October 17 - 23, 2022

We Are Giving Our Vendors a Raise!

Beginning June 27, StreetWise costs $3.00 + tips.

Vendors will now earn $1.85 per issue instead of $1.10 for every magazine sold.

Why now?

StreetWise has not increased the price of our magazine to the vendors or customers since 2008! It was only the second increase in the 30-year history of StreetWise.

The cost of living has gone up 34% since 2008. A dollar's worth of goods in 2008 would cost $1.34 today. Our vendors deserve more money in their pockets to offset the rising costs of food, transportation and housing.

StreetWise magazine is an award-winning weekly publication that also serves as a platform for people with lived experience to share their stories and their views as writers and more.

Post-COVID inflation has hit us hard. Our production costs have increased 25% over last year.

Selling StreetWise is a Job

Selling StreetWise isn’t begging, and it isn’t asking for charity. It’s a job. Our vendors are self-employed micro entrepreneurs who build relationships and create connections between and across communities that change perceptions about homeless and low-income individuals.

The new price of $3, with vendors paying $1.15 for their papers, means each paper sold nets the vendor a solid $1.85. It raises the floor so that our vendors earn a wage that is worth their while. It’s time for this to happen.

We talked with our vendors and received feedback from some of our customers and supporters. We have nearly unanimous support for the price increase. Now is the time.

The price increase, by expanding one of the most reliable income sources we have, will give StreetWise vendors an income they need to thrive, and not just survive.

Our Vendors Deserve a Raise!

Arts & Entertainment

Event highlights of the week!

SportsWise

An interview with SportsWise teammate Russ Adams.

Cover Story: we will chicago

We Will Chicago is the city's first plan since 1966, and the first to be crafted with input from neighborhood residents and community leaders. The draft plan has 8 Pillars focused on improving Chicagoans' lives -- particularly those impacted by inequities. This proposed plan is also the first to attempt to heal the city from "historic harms," and to enhance "equity" and "resiliency" in order to move forward. Members of the Chicago Department of Planning and Development surveyed StreetWise vendors individually about the draft plan and spoke more extensively with the StreetWise Writers Group. The draft plan is open for public comment through November 1 at wewillchicago.com/draft, before it is refined this fall and presented to the Chicago Plan Commission in early 2023.

The Playground

ON THE COVER: Image taken from the "We Will Chicago Meeting In A Box Facilitator Guide." THIS PAGE: Image taken from the "We Will Chicago Draft for Public Input."

DISCLAIMER: The views, opinions, positions or strategies expressed by the authors and those providing comments are theirs alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views, opin ions, or positions of StreetWise.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT RECOMMENDATIONS

Compiled by Dave Hamilton and Sarah Linde

Getting Spooky!

Upside Down Halloween Parade

Chicago children and their families will BECOME the parade when they don their costumes and join the proces sion down tree-lined Russell Drive in Washington Park on October 22 from noon - 3 p.m. Dance teams, musicians, acrobats, sports mascots and other spectacles will dazzle them as they make their way down the route – and kids will receive a complimentary goody bag at the closing arches. Don’t worry if you don’t have a costume, Blommer Chocolate Company will be giving away thousands of complimentary costumes in a courtesy tent at the start of the route! The exhibition area just behind the closing arches will feature a free hot chocolate station and other treats, as well as a live DJ. The Upside Down Halloween Parade serves as the grand opening for Chicago’s Halloweek pro gram and is presented by LUMA8 and the City of Chicago. Blommer Chocolate Company is the lead sponsor, with major support from William Blair.

Strike A Pose!

Chicago Fashion Week

FashionBar presents this season’s theme - IMPACT - Your identity can give fashion life. View the collections of various emerging, es tablished and avant-garde designers to hit the runway at this season with multiple runway shows this week on the 3rd floor of Water Tower Place, 835 N. Michigan Ave. Shows include: Business Wear 10/17 at 6 p.m.; Emerging Students 10/18 at 6 p.m.; Eco-Friendly 10/19 at 6 p.m.; Trans Media 10/20 at 6 p.m.; Modern & Ready-2-Wear 10/21 at 6 p.m.; Resort & Swimwear 10/22 at noon; Urban & Streetwear 10/22 at 5 p.m.; South Asian Wear 10/23 at noon; Evening Wear & Identity Show 10/23 at 4 p.m. The shows are two to three hours long. General admission tickets are $30 for each show at www.rebelity.com/EventDates/1100/chicago-fashion-weekpowered-by-fashionbar-llc-the-shows

Behind the Scenes!

