Since our website is mostly based on information we found online, we thought seeing the perspective of a community member would be very helpful and beneficial in seeing the Near North Community from another view. A family that Melanie knows lives in Near North, so we asked them a few questions that are answered below.
Melissa, a stay-at-home mom, and Jeremy Wolf , age 33/35, have two young kids and reside in the River North Area. Originally, both Melissa and Jeremy lived in Detroit but moved here around 2011. The River North area was so compelling to them because of where Jeremy works, thought it was a great environment to raise children in. The parks in the neighborhood allow them and their children to meet more people and expose themselves to new situations. One park near them has a piano and allows the children to watch and listen to people play and enjoy a nice day. Overall they love River North/ Near North and gladly answered some other questions we were curious about.
Melissa, a stay-at-home mom, and Jeremy Wolf , age 33/35, have two young kids and reside in the River North Area. Originally, both Melissa and Jeremy lived in Detroit but moved here around 2011. The River North area was so compelling to them because of where Jeremy works, thought it was a great environment to raise children in. The parks in the neighborhood allow them and their children to meet more people and expose themselves to new situations. One park near them has a piano and allows the children to watch and listen to people play and enjoy a nice day. Overall they love River North/ Near North and gladly answered some other questions we were curious about.
1. What is your favorite thing about the Near North Side?
We love being so close/walking distance to the magnificent mile, Rush street, Lincoln Park and numerous other playgrounds. It's really the most walkable area of Chicago.
2. If there was anything you could change about the area, what would it be and why.
I would leave the high-rises in the loop, and allow a little more sun-light into the Gold Coast, it's slowly going away as the high-rise count has tripled in the past 15 years.
3. Do you see a clear division in the different races that make up the Near North Side? Is the east and west side as segregated as it used to be?
While much of my family is from Chicago, we only moved here a couple year ago. Melissa and I grew up in the Detroit suburbs and then spent our late 20's in Los Angeles, so we did not experience any of the demographic changes that occurred over the past few decades.
4. What do you think some of the biggest challenges that this neighborhood faces?
Some challenges we have experienced are the lack of good public schools, over-capacity at good public schools, sky-high real-estate prices, with more reasonable options only 2.5 miles away, and incredible levels of traffic, making it difficult to get around by car.
5. What are some of the biggest accomplishments this neighborhood has achieved?
The location is amazing, people experience a true urban lifestyle, similar to New York, Boston and San Francisco, it has a relatively low crime-rate, there are some top private schools that are walking distance and walking to work is possible.
6. Do you think the gentrification that is occurring is good for the neighborhood and city as a whole?
Sadly, it is good for the 1% but limits the influx of young highly educated people into an area where they previously could afford to rent something in River North keeping the average age-range on the lower side which is usually a good thing.
7. Do you/did you know any residents that resided in Cabrini Green? If so, do you know where they went and where they are now?
Sadly, I do not.
8. How do you feel about the replacement of Cabrini Green with the new complex that is 30 percent public housing, 20 percent affordable and 50 percent market rate?
I applaud the effort, but I think in the long-term it will be 0% affordable housing, as the city has not really spent much time establishing rent-control areas and will unlikely do so in the future thus, that complex will be a fully market rate building in 10 years.
9. Do you think the city is doing enough to make sure there is enough affordable housing?
I do not think the city really needs to do this. There is a ton of vacant land, with more affordable housing both in the north and the south side. Crime is an issue in some of these areas, but it's not like Manhattan where everything is expensive, there is plenty of space in Chicago due to how large Chicago is.
10. What does Near North , or any of the sub neighborhoods, have that other neighborhoods do not have?
Proximity to the loop. You can actually walk to work without the need of the sub-way, bus, or taxi. It's fantastic.
11. Is Homeless Connect a successful event? Do you think it would be more successful if it was seasonal versus an annual event?
Sadly, I am not familiar with this event.
