What should I do with my other Instagram account?

Since late July I had been utilizing a 2nd profile - attached to The Sixth Ward - on the social networking site Instagram. Basically it's used for snapshots taken around the neighborhood and sharing ("regram") posts from other ig users. If used for the sharing of information as has been done with The Sixth Ward's ig it's very nifty.

One of the recent posts that have been somewhat newsworthy was the snapshot (seen above and embed below) I had taken of a local hotdog stand - Jim's Original. The stand is located near the 95th terminal of the CTA Red Line and is slated to close as a result of a project to significantly expand the CTA terminal. It had been the closest and easiest place for me to get a Maxwell Street polish sausage.

All the same I've been wondering what is the most effective way to use this social networking program. It probably can't be used the same way I have been able to use The Sixth Ward's Twitter and Facebook pages.

What I can count on is that it has attracted followers from a number of areas. For example both the Twitter & fb pages have attracted some major companies for example Mariano's as many people on Chicago's south side want to attract the newest grocer to this at part of the city.

My ig page has gotten followed by AMC Theatres which I threw a shout-out for that. In addition to that I have followers who include politicians on the local and state level in addition to aspiring activists and of course aspiring businessmen. Even better my ig page is being followed by the Maroon Tiger ig which is the student newspaper of my alma mater Morehouse College.

So the next question. What is the best way to truly utlize this account? Could this be one way to market the south side to any future investors especially any major companies to come to this part of town? Can it be utilized to share important information?

This Jim's Original hot dog stand is closing permanently Nov. 10 due to the 95th cta project. Here's hoping they'll find another nearby location in the future.

A photo posted by The Sixth Ward (@thesixthward) on Nov 11, 2014 at 12:21pm PST

How do I learn more about urban planning?

aerial photo of 63rd/Halsted Englewood

Last year I wrote about this "dreaded G word" over at my other blog - The Sixth Ward. It was in relation to the news that Whole Foods Market was coming into a low-income neighborhood in Chicago. That neighborhood is the south side's Englewood.

The point I was making was to address the concerns of the dreaded G word - gentrification - as it relates to Whole Foods which is basically a high-end grocer coming to a low-income neighborhood. Over the years in Chicago we've heard so much about a "food desert" where many Chicagoans don't have easy access to fresh produce and healthy foods. One means to attack this issue have been bringing in grocers in those areas were grocery stores are few and far in between.

But Whole Foods Market in Englewood of all places? Many nickname this place Whole Paychek, when I go in there the few items I have purchase could easily go up to $20 and it didn't take much for the bill to go up that high. I'm saying this recognizing that's a walk in the park compared to the bills of many other people who shop at a grocery store in general. Besides if you regularly pay $100 for groceries periodically, imagine how much the bill would be if you purchase that same amount from Whole Foods.

Either way since then I've periodically taken a look at this issue. Much more recently I showed some footage of a ceremonial ground breaking and the politicians and Whole Foods executives were saying the right things. While the issue of prices still keep coming up most of the coverage indicate that the products to be carried in this future store to open in 2016 will be affordable to residents of Englewood.

All the same the issue also is whether or not Whole Foods coming to Englewood is the start of movement. Will the many low-income residents of Englewood may in the near future find themselves forced to find another neighborhood to call home?

Not an easy answer to that question and the affordability question. To be sure, I only wish I knew more about urban planning so that there would be an better solution for everyone.

BTW, recently I learned that the west side of Chicago has a former grocery store - a former Moo & Oink -  looking for a tenant. If anyone fantasizes about another Chicago area grocer such as Mariano's come to that part of town they would be disappointed. Mariano's may not be quite right for the west side area for this former grocery store. So how is Englewood right for Whole Foods?

ALSO, another aspect of urban planning that I wish to understand is what it takes to bring certain types of retailers or businesses to a given area. Or indeed what it takes to attract these amenities to a community that certainly needs them. Will low-income people shop at a Whole Foods Market for example? If you build it will they come or will someone with the necessary income become regular shoppers?

Read more Whole Foods posts at The Sixth Ward!

My first #picstitch

Wednesday afternoon, I explored the intersection of 63rd/Halsted. This excursion made easier by the Red Line reconstruction where I could take a shuttle bus to Garfield and then change for a train there. I could either go north from Garfield or head west into Englewood.

Over at my other blog you see this intersection at various points in it's heyday. Here's another picture of a time when it was a destination of choice for many on this part of time. Alas within the last 40 or so years this intersection has seen hard times and is still looking for something to bring it back.

The top left and bottom right corners are of Kennedy-King College, one of the Chicago City Colleges. Perhaps this is one way to revive this intesection and with an L rolling along I have always envised that this area could be as busy as the Loop where another city college is located Harold Washington College. Although granted if it were to ever happen this area as a long way to go!

BTW, check out this page on the L stop adjacent to this intersection at Halsted.

Took a stroll through Hyde Park earlier this week...