Obama’s Speech Writer Cody Keenan Barack Obama’s chief speechwriter Cody Keenan appears in conversation on his new book, “Grace,” at Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State St. on October 24 from 6-7 p.m. “Grace” is the propulsive story of 10 days in June 2015, when Obama and Keenan composed a series of high-stakes speeches to meet a succession of stunning developments, when a hate-fueled massacre and looming Supreme Court's decisions put the character of our coun try on the line, and a president’s words could bring the nation together or tear it apart. Keenan takes readers inside the craft of speechwriting at the highest level for the most demanding of bosses, the relentlessly poetic and perfectionist Barack Obama. Visit chipublib.bibliocommons. com/events/62cf1d050685eb4200c6711c for more info on this free event.

Close to Heaven!

'Blue Heaven'

In Black Ensemble Theater's "Blue Heaven," four great blues legends -- Big Mama Thornton, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Wa ters and Stevie Ray Vaughn -- are sitting in a blues bar, reminiscing about their careers. They are waiting for the "new guy," B.B. King, to show up and they are eager to give him advice about meeting "The Boss." W hat ensues is a blues concert that is heaven-sent. Performances are Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 3 & 7 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. October 22-November 27 at 4450 N. Clark St. Tickets are $50+ at blackensembletheater.org or 773.769.4451.

Take A Stroll!

Uptown: A Community Bound by Differences Walking Tour In the early 21st century, Uptown continues to be a hub for new arrivals to Chicago—and this mix of people continues to be a tremendous asset. Using a set of different locations around the community, this walking tour will show how art, culture and local businesses continue to be part of the ties that provide a diverse set of people meaningful ways to interact with each other. Urbanologist Max Grinnell guides this free event from 6-7 p.m. on Thursday, October 20, hosted by Bezazian Branch Library. More info can be found at www.chipublib.bibliocom mons.com/events/6319f8b48ca4b42b008523d1

A Thousand Pardons, Milady!

‘Camelot’

Music Theater Works presents “Camelot” at the North Theatre in the North Shore Center For The Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, October 20 - November 13. Return to the magic and majesty of Lerner and Loewe’s classic musical as it recounts the enduring legend of King Arthur, Queen Guenevere, Sir Lancelot and the other members of the Knights of the Round Table. Based on T.H. White’s novel “The Once and Future King,” audiences experience the story of King Arthur’s most trusted knight, Sir Lancelot, as Lancelot falls in love with Queen Guenevere. The performance schedule is Wednesdays at 1 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m. Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets start at $39, half-price tickets for anyone 25 and younger at MusicTheaterWorks.com

Classical Interpretations!

CSO MusicNOW: Perspectives

Marking both the start of the 25th season of CSO MusicNOW and its return to Symphony Center, 220 S. Michigan Ave., Mead Composer-in-Residence Jessie Montgomery and musi cians from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra unite to perform works by kindred spirits Alvin Singleton and Carlos Simon, at 7 p.m. Monday, October 24. Among the works featured are Singleton’s experimental and improvisational "Be Natural" for three bowed, stringed instruments and Simon’s whimsical and wildly syncopated "Lickety Split" for cello and piano. Though stylistically different, the program highlights the composers’ shared influences through their own unique lenses.

Tickets start at $30 at cso.org

Halloween Extravaganza!

‘House of the Exquisite Corpse’

Following last year’s spectacular debut, "House Of The Exquisite Corpse" has taken over Chopin Theater’s Main Stage with an expanded program of eight new immersive acts of original puppet horror! This unique experience beckons audiences to explore the tormented halls, peeping in on the otherworldly ills that plague each room. Through puppetry, physical performance, soundscape, and illusion, each room in the House of the Exquisite Corpse will horrify and mesmerize. Run time is 70 minutes. Ticketed entries begin at 7 p.m. and 15-minute intervals afterward at Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St. every Thursday - Saturday until Novem ber 5. Tickets are pay-what-you-want at roughhousetheater.com.

