200 jobs — 75 reserved for public housing residents — would sprout on 3.6 acres at the corner of Division and Larrabee in July 2013, sharing with new condos and town homes the land on which once stood the Cabrini-Green development’s William Green Homes” (Ihejirika, 2013).

What is a 21^st century neighborhood? I think this depends on the individual’s perspective based on many different factors. Much of our discussions have been about Chicago’s problems with crime, racial differences, and poverty. If you are born into an African American single parent family living in Cabrini-Green; it is nothing short of survival of the fittest, and at best a living hell. If you are born into a white family living in Gold Coast on Chicago’s North side; you are living the American dream. Most of us reside somewhere in the middle of these two extremes where we feel relatively safe and have many things that make life good.

I think for me and my family the 22^nd century will look much like this one. Most of the time children inherit the attributes of the families they grew up in and find a way to live a life that is equal to or better than that of their parents and grand parents.

One last quote by Thomas Jefferson…

“When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe.” Perhaps our third president knew that crime, violence, and poverty are problems that stem out of large urban areas, and that these issues are nothing new; just history repeating and recycling itself.

References:

Ihejirika, M. (2013, November 10th). Chicago Sun Time. Retrieved from suntime.com: http://www.suntimes.com/business/5134480-420/vision-for-cabrini-target-unveiled.html

Before analyzing the condition of Chicago in the aftermath of the Great Recession, as it is being called, fist we should look at the condition of Chicago prior to the recession. To put things in perspective according to University of Illinois Chicago’s Rebecca Hendrick; the recession started in December of 2007 and comes to an end in June of 2009. She works in the department of public administration and with a few of her colleagues put together an interesting study. Stated in the research she says the following:

"…the Great Recession is not solely responsible for the city’s current budget deficits or its’ long term financial problems. Fiscal policies and practices that existed prior to the recession have contributed greatly to its current financial condition. One such policy is the budgeting of operating deficits and draw-down of its fund balances from 1998 to 2008 which created a significant structural imbalance even prior to the recession. Another is its practice of permitting an accumulation of unfunded pension obligations by making annual pension contributions based upon the statutory formula instead of an actuarially determined contribution. A third fiscal policy is the dedication of property taxes, a more stable revenue source than others, entirely to pensions and debt service. As a result, its general operations are now funded by relatively volatile revenue sources that are sensitive to changes in the economy. However, the revenue structure is also more diversified than what likely exists in other cities" (Hendrick, 2010).

References:

Hendrick, R. L.-T. (2010). The Great Recession's Impact on the City of Chicago. 7-9: October.