CHICAGO | General Discussions

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ If I would make 1 criticism of Lincoln Park/Lakeview, it is that for the urban and bustling neighborhoods of a global city, these areas lack much ethnic diversity. They are very white parts of town.

A lot of people claim that River North, etc are "douchey" and I understand why, but when I go downtown I actually see lots of Asians, Hispanics, African Americans, etc etc. You just don't see much of that in Lakeview and Lincoln Park.

It's a factor to consider.

That's very true, although "frat bro" and equivalent knows no boundaries as far as race is concerned. One guy I know who exemplifies this a lot lives in Streeterville and is originally from India. Regardless, downtown is fairly white but not nearly as white as Lincoln Park and Lakeview. All these areas are getting more diverse, but downtown is getting more diverse faster than LP/LV.

I do like LP/LV but before I said "douchey" but this was wrong. I would agree with you that my most major knock against it outside of Wrigleyville is actually the relative lack of ethnic diversity. I am a fan of various parts of these areas, especially Lakeview East.

[jimjoe45]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ If I would make 1 criticism of Lincoln Park/Lakeview, it is that for the urban and bustling neighborhoods of a global city, these areas lack much ethnic diversity. They are very white parts of town.

A lot of people claim that River North, etc are "douchey" and I understand why, but when I go downtown I actually see lots of Asians, Hispanics, African Americans, etc etc. You just don't see much of that in Lakeview and Lincoln Park.

It's a factor to consider.

I'm with you there. Unfortunately the city is still very much segregated, as it historically has been.

[SIGSEGV]

Gotta treat all the workers jumping off roofs

[Near North Resident]

Originally Posted by Notyrview

Lol that's pretty apropos, tho it's way less douchey than meatpacking which is the mothership of douchebaggery; it's like if the Viagra Triangle and West Loop had a shotgun wedding.

I never really thought of Lakeview as douchey, just basic and friendly, but maybe that's changed in the 10 years I've been gone. Wrigleyville, of course, has its moments, but it's really just raunchy, not douchey.

For me, doucheyness requires pretension to something cooler/sexier that is ultimately undercut by gross displays of ego, vanity and stupidity, for which River North really takes the cake imo.

no one cares what your definition is

[Notyrview]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ If I would make 1 criticism of Lincoln Park/Lakeview, it is that for the urban and bustling neighborhoods of a global city, these areas lack much ethnic diversity. They are very white parts of town.

A lot of people claim that River North, etc are "douchey" and I understand why, but when I go downtown I actually see lots of Asians, Hispanics, African Americans, etc etc. You just don't see much of that in Lakeview and Lincoln Park.

It's a factor to consider.

Yeah, I agree. I love Lakeview and always will from my coming out days, but it has always bothered me that it was so white. And in the last 20 years, even many of the gays had to relocate to Andersonville as it got wealthier and more desirable to people who would otherwise live in Lincoln Park.

I think in general that integrated neighborhoods mitigate against douchebaggery. Integration requires respecting lifestyles that cut across race and class and that exposure moves peoples minds away from the herd mentality that so often accompanies segregation.

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Poetry

Thx Bee

[the urban politician]

Ouch, that’s really gonna hurt Ascension Wisconsin (my old employer)!

All of the insured people will be going to these newer facilities, while Ascension will be stuck with all the Medicaid/HMO types.

[Baronvonellis]

Does anyone know why there is a FM radio deadspot on Lake Shore Drive between Division and Chicago ave? My car radio always cuts out between those locations.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by Baronvonellis

Does anyone know why there is a FM radio deadspot on Lake Shore Drive between Division and Chicago ave? My car radio always cuts out between those locations.

I have never experienced this.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by Vlajos

I have never experienced this.

I haven't either, but it's probably got to do with where the antenna is mounted on his car and being super low below the transmitters on the JHC and being walled off from any on the Sears Tower by literally the entire skyline.

[Baronvonellis]

Hmmm, that's weird. It happens every single time I go by there at always the same exact spot on LSD, and it's never happened anywhere else in the city, my car has never dropped out anywhere else. I thought maybe the wall of buildings has something to do with it.

[Tom In Chicago]

That's a weird dead zone for cell phone reception too. . . or at least it was up until a few years ago. . . would be curious to know if it still is. . .

. . .

[Baronvonellis]

Originally Posted by Tom In Chicago

That's a weird dead zone for cell phone reception too. . . or at least it was up until a few years ago. . . would be curious to know if it still is. . .

