Chapter 18 - Hawaii

Finding something to talk about to relate Chicago was particularly difficult.  I had no idea at first of where to start.  But after re-reading the chapter I decided to look at the uneven development of Chicago and the segregation that still exist.  I found the following article to be interesting from the ASA(American Sociologist Association).  This is in the relation to the segregation and disparity that native Hawaiians encounter.

Battling Uneven Development in Chicago

Sixth in a series of articles in anticipation of the 1999 ASA Annual Meeting in Chicago

by Phil Nyden, Loyola University Chicago, and Gwen Nyden, Oakton Community College Like many cities, Chicago is a city of contrasts‹between rich and poor, black and white, Latino and Anglo, immigrant and non-immigrant. But uneven development has been apparent in Chicago for many years. Through the early 1980s, Harvey Zorbaugh's 1928 classic, The Gold Coast and the Slum, could have been used as a walking tour guide. The contrast between the Gold Coast mansions just north of the Magnificent Mile (along North Michigan Avenue) and the low-income neighborhood just six blocks to the west was still present. In 1980, nine of the 15 poorest neighborhoods in the U.S. were in Chicago. Last year, Chicago was listed as the third most segregated city in the United States (after Gary and Detroit). While other Northeastern and Midwestern older industrial cities provided tough competition for this highly questionable distinction, Chicago's long history of housing segregation, local race-based politics, and discriminatory lending practices has left a lasting mark on the social landscape of the nation's third city. The symbolism of uneven development even carries through into professional sports. With its distinct uptown character, Wrigley Field, home to the Cubs, is affectionately described as the "friendly confines." The historic field in gentrified "Wrigleyville," full of popular bars and trendy restaurants, is a sharp contrast to the cement coliseum build on the Southside for the White Sox. Comisky Park, rarely described by the media as being in a "neighborhood," is across a 12-lane interstate from Taylor Homes and Stateway Gardens, two of the greatest concentrations of public housing in the United States. Just to the west of this new stadium is Bridgeport, the working class community that had long been home to Mayor Richard J. Daley (the "original" Mayor Daley). A few years ago Bridgeport was abandoned by son Mayor Richard M. Daley in favor of the trendy new Central Station neighborhood at the south end of Grant Park. Retail businesses and other investments had preceded Richard M. in the exodus from Bridgeport, reflecting the patterns of disinvestment typical of many former white ethnic neighborhoods. There are many other signs of continued uneven development. Following the decline of basic industrial employment which hit some Chicago neighborhoods hard in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Chicago has more recently been riding an economic boom. While investment have found its way into most neighborhoods, the trickle of money coming into some low-income communities has been overshadowed by the flood of money being pumped into Chicago's central business district. Similarly, Chicago's lakefront park system is biased toward the more white and more affluent Northside. A recent Chicago Tribune series on Chicago's park system pointed to inequities in public investment. In addition to having double the acreage of the southern lakefront, the northern lakefront has more food concession stands, playgrounds, marinas, and other amenities. New figures on Chicago Transit Authority budget planning indicate that through 2002, $65 million will be spent to improve downtown subway stations while only $15 million will be spent on all the other stations in the entire system. You will not have to walk very far from the ASA host hotel to see the boom in hotel, retail, and housing investment boom taking place in the Loop and North Michigan Avenue area. A recent Brookings Institution report projects that 90,000 new residents will move into the central business district in the next 10 years. These will be primarily young and middle-aged professionals with typical individual earnings in excess of $100,000 annually. Along North Michigan Avenue, a new development will include more upscale stores and a multi-story Disney "urban" theme park (opening before August 1999) and other upscale retailers. The millions of dollars pouring into new retail and entertainment development continues a decades-long development "winning streak" for the city's Magnificent Mile." To continue to the rest of this article follow the link here.