‘Botticelli in the Fire’

Modern Take On Renaissance Times!

First Floor Theater starts its 10th season with the Chicago premiere of Jordan Tannahill’s “Botticelli in the Fire,” a hot-blooded queering of Renaissance Italy that questions the value of art at the collapse of society. Playboy Sandro Botticelli has it all: talent, fame, good looks. He also has the ear – and the wife – of Lorenzo de Medici, as well as the Renaissance’s hottest young apprentice, Leonardo da Vinci. But while at work on his breakthrough commission, "The Birth of Venus," Botticelli’s devotion to pleasure and beauty is put to the ultimate test. As the plague sweeps through the city, the charismatic friar Savonarola starts to stoke the fires of dissent against the liberal elite. Botticelli finds the life he knows breaking terrifyingly apart, forcing him to choose between love and survival. The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m. through November 5. Additional 8 p.m. performance Monday, October 24. $10 - $35 at firstfloortheater.com

An original member of Sports Wise, along with Vince Colla so and Craig Barlow, this is my baby. I consider it my child that I allow the current SportsWise crew to hold—Kidding! We’re a team until the end. Look, SportsWise gives me a chance to represent the sports fanatic in me. I get to see a different side of sports by reporting on it and giving my opinion; also, I’m a celebrity. Not the level of a Candace Parker or a Denzel Washington, but we’re all in the same tank.

Another sweet thing about this gig is customers ask me for autographs on our page 6, which, to this day—13 years later—touches me in a way I appreciate. Makes me feel re ally good. I, also, love, simply, relaxing and talking sports. I’ve been SportsWising for a while now, and I keep many old magazines. Sometimes, a man—being human—needs to be reminded of his accom plishments. His opinions, his thoughts, his life. SportsWise does that for me.

I can dig it, brotha.

Also, mad-ups to StreetWise for snagging us tickets to ran

dom games—most times, via the amazing Community Tickets programs; other times, StreetWise purchases tickets for us whether it’s for an upcoming column or a reward for work ing hard as a contributing part ner to the overall magazine.

Speaking of StreetWise the maga zine, what’s it meant to you over your 20 dedicated years?

First off, “Thank you” to Street Wise for giving me the oppor tunity to be a part of Sports Wise. No telling what not having SportsWise would’ve done for—or against—me. As for StreetWise, I’ve met many characters over my years. I’ve been a rookie, of course, and those memories remind me daily what I need to do to impart my wisdom to those who’ll, eventually, “be” me, Lonnie, Clinton, Steven— Riggs and Garron—and, of course, Robert Williams and Don Smith, and every other StreetWise veteran who’s laid

down and stood up for this organization. With the kind, helpful words from these guys—including some of the younger cats—I’ve become a wizard at my job. I love my work, and that’s something many of us never experience. If I can help someone else feel as good as me when it comes to StreetWise, or in their regular life, I’m in.

DON ON RUSS

Russell elevates SportsWise, and he keeps it fun. I’ll always remember the times we spent together at the ballgames. We’ve hung out at every sports arena you can think of in the city; most recently, at Win Trust Arena. The most memo rable moment? We rushed the court—hey now!—together when the DePaul Blue De mons women’s team won the East a couple of years back. An all-around standup guy.

JOHN ON RUSS Always brings his game face.

He does it in a humbled way, so no one’s offended. Whether he’s working in the office do ing janitorial work as he did for many years, out in the street selling StreetWise, or handling business with the SportsWise team, Russell always brings the positive vibes.

PAT ON RUSS

Russ is my guy at any game we attend together. He’s a good dude who does a lot for peo ple. I’ve witnessed him talk ing with someone in the office and telling him what’s what. “I hear you,” Russ would say and follow with, “But you ever thought about it like this?” A man of few words—unless he trusts you—people listen. An OG (Original Gangster…of the most positive kind), Russ is someone who sticks in your brain—already in mine—and he’ll always give you some thing good.

Any comments or suggestions? Email pedwards@streetwise.org

Rashanah Baldwin

Vendors Russell Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat about the world of sports with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards.

WE WILL CHICAGO

SURVEYS STREETWISE VENDORS

by Suzanne Hanney

“We Will Chicago” is the city’s first comprehensive plan since 1966, and the first drafted with public feedback from neighbor hood residents and community leaders. Of the plan’s 8 Pillars to improve Chicagoans’ lives – particularly individuals impacted by inequities – “Housing & Neighborhoods” and “Economic Development” are most important to StreetWise vendors.

The Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD) is seeking public feedback on the We Will Chicago draft plan (available at wewillchicago.com) until November 1, so DPD staff visited StreetWise offices in the South Loop on September 6 and collected 21 responses, according to Gabriela C. Jirasek, assistant commissioner of community and digital engagement. The Housing & Neighborhoods pil lar, along with the Economic Development pillar, were each rated highest priority by 7 StreetWise participants. (Repre sentatives of DPD and the Department of Housing also met September 8 with the StreetWise Writers Group.)

The remainder of the StreetWise breakdown on the pro posed plan’s 8 Pillars was:

• Transportation & Infrastructure: 3

• Lifelong Learning: 2

• Arts & Culture: 1

• Civic & Community Engagement: 1

• Environment, Climate & Energy: 0

• Public Health & Safety: 0

“They should house low-income people, cut the red tape,” said Vendor Donald Brown. “Everyone should have an op portunity for housing, regardless of race or religion.”

Housing without strings attached would solve many prob lems for Vendor Keith Hardiman and those close to him. He lives doubled up with a friend, to whom he pays rent, rather than in a Single Room Occupancy (SRO) hotel. An SRO would probably forbid his lady friend from visiting more than twice a week, which is not feasible, since Hardiman takes care of her. He doesn’t want her out on the streets by herself.

Hardiman’s ideal would be a two- to three-bedroom apart ment, so that he could also take care of his two grandsons, age 17 and 18. The young men’s father, Hardiman’s oldest son, is dead. One mother lives in Indiana, the other in Minne sota, but the grandsons don’t want to be with their mothers’ boyfriends, and are left to themselves.

“They called me a two weeks ago and said, ‘Grandpa, can I come?’ They can stay for a night or two, but I feel bad having them go back out there on the streets. If I had my own two-, three-bedroom apartment, I could help them help themselves. ‘You don’t have to do the things I did because I am going to take you by the hand and guide you.’ They know who I am. They know I don’t play. I talk to them straight-up, with respect. They give it to me in return, with love.”

Simultaneously, Hardiman says that having spent time in prison for nonviolent crimes, he can’t access subsidized housing and he faces a lot of “damned if you do, damned if you don’t situations” that relate to economic development. If he tells prospective employers about his background during the interview, he never gets the job; if he doesn’t tell them, he loses the job after 30 days for lying in the interview.

Meanwhile, as a StreetWise vendor, “I am my own boss. I don’t have nobody watching over my shoulder and I put 100 percent into it.”

Vendor Lee A. Holmes has a similar story regarding his back ground and his inability to get Section 8 housing.

“They went all the way back, and told me, ‘you stole a bottle of wine when you were 15.’ I am nearly 60 now. I worked at the airport, where you have to do a background check. If you went back that far, you are telling me you don’t intend to give me housing. They need to change some of these laws, stopping these stumbling blocks for individuals like me, just like boys I was talking to, who were all living on the street.”

Holmes talked extensively with Jirasek about vacant build ings in his West Englewood neighborhood as a lost housing resource. He had seen buildings marked with an X that he was interested in bidding on for perhaps $5,000 and doing his own repairs. Were these houses going to be torn down? No, he had learned. They were going to be remodeled by the Cook County Land Bank and sold.

PILLARS

“But when they remodel them for $250,000, who can afford them?” Holmes said.

Jirasek responded that there needs to be more coordina tion between Cook County, which maintains the property tax scavenger sales, and the City of Chicago. Many people apply for grants, but they are behind on their property taxes. The city has money for construction costs, but not for taxes. She pondered the idea of tax forgiveness.

THE

VENDOR A. ALLEN

We Will Chicago is a framework for the city’s future. I really like Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s mission statement: “I envision Chicago as a place where people, businesses, and communities thrive and where all residents can live in healthy, safe communities and feel a sense of belonging.” She goes on to say that “I want this plan to be our plan, not one crafted only by city staff, but rather, a document that reflects a wide range of diverse residents who we engaged through community meetings and artistic experiences.”