As seen in these answers, even residents of Near North assume there will not be affordable housing in the new complexes that are replacing Cabrini Green. Many of the answers and perks of the area involves the loop, Magnificent Mile, tourist attractions and the affluent part of Near North. This family has lived here for five years now and do not know the Homeless Connect event which goes to show the marketing and importance of the event, even if there are numerous volunteers and others who are passionate about it. The NearNorth Side has so much history, division, and challenges but all that is seen now is the traffic, high real estate prices, and lack of good public schools. Now the only "accredible and good" schools in the neighborhood are Walter Payton, which is a selective enrollment so students have to test into it, and Latin School of Chicago, that is an expensive private school. Both of those schools are selective and open to few students, now that Near North ... has closed, the only available schools for students that are not eligible to go to those two schools are charter schools such as Cornerstone Academy, and Ruben Salazar Bilingual Center. The effect of the lack of high schools in the entire Near North covertly pushes students and families out that are not affluent enough or "educated enough" to live in the area. Although this family does not represent every family in Near North, this goes to show generally what some community members believe.
We love being so close/walking distance to the magnificent mile, Rush street, Lincoln Park and numerous other playgrounds. It's really the most walkable area of Chicago.
2. If there was anything you could change about the area, what would it be and why.
I would leave the high-rises in the loop, and allow a little more sun-light into the Gold Coast, it's slowly going away as the high-rise count has tripled in the past 15 years.
3. Do you see a clear division in the different races that make up the Near North Side? Is the east and west side as segregated as it used to be?
While much of my family is from Chicago, we only moved here a couple year ago. Melissa and I grew up in the Detroit suburbs and then spent our late 20's in Los Angeles, so we did not experience any of the demographic changes that occurred over the past few decades.
4. What do you think some of the biggest challenges that this neighborhood faces?
Some challenges we have experienced are the lack of good public schools, over-capacity at good public schools, sky-high real-estate prices, with more reasonable options only 2.5 miles away, and incredible levels of traffic, making it difficult to get around by car.
5. What are some of the biggest accomplishments this neighborhood has achieved?
The location is amazing, people experience a true urban lifestyle, similar to New York, Boston and San Francisco, it has a relatively low crime-rate, there are some top private schools that are walking distance and walking to work is possible.
6. Do you think the gentrification that is occurring is good for the neighborhood and city as a whole?
Sadly, it is good for the 1% but limits the influx of young highly educated people into an area where they previously could afford to rent something in River North keeping the average age-range on the lower side which is usually a good thing.
7. Do you/did you know any residents that resided in Cabrini Green? If so, do you know where they went and where they are now?
Sadly, I do not.
8. How do you feel about the replacement of Cabrini Green with the new complex that is 30 percent public housing, 20 percent affordable and 50 percent market rate?
I applaud the effort, but I think in the long-term it will be 0% affordable housing, as the city has not really spent much time establishing rent-control areas and will unlikely do so in the future thus, that complex will be a fully market rate building in 10 years.
9. Do you think the city is doing enough to make sure there is enough affordable housing?
I do not think the city really needs to do this. There is a ton of vacant land, with more affordable housing both in the north and the south side. Crime is an issue in some of these areas, but it's not like Manhattan where everything is expensive, there is plenty of space in Chicago due to how large Chicago is.
10. What does Near North , or any of the sub neighborhoods, have that other neighborhoods do not have?
Proximity to the loop. You can actually walk to work without the need of the sub-way, bus, or taxi. It's fantastic.
11. Is Homeless Connect a successful event? Do you think it would be more successful if it was seasonal versus an annual event?
Sadly, I am not familiar with this event.
As seen in these answers, even residents of Near North assume there will not be affordable housing in the new complexes that are replacing Cabrini Green. Many of the answers and perks of the area involves the loop, Magnificent Mile, tourist attractions and the affluent part of Near North. This family has lived here for five years now and do not know the Homeless Connect event which goes to show the marketing and importance of the event, even if there are numerous volunteers and others who are passionate about it. The NearNorth Side has so much history, division, and challenges but all that is seen now is the traffic, high real estate prices, and lack of good public schools. Now the only "accredible and good" schools in the neighborhood are Walter Payton, which is a selective enrollment so students have to test into it, and Latin School of Chicago, that is an expensive private school. Both of those schools are selective and open to few students, now that Near North ... has closed, the only available schools for students that are not eligible to go to those two schools are charter schools such as Cornerstone Academy, and Ruben Salazar Bilingual Center. The effect of the lack of high schools in the entire Near North covertly pushes students and families out that are not affluent enough or "educated enough" to live in the area. Although this family does not represent every family in Near North, this goes to show generally what some community members believe.