. . .

Oh, my cell phone data works fine if I'm streaming pandora or podcasts through there, so it's weird my car FM radio doesn't work. And it works fine driving through the heart of the loop or River North.

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by Baronvonellis

Oh, my cell phone data works fine if I'm streaming pandora or podcasts through there, so it's weird my car FM radio doesn't work. And it works fine driving through the heart of the loop or River North.

Well those buffer, so that's not a great test.

[Rizzo]

I hate the poor data reception between Armitage and the Red Line subway portal. It’s been slightly better this year. But for the longest time, stuff would stop streaming when I’d pass that spot on the train.

[the urban politician]

^ I can't speak for others, but for me I don't like either scenario.

I would like to see more blended neighborhoods with no ethnic group making up more than 60% of the population.

That said, one has to acknowledge that immigrant port of entry hoods like the southwest side of Chicago and Chinatown are obviously going to have a cluster of one ethnic group. But I don't think it's the same thing as Lakeview being so majority white.

[OrdoSeclorum]

Originally Posted by Stockerzzz

According to CMAP, [URL="http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/documents/10180/126764/Lake+View.pdf"]
According to you, it "bothers you" that one racial group makes up 79.6% of the population of a neighborhood. Does Little Village "bother you" that the majority racial group is 85.1% of the total?

Or is it this just another illogical double standard that's only applied to one group?

I mean, you've phrased this like you're making a very penetrating or insightful point, but... whew. Obviously when we speak of "diversity" the implied question is "diverse compared to what?" That doesn't need to be spelled out unless the discussion is extremely sophomoric.

"White" is the dominant cultural and ethnic demographic in the U.S. So going to Chinatown is fun, because it's different, and going to Whitetown isn't. Doesn't mean whiteness is bad. It's just typical. That doesn't need to be spelled out for most people. Also, when people are in a minority, they tend to cluster together to take advantage of shared traditions that might not be valuable in matrix that is dominated by some other group. There are several bars and restaurants full of white expats in Seoul, even though there aren't that many white westerners there. For the same reason, Latino immigrants clustering in Chicago makes sense because there wouldn't be as many Latino-focused groceries or quincinera retailers without that concentrated presence. Whereas white folks in the U.S. are going to be able to find a Bass Pro Shop anyplace they turn, whether or not they live clustered in an all-white enclave. White folks in the U.S. don't get much benefit from clustering, so when they do it, it seems a little weird to most thoughtful people. And in fact when we look at those all-white enclaves we find that the people there are more likely to be regressive, intolerant and uncontentious, which isn't very appealing.

[the urban politician]

Chicago is unfortunately an ethnic cluster town, which is too bad.

And it need not be an economic prosperity thing either. New York is a great example. Manhattan, one of the wealthiest places on earth, is still more diverse than Lakeview:

White 65.2%
—Non-Hispanic 47.6%
Black or African American 18.4%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 25.8%
Asian 12.0%

[Chisouthside]

People in the city love all the little Italy's and all the little Poland's not little white towns.

[moorhosj]

Originally Posted by Stockerzzz

So diversity means it's ok for all groups to cluster except for one.

And when that one group moves to the suburbs it's "white flight".

And when that one group moves to majority-minority neighborhoods it's "gentrification".

Gentrification is based on class, not race. In your quest for hot takes you let your mask slip. Maybe you can find another angle to sell your victimhood.

[the urban politician]

I like gentrification, don’t get me wrong. Hell, I benefit from it, and I truly feel the city does too.

This may open up a larger discussion, but I actually feel that the biggest mistake people who believe in free market economics did was to not be very inviting to people of color (other than Asians). It’s a mistake whose chickens are coming home to roost today, and yes, in rare form I do blame the white male establishment for blowing it on this one.

It would’ve been wise, years ago, to have indoctrinated more Hispanics and African Americans to the power of free market economics. Less regulation, more entrepreneurship, the benefits of competition, etc. Instead it looks like a majority of people of color have moved ideologically towards embracing Socialism as the path to a better society.

The problem we run into is when half our society wants Socialism and the other half doesn’t—especially when these divisions fall on racial lines, and this division is especially stark in Chicago.

Had more opportunities for advancement and more embracing (instead of demonizing) free enterprise occurred among minority communities, I believe that even our north lakefront neighborhoods would be more diverse than they are today.