Wednesday I paid a visit to the President's Chicago neighborhood Hyde Park and snapped a shot of this restaurant Park 52. I was here last fall for a political fundraiser hosted by "SWIPO". SWIPO stands for the Seventh Ward Independent Political Organization and it was headed by 7th ward alderman Sandi Jackson who is also the 7th ward Democratic committeeman.


Little did I know attending this fundraiser that Ald Jackson was about to wind down her career as a Chicago Alderman. When I attended this fundraiser she was being interviewed by Chicago news anchor Cheryl Burton. After arriving we saw various local news vans staking this place out possibly looking for  her husband then Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. to surface after having been absentee since it was revealed that he was under medical leave from the House of Representatives.

Congressman Jackson had resigned his congressional seat not long after winning another term to the "People's House". Since he had been on medical leave since last June he didn't even campaign. Ald. Jackson also resigned her Chicago City Council Seat almost two months after her husband resigned from Congress. They both have since pleaded guilty to misusing campaign funds in Jesse Jr's case and in Sandi's case tax evasion. It appears we'll hear more about this case on Friday as their lawyers are due in federal court.

Until doing a Google search I just found out that Park 52 was closed permanently. The signs were still up when I took my stroll through Hyde Park, however I wasn't certain that this was remodeling or what. Having done the Google search and finding this article via Crain's there's certainty that this restaurant isn't coming back at all!

Park 52 itself was located at 52nd & Harper.

Also I have to figure out how to edit some of the video I shot along Lake Park Avenue in Hyde Park

A drive along 63rd - from Englewood to Woodlawn

Originally posted to The Sixth Ward on January 4, 2012 

[VIDEO] The vid above is from one of my long time YouTube favorites, artistmac. He takes a drive along 63rd Street  from Morgan Street all the way to Stony Island an sure to note how the individual neighborhoods once grew along that corridor.  63rd & Halsted was once a bustling commercial district in Englewood and then the area around 63rd & Cottage Grove was also a bustling commercial area in Woodlawn. Both areas are now mostly vacant lots although some redevelopment has occured in those areas.

In fact on East 63rd just past the Cottage Grove terminal of the CTA Green Line some single family homes have been built. Artistmac didn't want to get into the politics on the video of how the Green Line abruptly ended at Cottage Grove when it used to terminate as far east as Stony Island. Sometimes I wonder if cutting the L beyond its current terminus was a huge blunder!

On West 63rd, Kennedy-King College was built within the former 63rd/Halsted business district and is still waiting for even more development. While it seems more likely Woodlawn could be redeveloped given the fact that the University of Chicago is slowly but surely expanding south beyond the Midway Plaisance, time can only tell for Englewood.

Artistmac does provide one omnimous conclusion: "Unless those middle-class residents can be enticed to come back to Woodlawn, Bronzeville and Englewood, I doubt those neighborhoods, or any of Chicago's declining neighborhoods, can be brought back to life."

VIDEO: Wide new Lincoln Park rowhomes under $1M

[VIDEO] I post the vid above for one main reason. Sometimes I wish I was an architect and most importantly wish I was a builder. If only these homes could be built in communities that needs them.

The design from the outside looks great, however, they're built in Lincoln Park for a reason. These homes are expensive, thus for a builder on the the south side depending on the neighborhood they have to find a way to scale down the price. It makes me wonder if the construction of the home ultimately helps determines the price when it's built and available for sale.

This only shows that I have an interest in real estate mainly the purchase of property and it's leasing. Of course the next step is to learn the economics of construction.

VIDEO: Marc Sims drives around Roseland

[VIDEO] Marc Sims, a cable access personality was driving around in the Roseland Neighborhood. One minute he's driving on Michigan Avenue the next he's on 111th driving near Alex Haley Academy, then he's on State St. then he's on 115th, then he near Fenger High School, then he's on Halsted, then he's at Julian High School on 103rd then back to Vincennes.

Just note that while you're hearing sights and sounds of this part of the far south side, you will also hear him babble for over 17 minutes.

Another Roseland neighborhood picture

On Sunday, Unknown Chicago over at ChicagoNOW offered another street quiz and I instantly recognized this picture. The give away was the marquee for the long demolished State Theater you see in the background. This picture is looking north along South Michigan Avenue in 1934.

The land where the State stood is now a parking lot for a nearby post office most of the buildings in this pic are long demolished replaced by a Walgreen's on the west side of the street and a currency exchange on the west side of the street. Of course street car service had been eliminated by the CTA in the late 1950s.

I also had to look up the Parkway Theater which you see in the foreground on the east side of the street. If Englewood was noted for the many theaters that were operating near 63rd & Halsted, the Roseland neighborhood had their own treasures of which only one, the Roseland Theater, still stands today.

In any event in the post where I would've had to identify the various scenes; there were two that were identifiable without a doubt. The first two pictures in the gallery especially the pic above. The post that offered the answers gave me an education as to where those other scenes were located.

Who knew Hyde Park had a Reagan connection?

832 E. 57th St.

ALSO note that this home was the subject of a post over at Unknown Chicago, a ChicagoNow blog.

