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West washington park neighborhood
Posted by:
HOLTANEK
()
Date: August 09, 2015 09:38PM
Does anyone know when the city of Chicago demolished hundreds of buildings in this area? 55th to 63rd, MLK west to State. All I can figure is according to NETR online there was a drastic change sometime in the 70s. Now the area consists of entire blocks of vacant lots but just west on Michigan there are many original buildings.
Re: West washington park neighborhood
Posted by:
PKDickman
()
Date: August 10, 2015 02:41PM
HOLTANEK Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone know when the city of Chicago
> demolished hundreds of buildings in this area?
> 55th to 63rd, MLK west to State. All I can figure
> is according to NETR online there was a drastic
> change sometime in the 70s. Now the area consists
> of entire blocks of vacant lots but just west on
> Michigan there are many original buildings.
I'm not sure it is was from one event.
I've spent the last couple of months rummaging through assorted city planning and urban renewal documents. I've focused mainly on my neighborhood (Wicker Park), but I've not run across anything on that area.
By the end of the 60s the city had pretty much given up on large scale clearance plans. They did a lot of onesy twosy foreclosures from demo court leins though.
The 70's however were an unprecedented era of "landlord lightning"
The 1968 "Fair Plan" gave them access to insurance that they had been previously unable to get because of redlining.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Does anyone know when the city of Chicago
> demolished hundreds of buildings in this area?
> 55th to 63rd, MLK west to State. All I can figure
> is according to NETR online there was a drastic
> change sometime in the 70s. Now the area consists
> of entire blocks of vacant lots but just west on
> Michigan there are many original buildings.
I'm not sure it is was from one event.
I've spent the last couple of months rummaging through assorted city planning and urban renewal documents. I've focused mainly on my neighborhood (Wicker Park), but I've not run across anything on that area.
By the end of the 60s the city had pretty much given up on large scale clearance plans. They did a lot of onesy twosy foreclosures from demo court leins though.
The 70's however were an unprecedented era of "landlord lightning"
The 1968 "Fair Plan" gave them access to insurance that they had been previously unable to get because of redlining.
Re: West washington park neighborhood
Posted by:
WayOutWardell
()
Date: August 10, 2015 05:00PM
The demographic shift happened by '40s during the Second Great Migration, essentially expanding the Black Belt from Grand Boulevard to the south and east (Washington Park, Woodlawn). As the older, northern sections of the Black Belt worsened (overcrowding and dilapidation), those with means moved south into those neighborhoods for better housing and less-crowded conditions.
Most of the buildings in the area you mention were multi-unit buildings that had large apartments within them, and then as the more affluent black residents moved out of those to areas where they could actually purchase a single family home, the units were then split up into smaller separate apartments. By the 70s, the areas were economically depressed and the buildings were probably long vacant since those who could afford to get out did so in large numbers.
There was once a residential hotel at 61st & South Parkway (MLK) which was where black entertainers used to stay while in town. Duke Ellington said they had the best cinnamon rolls in the country.
Not sure how much of a hand the city had in demolishing those blocks or if arson was to blame - Woodlawn had something like 690 arson fires from 1968 to 1972, so I assume the same thing was happening in Washington Park.
Most of the buildings in the area you mention were multi-unit buildings that had large apartments within them, and then as the more affluent black residents moved out of those to areas where they could actually purchase a single family home, the units were then split up into smaller separate apartments. By the 70s, the areas were economically depressed and the buildings were probably long vacant since those who could afford to get out did so in large numbers.
There was once a residential hotel at 61st & South Parkway (MLK) which was where black entertainers used to stay while in town. Duke Ellington said they had the best cinnamon rolls in the country.
Not sure how much of a hand the city had in demolishing those blocks or if arson was to blame - Woodlawn had something like 690 arson fires from 1968 to 1972, so I assume the same thing was happening in Washington Park.
Re: West washington park neighborhood
Posted by:
HOLTANEK
()
Date: August 12, 2015 05:41PM
It would seem to me that the aforementioned buildings were simply in such a bad state that they were worthless and torn down either by the city or landlords. In the early 30s these buildings were vacated by the white owners, afraid of the blacks moving in. The landlords would take a single apartment and divvy it up to house 4-5 or more families, and charge exhorbitant rents. Complaints about repairs fell on deaf ears, as the landlords would do nothing in the way of upkeep or repairs, and didn't worry if renters moved out as there were hundreds of new renters waiting in line. sad but true. I assume over the years that these buildings were "used up" and eventually torn down. My original question was brought up by what I saw on NETR online, historic aerials. Up to the early 70s the area still appeared busy with buildings filling up every block. The next aerial available was 1988 and about 50 of the buildings were gone.
Re: West washington park neighborhood
Posted by:
WayOutWardell
()
Date: August 12, 2015 06:56PM
The vanishing buildings make sense compared with the census figures for that time span, definitely. In 1970, Washington Park had 46,024 residents, and in 1990 it had dropped to 19,425. It's currently at 11k and probably still falling.
Re: West washington park neighborhood
Posted by:
PKDickman
()
Date: August 12, 2015 10:11PM
HOLTANEK Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It would seem to me that the aforementioned
> buildings were simply in such a bad state that
> they were worthless and torn down either by the
> city or landlords. In the early 30s these
> buildings were vacated by the white owners, afraid
> of the blacks moving in. The landlords would take
> a single apartment and divvy it up to house 4-5 or
> more families, and charge exhorbitant rents.
> Complaints about repairs fell on deaf ears, as the
> landlords would do nothing in the way of upkeep or
> repairs, and didn't worry if renters moved out as
> there were hundreds of new renters waiting in
> line. sad but true. I assume over the years that
> these buildings were "used up" and eventually torn
> down. My original question was brought up by what
> I saw on NETR online, historic aerials. Up to the
> early 70s the area still appeared busy with
> buildings filling up every block. The next aerial
> available was 1988 and about 50 of the buildings
> were gone.
Here in the paltry 8 census tracts that make up Wicker Park, we lost 22% of our housing units between 1970 and 1980, maybe a third of that was the city's doing.
I can't overestimate the effect of finally being able to get fire insurance had on absentee landlords in depressed areas.
-------------------------------------------------------
> It would seem to me that the aforementioned
> buildings were simply in such a bad state that
> they were worthless and torn down either by the
> city or landlords. In the early 30s these
> buildings were vacated by the white owners, afraid
> of the blacks moving in. The landlords would take
> a single apartment and divvy it up to house 4-5 or
> more families, and charge exhorbitant rents.
> Complaints about repairs fell on deaf ears, as the
> landlords would do nothing in the way of upkeep or
> repairs, and didn't worry if renters moved out as
> there were hundreds of new renters waiting in
> line. sad but true. I assume over the years that
> these buildings were "used up" and eventually torn
> down. My original question was brought up by what
> I saw on NETR online, historic aerials. Up to the
> early 70s the area still appeared busy with
> buildings filling up every block. The next aerial
> available was 1988 and about 50 of the buildings
> were gone.
Here in the paltry 8 census tracts that make up Wicker Park, we lost 22% of our housing units between 1970 and 1980, maybe a third of that was the city's doing.
I can't overestimate the effect of finally being able to get fire insurance had on absentee landlords in depressed areas.