Being true to her word, the Chicago Department of Planning and Development (DPD) actually invited vendors and staff at StreetWise to give feedback on ways to strengthen the draft plan as the city prepares to adopt the final plan early in 2023.

I was one of more than 20 vendors who gave feedback in a survey on September 6 and then again in a deeper dive with the StreetWise Writers’ Group on September 8. We had a chance to meet with DPD professionals, and on September 8, with staff from the Chicago Department of Housing.

This meeting started out well, with a vendor asking about housing for someone with a felony background, which often hinders placement into housing.

We met for over an hour on this subject. Even though I wanted to move on, I had the same problem for a time. Labeled by the Chicago Police Department as an habitual criminal, I was introduced to Cabrini Green Legal Aid at StreetWise, and they worked to have my record sealed. It took a year, but soon after ward, I got the apartment where I live now.

My record being sealed has been helpful in many ways. Most of my charges were for drug-related, not violent, crimes. I was really intrigued about the well-thought-out plan for Chicago’s future. I think our mayor is onto something for making Chicago neighborhoods safer and more vibrant sanctuaries where everyone can live in peace and prosperity. I really like the idea of “every community needs different things. Support looks different and support should be led by people who are trusted in their communities through partnership with nonprofits and informal projects taken from Art & Culture.”

I really think it was thoughtful and considerate for city government staffers to consider the opinion of StreetWise vendors, because we are part of the framework of the city. I would have preferred to have talked about other pillars of We Will Chicago, such as Art & Culture, Civic & Community Engagement, or Economic Development.

I’m really interested in Pillar No. 4: Housing and Neighborhoods, particularly Goal 4.1, to increase access to healthy food and health care in Black, Latino, Native American, Asian and immigrant community areas. I have seen many foreigners come into Black neighborhoods and set up shops or grocery stores and not reinvest into the community. I would like to see more local people own and operate neighborhood busi nesses instead. I think the government should offer incentives – grants – to community-raised residents to open up local stores, businesses and organizations, thus creating a welcoming environment and a stronger sense of belonging and at the same time strengthening the community base.

Our Black communities are more like tribes, or families. The saying, “it takes a village to raise a child” is truth. We need a way to develop leaders among ourselves and continue the process until victory is won or until we are able to police our own communities. It’s a long shot, but we must begin somewhere, and We Will Chicago looks like a good start.

Source: 2016-2020 ACS 5-Year Estimates, 2020 U.S. Census, CMAP

Most Chicago community areas have a non-white majority.

A vacant property serves no one, Jirasek said. It doesn’t pro vide tax dollars and it doesn’t build individual wealth. The Department of Housing (DOH) will release its vacant lot plan this fall, she said.

The City of Chicago owned an estimated 10,000 vacant lots as of early 2022, with another 20,000 lots controlled by ab sentee property owners, financial institutions and other enti ties who lacked a comprehensive redevelopment strategy, according to the draft We Will plan. Many West Side vacant lots date to the 1968 riots, sparked in part by the assassina tion of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

NON-WHITE POPULATION BY COMMUNITY AREA 2016–20

Harms to Chicagoans were both deliberate, and unintentional, due to market forces, according to the plan. Holmes recalled how Roseland used to have a Jewel, a Sears, and two movie theaters. “You didn’t have to go to 63rd Street to shop.”

Roseland’s vacancies stemmed from the loss of jobs after nearby steel mills closed, Jirasek responded. Segregation was also a factor.

SENIOR (65+) POPULATION BY COMMUNITY AREA 2016–20

13% of the City's population is 65 years or older. 10 – 15%40 – 70% 5 – 10%

Under 40% 15 – 20%70 – 90% Over 10%90 – 95%

Englewood artist Tonika Lewis Johnson says 80 percent of the vacant lots there stem from contract sales (StreetWise Oct. 26-Nov. 1, 2020, Vol. 28, No. 41). Contract sales con ferred no equity on the buyer until the house was fully paid. Until then, the buyer could be evicted with minimal repercus sions. If the same 80 percent of Englewood homes had been purchased with conventional mortgages, “instead of 25 per cent ownership, we’d probably have 80 percent ownership,” Lewis Johnson said during a Chicago Bungalow Association webinar.

