Quote:
Originally Posted by ardecila
This is empirically not true. Each of the community areas that make up Bronzeville (Douglas, Oakland, Grand Boulevard, Kenwood) currently have violent crime rates lower than or equivalent to Lakeview, Logan Square, or Near North Side. Even if you narrow it down to homicides, this still holds true. They're not Naperville, but they are very safe by Chicago standards.
Yet... where is the gentrification in those areas? Where is the long line of developers chasing "vacant lots and very low land values"? The low land values themselves reflect the fact that nobody wants to live there, except perhaps the African-Americans who are already part of those communities.
You can explain the lack of demand either through
A) a particular kind of selective racism targeted at African-Americans (but not Latinos), or
B) the fact that African-American neighborhoods are physically and economically devastated
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^ It's got to be B. I realize that there are still plenty of racists out there, but I honestly think that there are a lot of white or Asian millennials who are not racist enough that they would have no problem living in a majority black area provided 1) it is relatively safe and 2) there are plenty of things to walk to such as shops, restaurants, cafes, etc.
Bronzeville, Kenwood, etc have a beautiful housing stock but their commercial corridors are either nonexistent or just totally SUCK.