So Hyde Park can now claim two Presidents although one of them spent only a brief time in this area of my city. Brought to the fore thanks to this Sun-Times article:

Locked up, abandoned and forgotten, the vacant six-flat standing at the northeast corner of 57th and Maryland has no plaques or statues and few clues to its history.

Now, the little-known childhood home of Ronald Reagan in Hyde Park could soon be torn down by the University of Chicago, which has quietly plotted its demolition, the Sun-Times has learned.

The plan has made unlikely allies of conservatives who consider Reagan an icon and liberal Hyde Parkers who say the university’s secrecy is typical of how it has treated its neighbors for decades.

It puts the school that provided the intellectual force behind “Reaganomics” in the awkward spot of attempting to destroy what was until the election of Barack Obama the only home in Chicago where a president has lived.

This is what the need for preservation is about:

Hyde Park Historical Society board member Jack Spicer, also the president of all-volunteer Preservation Chicago, said the Reagan six-flat — just a mile south of President Obama’s Kenwood home — is the finest remaining example of what was once a solid working and middle-class black neighborhood. Destroying it would create “a medical canyon” that separates the hospital from the city and risks deepening long-standing wounds in university-resident relations, he said.

“Whatever you think of Reagan — once the building’s gone, it’s gone forever,” he added.

Landmarks Illinois president Jim Peters also said that he would like to see the block preserved. Reagan’s home is protected by a zoning giving critics 90 days to object if and when the university announces a plan to destroy it, he said.

Further headaches could come from conservatives keen to name everything from aircraft carriers to schools in Reagan’s honor.

How did they find this place?

Park Ridge resident Tom Roeser, 82, discovered the link in the early 1980s when he pressed Reagan for details of the home during a visit to the White House. Reagan couldn’t remember the address, but passed on a message: “My father was picked up often as a common drunk — the police records should have that fact.”

Records confirmed that John R. Reagan was arrested by Chicago Police for drunkenness in 1915, giving the 57th Street address, said Roeser, a former op-ed columnist for the Sun-Times and a former Quaker Oats vice president.

You never know what place or places have an historical connection.

115th & Michigan back in 1934...

And at this intersection the only building that remains is the one with the drugs sign on the northeast corner. That building is still there. I never thought I would see such an old picture from the Roseland neighborhood courtesy of Unknown Chicago. That other nice building on the southeast corner, well that building was torn down, the property is currently vacant.

As a bonus check out my post about Englewood at The Sixth Ward. Also using historical photographs from Unknown Chicago.

The last Jew of South Shore Gardens

She died this past April and I just now found this article. Found it very interesting. She was the last Jew in the area called South Shore Gardens. Well I just refer to that area with it's boundaries as Pill Hill although that may not entirely be accurate:

Gloria Kolodny Chanenson, the last Jewish resident of the Chicago neighborhood of South Shore Gardens, died while visiting her daughter in Cincinnati on April 8, at age 90. She refused to move from her home, which was built in South Shore Gardens in 1954. South Shore Gardens suffered an acute epidemic of white, and especially Jewish, flight between 1967 and 1972, while the neighborhood was new and building up. These tumultuous times were reviewed in the book "The South Side" by Louis Rosen (Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, Inc., 1999). The neighborhood is bounded by 87th Street on the North, Jeffrey Boulevard (2000 East) on the West, 93rd Street on the South and Anthony Avenue on the East.
...
When their neighbors began to move in the late 1960s, the Chanensons decided to stay in their home, and they became friendly with their new African-American neighbors as they moved in. "We integrate the neighborhood," Irving said. Eventually, only a few other staunch and stubborn Jewish families refused to "go with the flow." Among the last couples to remain in their homes in South Shore Gardens or neighboring Pill Hill were Esther Malkin Lesner, a retired elementary school French and adjustment teacher, and her husband, Samuel J. ("Sam") Lesner, retired movie and night club critic of the Chicago Daily News and a columnist for the Hyde Park Herald; Minnie Brainin Lieb and Dr. Bernard Lieb, a physician; and Dr. Max Martin Jacobson, a distinguished ophthalmologist who had studied in Vienna early in his career, and his wife, Eugenia ("Jeanne") Rydnik Jacobson, a pianist and piano teacher.

These three couples all died while remaining in their neighborhood homes, and Irving passed away in 1990, leaving Gloria as the last Jew in the South Shore Gardens area and probably the only Jew in the entire South Shore-South Chicago area from 71st Street southward to the city limits and from Lake Michigan to Stony Island Avenue.

An interesting story taking place on the South Side.

If you want to know more about this racial change that took place in that particular area then I would like to refer you to this post I had written in 2005 about a book I had checked out of the library. It was about this very community that was populated by the Jews and what happened when Black Americans started moving in.

Another Recovery Act sign

Near 111th/Ashland in Morgan Park. The bridge across I-57 was out of service and being fixed up. Another Obama stimulus "campaign sign" located on Chicago's south side. A little more background from Marathon Pundit, he's been keeping an eye on these.

American Recovery Act sign

Located off the Dan Ryan at 75th St. This is what Marathon Pundit would refer to as Obama campaign signs.