Over 95%

Source: Chicago Health Atlas, City of Chicago

“The point of this document is culture change,” she said. “Things like INVEST South/West are happening under Mayor [Lori] Lightfoot, but no matter who wins in the next election, it’s built into the system’s DNA.” As the DPD involved people in We Will Chicago drafting, community engagement became more and more valued, to the point where it was elevated to the 8th pillar of the plan.

Source: Chicago Health Atlas, City of Chicago

“Equity” is one of We Will’s two principles, along with “Re siliency:” the ability to bounce back from obstacles, such as the pandemic.

However, 9 out of 10 Black families who bought homes dur ing the 1950s and ‘60s resorted to contract sales, accord ing to the We Will draft plan. They had to use this predatory lending practice because financial institutions “redlined” their neighborhoods: they deemed them too risky for conventional loans.

Vacant lots, redlining and contract sales, dilapidated and de molished public housing, housing covenants, federal high way construction that contributed to the postwar exodus of white families and businesses to the suburbs, and even the 2013 closures of nearly 50 schools — We Will Chicago acknowledges all of them as “historic harms.” It is the first planning process to do so. The intention is “to contribute to a larger process of healing and reconciliation among Chica goans and serve as an outline of some areas the City of Chi cago commits to improving.”

The push for transparency began during COVID, when peo ple became accustomed to data availability. City employees saw they could create “an equity dashboard” on the progres sion of all 8 Pillars over the 10-year life of the plan.

In seeking transparency, the plan has set a standard for pub lic decision-making, she said. Community inclusion in devel opment planning will mean more equitability. The plan will inform land use and zoning decisions, and it will align all city departments – DPD, DOH, Chicago Department of Trans portation, and more – across annual budgets, major proj ects, and policies.

Elements of the plan are interconnected and cannot be pulled apart, Jirasek said.

The Economic Development pillar, for example, seeks “a more prosperous and equitable economy for all Chicago residents and workers.” One goal is building generational wealth and supporting business growth throughout the city,

Chicago's

City's

gender, age, ability and

I have seen lots of rundown homes on the South and West they can afford. I’d love to see homes that people can live in with dignity, in neighborhoods that have well-funded schools and where children can play – Chevon | East Lakeview

VENDOR KIANNA DRUMMOND

Just wondering how the We Will Chicago program will improve Chicagoans’ lives, since the public comments period is open into the fall.

The City of Chicago owns more than 10,000 vacant lots.

CITY-OWNED VACANT LAND as of May 2022

City-owned vacant land

Source: City of Chicago, ESRI, HERE, Garmin, SafeGraph, METI/NASA, USGS, EPA, NPS, USDA

Nearly half of Chicago's community areas lost population in the previous decade.

NEIGHBORHOODS WITH THE MOST POPULATION CHANGE

2010–20, Chicago

NEIGHBORHOOD POPULATION CHANGE

especially in businesses owned by Blacks and Latinos. Eliminating racial income gaps could boost the regional economy by $136 billion annually.

Englewood -20.50%

POPULATION CHANGE BY COMMUNITY AREA 2010–20, Chicago

Having been homeless, I think we need more shelters for low-income – or outof-work—people. I think that there is more help in the suburbs than right here, where we need it. We have to reach out to help get the people from under the viaducts and sleeping on the sidewalks and bus stops.

-21

-10

Programs say they are for the people, so I would just love to see an outcome on improving Chicagoans’ lives. We need it. I have been there, out on the streets homeless, to the point where I lost my daughter from having nowhere to go. If Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the program will be in place for 10 years, we will be counting. The year 2032 should see an outcome of the We Will Chicago plan.

Source: City of Chicago, CMAP

West Englewood -16.50% Burnside -13.34% Roseland -13.01%

As it stands, however, Chicago added 170,000 jobs between 2011 and 2019, but minorities have not shared the gains. Black unemployment is four times higher than whites’ and Latino joblessness is twice as high, ac cording to 2020 Census data.

Oakland +14.89%

Near West Side +23.69%

Near North Side +31.06%

Hence, the Economic Development pillar calls for “equitable and inclusive workforce development to build resilient economic clusters.” Simultane ously, among the five goals in the Lifelong Learning pillar is the creation of new educational pathways into the workforce for Blacks, Latinos and people negatively impacted by the criminal-legal system.

