Quote:
Originally Posted by the urban politician
If I put forth an argument, your first inclination will be to identify the "holes" or "faults" in it in order to dismantle it, and thus score a win and uphold your world view.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by the urban politician
No, you don't want to hear my ideas. That's the whole point. You already decided that you understand them and that they are "classicly douchy".
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I actually do want to hear what you have to say, and I really have no desire to be posting on these topics or scoring wins, but the point needs to be made that these assertions I listed are extreme and leave no room for intelligent conversation. The only time I see people identifying holes or faults are with the extreme, absolutist views that are not supported by anything other than prejudice.
1.) Writing off entire neighborhoods as "shitholes": do you personally know people who live in Englewood, Greater Grand Crossing, etc.? If so, do they call their neighborhoods shitholes? Do you tell them their neighborhoods are shitholes? I do know quite a few people in these communites, who love where they live, live there by choice, and choose to raise their families there. I've been to nearly every neighborhood in Chicago and found things that I love. Are there grave problems in many of these communities? Of course. But the majority are still working familes who care about their neighborhood, kids, and families. There are also quite a few people within those communities who are trying to make things better. Would it be douchey to say suburbs like Libertyville are soul sucking hellholes and everyone who lives in them are vacant and out of touch? I think that would be douchey and don't believe that but know plenty of people who do. You can make the point about all the ways these neighborhoods are struggling or suggest that they do something differently but making blanket statements these neighborhoods are shitholes is deeply offensive.
2.) There are [I]no[I] housing affordability issues in Chicago/only gentrification can solve all our problems. Again, according to your perspective. If you are upper-middle to upper-class and have had the privilege to live in NYC and SF and are comparing Chicago's affordability to that, of course Chicago is significantly more affordable. But for many working-class families struggling to get by, are there concerns and struggles not valid? Would it be douchey if I moved to a city in a 3rd world country and told the working poor that they are lucky the housing is so affordable because I can afford a lot more than I could in the U.S.? I personally know people who work full time are actually from the neighborhoods and had strong connections to their communities who had to move because they could no longer afford rising rents. I don't believe that gentrification is either all bad or all good, but to say that these people's experiences and concerns don't matter,
only market rate housing is acceptable, unrestrained gentrification is the
only way is disturbing to me.
3.) The notion that the South and West side don't have good schools is just plain ignorance. Are there a lot that are really struggling? Again, of course. And your definition of good may be different but just for the top schools rated by Chicago magazine:
https://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-M...hools/Chicago/. In Natalie Moore's book [I]The South Side[I], she describes how middle to upper class non black and Latino families will send their kids all over the city to magnet and selective enrollment schools, but will not send their kids to high performing schools if they are especially predominately African-American. This is a complicated issue and no one needs to be condemned, but it is a situation that is just not discussed on this forum - because it's not on people's radar on this forum.
It's absolutely absurd to think this forum is a representative cross section of the demographics of Chicago who might see things in a different way. Just something I hope people keep in mind when posting. I'll go away now