Logan Square Neighborhood Association | LISC/Chicago’s New Communities Program QUALITY-OF-LIFE PLAN MAY 2005 LOGAN SQUARE:A Place to Stay, a Place to Grow PLANNING TASK FORCE Logan Square Bruce Anderson 35th Ward Zoning Committee Mark Kruse Hispanic Housing Development Corporation Participants at community meeting Noemi Avelar Humboldt Park Social Services Teresa Lamberry Spanish Coalition for Housing Martina Aguirre Elena Miramontes Leticia Barrera Logan Square Neighborhood Association David Leeney First American Bank Jane Ashley Silbia Moctezuma Joanna Brown Logan Square Neighborhood Association Paul Levin 35th Ward Office Rosa Brito Angelena Montenegro Larry Bulak Liberty Bank for Savings Miguel Luna Mozart Elementary School Marta Bruno Mendoza Juanita Munoz Michael Burton Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation Rev. Charles Lyons Armitage Baptist Church Angelita Burgo Tasha Murdock Ames Middle School FLAK Block Club Mario Caballero Maribel Mata-Benedict Araceli Carrillo Raul Ortiz Lissette Castaneda St. Sylvester’s Church Deborah McCoy Logan Square Cooperative Ana Cepeda Aurelio Perez Ald. Rey Colon 35th Ward Alderman John McDermott Logan Square Neighborhood Association Reynalda Covarrubias Lourdes Perez Lorraine Cruz Ames Middle School Lucrecia Mejia St. Sylvester’s Church Deloise Davis Tasha Peterson Ashley Dearborn Armitage Baptist Church Maricela Melecio Child Care Providers Association Yesenia DeJesus Virginia Presa Catherine Delgado Monroe Elementary School James Menconi Monroe Elementary School Norma Delgado Shirley Reyes Jennifer DeLeon Zion Cristo Rey Lutheran Church Michael Mendoza Logan Square Youth Council Magali Diodonete Jennifer Richter Cece Drazek Economic Development Commission of Greater Logan Square Joel Monarch Unity Park Advisory Council Kisha Edwards McKinzie Robinson Margarita Espino Funston Elementary School Lissette Moreno-Kuri Logan Square Neighborhood Association Cristina Escalera Martha Rodriguez Dr. Liliana Evers Funston Elementary School Maria Moyer Fifth Third Bank Vanessa Evans Rosemarie Rodriguez Jeannette Feliciano McCormick Tribune Logan Square YMCA Maribel Navarrette Bundle of Joy Home Day Care Irma Fuentes Maria Romellaco Joyce Fernandes archi-treasures Ofelia Navarro Spanish Coalition for Housing Gabriela Galvan Elsa Ruiz Mark Fick Chicago Mutual Housing Network Ald. Billy Ocasio 26th Ward Alderman Blanca Garcia Cristina Salgado Omar Figueroa Humboldt Park Social Services Tom Osgood Chicago Hope Carmen Garcia Elisa Salgado Ald. Manuel Flores 1st Ward Alderman Idida Perez Episcopal Church of the Advent Lidia Garcia Julia Salinas Dawn-Marie Galtieri aurorARTS alliance Rod Port Armitage Baptist Church Olga Garcia Gipsie Santiago Blanca Giron Brentano Math and Science Academy Delia Ramirez Humboldt Park Social Services Rosa Garcia Maria Sotomayor Rev. Leo Gomez Our Lady of Grace Church Lowell Rice Greater North Pulaski Development Corporation Brigida Godinez Adela Torres Lucy Gomez-Feliciano Logan Square Neighborhood Association Rosita de la Rosa Logan Square Neighborhood Association Imelda Gondono Marisol Torres Dr. Elizabeth Gonzalez Chase Middle School Ricarda Ruiz Ames Middle School Lilian Gonzalez Ames Middle School Jesse Senechal Kelvyn Park High School Imelda Gutierrez Gloria Uruchima Maria Gonzalez St. Sylvester’s Church Joan Sheforgen PrimeCare Community Health Center Jeanet Henning Sandra Valle Silvia Gonzalez Monroe Elementary School Miguel Sotomayor Monroe Elementary School Marisol Lugo Marisol Ventura Rev. John Graham Episcopal Church of the Advent Kathy Tholin FLAK Block Club Maria Marquez Patricia Villafane Mike Gregory Armitage Baptist Church Judith Torres Hispanic Housing Development Corporation Antonia Martinez Rev. Michael Herman St. Sylvester’s Church (Task Force Chairman) Sandra Vargas Logan Square Neighborhood Association Romelia Martinez Tony Hernandez LaSalle Bank Elsa Vazquez MidAmerica Bank This list was compiled from sign-in sheets for planning meetings and Valdemar Hernandez St. Sylvester’s Church Dr. Georgette Watson Brentano Math and Science Academy related activities and may not include all participants. Our apologies Rev. Anna Kari Johnson Zion Cristo Rey Lutheran Church Rev. Pedro Windsor La Capilla del Barrio for any misspellings or omissions. Martha Juarez Monroe Elementary School Sandra Zarinana Logan Square Youth Council © 2005 LISC/Chicago QUALITY-OF-LIFE PLAN : LOGAN SQUARE CONTENTS SUMMARY Residents Seek Path to a Diverse Future 2 OUR COMMUNITY Neighborhood Faces Rapid Economic Change Lead Agency: Logan Square Neighborhood Association Planning Process: Building a Consensus for Action 6 VISION A Place to Stay, a Place to Grow 13 STRATEGIES Eight Steps to Achieve Our Vision 15 WORK PROGRAM Schedule and Lead Organizations 34 SUMMARY