During the 1980s, I imagine gentrification was a hot topic like green building is today, in the world of housing. Today I don’t hear too much about it, but am reminded as I pass this sign occasionally on 18th Street. “Danger Gentrification Zone” emblazoned over a yellow traffic sign, on the side of an historic building, interestingly enough.
Technically speaking, gentrification means “The conversion of an aging area in a city into a more affluent middle-class neighborhood, as by remodeling or renovating dwellings, resulting in increased property values and in displacement of the poor.” I’m not quite sure if this is happening in Pilsen or not, as this neighborhood never was originally occupied by Mexicans. Germans settled the neighborhood first and then after the fire, displaced Bohemians, Polish and Czech immigrants moved to the area, building the majority of the buildings from the 1880s thru the 1890s. So, whose neighborhood is it? If anyone’s been displaced, it’s been the Bohemians. Even then, I don’t even think they have been; Pilsen was designed to be a port of entry, not an end destination. It’s proximity to manual labor jobs; the stockyards, lumberyards, McCormick Reaper factory, etc. have all been factors having immigrants move to this neighborhood. However, I do think Pilsen is becoming more of a neighborhood where people do settle for the long term. I think what we want to avoid is something like Lincoln Park, a neighborhood where I see many similarities to Pilsen – working class neighborhood, followed by an influx of artists who preserve and rehab the buildings, and now an upper class neighborhood that is a mecca for young, urban professionals and chain stores. Virtually the same evolution happened in Bucktown/Wicker Park.
I believe neighborhoods like Pilsen are an ecosystem that needs to maintain a balance in order to survive. In nature, if one aspect of the system is thrown off, it eventually becomes out of balance. I believe that in order for Pilsen to survive as the thriving Mexican neighborhood that it is today, it’s simple supply and demand. If the people demand the products the stores in this neighborhood sell, then they will stay in business. I think that as second, third and fourth generations stop being consumers for these goods, the ecosystem will fail and be taken over by the next wave of residents. I don’t believe it’s solely about the residents being priced out of the buildings they own; that is just one factor in the Pilsen ecosystem.
Regardless, a main reason I find Pilsen attractive is the Mexican culture that continues to thrive. But maybe that’s just because of my affinity for Mexican food!
I would be interested to hear other opinions, especially it is whoever spray paints the "yuppies out of pilsen" throughout the neighborhood.
1 comment:
Ruth was speaking in a different era and couldn't fathom the reality of a late 20th Century America where disinvestment almost caused the complete eradication of the built environment in our cities. Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit on the larger side, Quincy, Quad Cities, Toledo on the smaller. They still have not fared well and the poor left behind have very little quality or economy in their life. Every healthy community needs mixed incomes and a wealthy segment to support the services necessary for a quality of life. Grocery Stores fled those aging areas leaving them without even that basic service. To this day many urban neighborhoods exist without this basic necessity. Sad.
American cities are often spoke of in romantic terms as "working class" enclaves neglecting to realize that those old community models, while often based on ethnicity, had business owners and a professional class (such as Doctors) who resided there and yes that includes Pilsen. Folks strived to live in Pilsen and it's glorious new buildings in the 1890s.
Pilsen was never a "port of entry" it was a neighborhood of choice by Central Europeans and now Mexicans which often became too full to absorb or allow it's residents to fully achieve their goals including owning a house with a yard. They moved on but often simply for housing they could afford or which was available for sale. This place was packed. After WWII when the freeways ripped through the old area of Praha to the east of Pilsen and caused a displacement of thousands or in the 1990s when many moved to Plainfield for the abundant affordable new housing it just happened. It just was.
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