At three on a Monday afternoon a couple guys are openly dealing drugs on the corner of Marshfield and Jonquil. One block south, on Howard Street, at least a dozen storefronts sit vacant, and the remaining businesses struggle to stay open.
Under the current B1-3 zoning, developers have to make the ground floor of any new building retail space unless they get a special-use permit from the city. If the zoning is changed to B2-3 they’ll be able to make the entire building residential without a permit. “There’s a lot more retail than we really need in the area,” says Moore. “This would give the developer an option–commercial or residential. The theory is that we would get more development if they didn’t have to put in retail for which there’s no market.”
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His critics are adamant in their opposition to the zoning change largely because they see a clear correlation between a high concentration of low-income housing and a high rate of crime. North of Howard is poor. According to the 2000 census, about 34 percent of the residents live below the poverty line, and the median family income is $29,965. Moore estimates conservatively that half of the neighborhood’s 2,200 or so housing units are home to low-income residents (about the only thing on which the two sides agree). In addition to the two social service agencies, the neighborhood has a shelter for abused women, a food pantry, a soup kitchen, and a hotel for transient families.
Moore and his allies accuse their critics of exaggerating the neighborhood’s problems. They say that it has pockets of prosperity, particularly on Juneway Terrace, and that overall the community’s on the rebound, noting that at least ten buildings have converted to condos, with units selling for as much as $300,000. Moore says the area is on the brink of gentrification–think Lakeview in the 70s or Wicker Park in the 80s–and it’s only a matter of time before residents are howling about congestion, overdevelopment, and soaring property taxes. “It has improved tremendously over the last ten years,” he says. “That’s not to say there aren’t serious problems in the area. But statistically it’s improved dramatically.”
Many of his critics think he’s already made up his mind. “Oh, I suppose it’s only a coincidence that the new zoning allows SROs without a permit,” says Steward sarcastically. “I think it’s more of the same for the area. They’ll change the zoning, and watch–someone will come in with an SRO. You can’t tell me that it’s not a planned thing.”
