Comments on: Of Playgrounds, Chicago Housing and Ning

By: Skylark

Skylark — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:55:52 +0000

Wow. I… don’t seem to have the words to say what I want to say, nor am I sure I have anything to say that would be useful in a discussion of urban renewal, gangs, race, and playgrounds. No, I’m not wowed by my lack of words: It’s the enormity of the situation.

I went to an urban United Church of Christ this past Sunday for an afternoon service with some folks from the UCC church where I’m currently attending in the small town where I live. The pastor of the small town church was telling me she took the preteens to this urban UCC church for one of their community lunches. The preteens initially saw no differences between this urban setting and the small all-white town in which they live. We were both a bit aghast at their lack of observation. To us it was painfully obvious that our small town has only a few buildings with boarded-over windows, while in this urban neighborhood, boarded-over windows were nearly more common than glass windows. To us it was so obvious the socio-economic and racial makeups of our town and this inner-city were vastly different.

But for our surface observations, did we really know much more about life for the urban poor than the sheltered preteens did?

By: ST

ST — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:59:41 +0000

i find tim baer’s commentary often very callous, and this time racist. shut out from much access to the state as real citizens, sometimes those buildings were the only places black people controlled. some people took advantage of others…some creatively invented new ways of being…anything but damned. (the urban renewal/displacement) happens in the US is like a miniature of what plays out with regards to the West towards Africa especially via colonialization and process of neo- and post-colonial struggles.

anyway, i find it is hurtful to have to deal with tim and somasoul’s constant rudeness…we as young anabaptists and radicals of all types have to deal with this kind of trivialization and deviation enough each day. on this blog i hoped there would be more of space to go deeper…like connecting people who are thinking creatively about the future of “convivencia” in this world.

thanks for the window into what’s happening in chicago in light of the economic crisis and displacement of poor peoples. it’s helpful to know because a lot of that happens elsewhere…so relaying this story helps to articulate more of the pattern i am seeing.

By: art

art — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 21:41:37 +0000

“where the gentrification ends”. i love it. dilapidated playground = signs of hope. urban renewal is coming.

By: Tim Baer

Tim Baer — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 12:32:27 +0000

In Baltimore they did the same thing, imploded those damned buildings. Those high rises were problematic.

I support urban renewal. Baltimore’s a city with 30,000 abandoned properties. Let the condos come.

http://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2008/07/21/PH2008072102757.jpg