Residents Seek Path to a Diverse Future Logan Square is on the move. But for many working families of this historic North Side neighborhood, the nagging question is whether they, too, must inevitably move. Or might it be possible to harness the mighty-but-mindless market forces moving west from the lakefront’s condo belt, and use those forces to weave a new type of community? If so, what kind of community? This quality-of-life plan envisions one that Chicago has produced all too rarely. It would be both stable and diverse, neither Gold Coast nor barrio—a place where families of all kinds, colors Working families pursuing the American Dream are the focus of our plan. and classes would not simply coexist, but support one another as they pursue their own versions of the American dream. 2 Such a community would not be that different from property tax reassessment, in 2003, imposed an average historic Logan Square. This is a neighborhood born in the increase of 76 percent. This in a neighborhood where, as of scramble for affordable housing that followed the Great Census 2000, fully one-third of renters devoted too much Fire of 1871. Located beyond the city’s brick-only fireproof of their income to rent. zone, early Logan Square’s wooden two- and three-flats The scale of the consequent displacement, if not the were an affordable godsend to displaced German and pain, is apparent in census tract 2216, which covers the Scandinavian mill workers. After the city annexed the 20 blocks east of Western Avenue between Armitage and neighborhood and enhanced it with broad boulevards and Fullerton. During the 1990s, rents there doubled, home public squares, merchants, managers and professionals values tripled and 44 new units were added. Yet the tract’s built dignified greystones and Queen Annes along Kedzie, population fell by 15 percent, and the number of Latinos Logan and Humboldt boulevards. This legacy of diversity, and children dropped by half. As gentrification rolls west, this mix of rich and not-so-rich, of English-speakers and the implications are clear. those who speak another tongue, has endured for more No plan can stop this tide. Then again, no thoughtful than a century. The accents heard along Milwaukee Avenue planner would try. Fresh investment can be life’s blood to a Elaborate mansions were built along the boulevards starting in the were first Yiddish, then Polish, and most recently, Spanish. healthy neighborhood. But there are ways to meld the old late 1800s. All the while, a diverse yet stable Logan Square has and the new, to make the tapestry more interesting rather remained one of Chicago’s best examples of what an urban than tear it apart, or worse, bleach it to monochrome. neighborhood can be and do. This is a plan to preserve diversity in Logan Square. The next wave may not be so benign. The gentrification More than 200 community representatives, work- of Lincoln Park has jumped the Kennedy Expressway, first ing through a task force led by the Logan Square colonizing Bucktown, now bidding up real estate and rents Neighborhood Association, were involved in its prepara- as far west as Kedzie Avenue and beyond. The median tion. Our vision for Logan Square is that it be a place to price of all homes sold last year in Logan Square was stay, and a place to grow. more than $300,000, though Chicago magazine notes that single-family detached homes averaged $442,766. The last 3 STRATEGIES AND PROJECTS STRATEGY 1 Preserve and expand affordable housing. STRATEGY 2 Expand and improve parks and recreational programs, and create new community spaces. We will help organize tenants so that subsidized buildings stay subsidized after federal contracts expire. We will work with the Chicago Park District, park We will continue to organize for a citywide set-aside advisory councils and the Trust for Public Land to ordinance and expansion of Chicago’s Affordable make expansion of Haas Park on Fullerton Avenue a Housing Trust Fund. Working with experienced replicable model for park expansion and improvement. community development corporations, we will create Kosciuszko Park, our neighborhood’s largest, needs affordable housing for those ready to own, including redesign and reinvestment to become an active limited-equity co-ops, and supportive housing for those recreational asset rather than a hangout. We will with mental or physical impairments. Rental units will advocate for these and other elements of the city’s be affordable for area residents and large enough to 2004 Open Space Plan for Logan Square. We will accommodate families. We will establish a housing pursue opportunities such as new campus parks near center to help families rent or buy, and a Legacy schools, and development of a plaza and farmers’ Project through which longtime