Thursday, August 20, 2009

Blog Question

We, at the Chatham Avalon Park Community Council, have notice an influx of young whites into the Chatham enclave over the past three years. Do you think the current white influx into Chatham are nothing more than real estate flippers look for a quick cash turnover, foreseeing Chicago winning the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, and the real estate bonanza it would foster? Or is it just another opportunity for them to take advantage of a city housing department program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that was scandalized by the flipping done in University Village (near the University of Illinois' Circle Campus) by white suburbanites who knew about a little-known program for middle-income people to buy into a condominium as a first-time buyer. Leave your comments by clicking on the comments line.

2 comments:

JP Paulus said...

In my case, it's what I have told people for 2 years now: for the price of an outhouse on the North Side, you can get a real house on the South Side.

I loved in Uptown for 10 years, and my wife grew up there. While we felt relatively safe there, in doing the research, our new neighborhood is several times more safe (i.e. looking at the CAPS website, our crime rate here is far lower than where we lived in Uptown).

In addition, some of the area schools, such as McDade & Lenart blow away even North side schools (where 96-100% of students meet or exceed grade standards).

One of our other factors was the fact that even a 3 bedroom condo can be too small for a growing family, and my wife especially desired a house in a nice neighborhood.

And going around the neighborhood with my now 4 year old daughter, we have generally been welcomed.

Also, I have since recommended the neighborhood for those looking for a place to live (including relatives of local business owners).

If you see those guys (and it's pretty easy to spot them), why not just go up & introduce yourself? You can easily find a way to ask them what brought them here.

You can find some of my postings & insights on a local blog, created by a recent Morehouse graduate...
thesixthward.blogspot.com

JP Paulus said...

Pleae note that TheSixthWard blog has posted this question, and have received 9 comments so far. Please feel free to comment there as well, but please leave some kind of name. Thanks