Near South Side +34.62% The Loop +44.45%

The Housing & Neighborhoods Pillar, meanwhile, is focused on every Chi cago neighborhood being safe, with affordable housing and connections to what residents need to thrive. Gentrification is a concern, especially in historically marginalized areas. Besides maintaining affordable housing across all 77 Chicago community areas, this pillar would expand hous ing assistance for marginalized residents, especially those with very low income and/or disabilities.

77

This pillar also acknowledges that Chicago’s population has fallen by nearly one million people since 1950, and that 10,000 vacant lots in mostly Black communities undermine the necessary density to attract amenities. Its objectives are therefore to strengthen neighborhood developers (es pecially Black, Latino, Native American, Asian and immigrant), to prioritize the development of vacant buildings and to focus future growth around commercial corridors and transit hubs.

The Economic Development pillar could bring businesses to the Black community, but improvements to Transportation & Infrastructure would be

SUPPORTING DATA PAGE 8: Vendors Keith Hardiman, John Hagan, Kianna Drummond and Tommie Hannah meet with DPD, DOH. PAGE 10: Jamie Osborne of the DPD chats with Vendor John Hagan Jr. THIS PAGE: Above: Vendor V.W. meets with Gabriela Jirasek, assistant commissioner of community and digital engagement, Chicago Department of Planning and Development. Right, from right to left: DPD & DOH join our weekly writers group session. Vendor Lee A. Holmes with Gabriela Jirasek. Vendor Donald Brown meets with DPD city planner Joshua Son. Joann Nukes with Jirasek. PAGE 14: Vendor Keith Hardiman meets with Jirasek. All photos by Suzanne Hanney. All info graphics taken from the We Will Chicago Draft for Public Input.

Among all races,

MEDIAN HOUSEHOLD INCOME BY RACE

necessary to carry Black and Latino shoppers there, Ven dor A. Allen said. “In white neighborhoods, the buses come every 15 to 20 minutes, but you will be waiting all day for a bus on the South and West Sides. And Owl Service hours are ridiculous.”

Vendor John Hagan Jr., who lives with another vendor in Calumet City near the Indiana border, said he disagreed with policies that delayed extending the CTA Red Line to 130th Street until after construction of the Red-Purple by pass north of the CTA Red/Brown/Purple Line station at Belmont. Opened last year, the overhead bypass eliminated a bottleneck: a section of four flat tracks where Brown Line trains crossed over rails used by northbound and south bound Red and Purple Line trains.

However, Hagan said, “People in the south suburbs want to get to work faster and so do people working overnights.”

Hagan’s trip from the StreetWise offices at 2009 S. State St. to his Calumet City home can take two hours. He usually rides the CTA Red Line to 95th Street, then the Pace 353 bus to Sibley/Chicago. Coming into the city, he might take the CTA No. 30 South Chicago bus, get off at Ewing and 105th Street, and then connect to the CTA No. 26 South Shore Chicago. He might also spend an hour walking from home to pick up the South Shore Railroad in Hegewisch.

The Transportation & Infrastructure pillar seeks to create networks equally distributed throughout the city that sup port greater car-free connectivity: by public transit, walk ing, biking and other methods. It also seeks to balance the

economic benefits of better logistics with the environmental harms from automotive exhaust.

Transportation & Infrastructure relate to Economic Devel opment in two ways: households located near the city’s borders generally spend more of their incomes proportion ally on transportation, and entry-level jobs with the shortest commutes are primarily located downtown.

Vendor V.W. could see other correlations among the 8 Pil lars. V.W. sells StreetWise in Edgewater, near the site of a bank robbery two years ago. Although V.W. said she ranked Economic Development No. 1 in her talk with Jirasek, she discussed Public Safety afterward.

“You might want to enjoy arts late in the evening, but it would be more dangerous,” she said.

Mayor Lightfoot initiated We Will pre-planning in August 2020 with DPD, which convened other City departments and public agencies. The Metropolitan Planning Council, a non-profit civic group that provides planning assistance to communities and governments, then hosted a series of vir tual workshops (because of COVID) focused on the work of other cities.

Public outreach began in April 2021.

To foster community participation, individuals and groups were encouraged to apply for pillar research teams. Rough ly 500 applications were received for these stipend posi tions; 115 individuals and 25 organizations diverse in age,

VENDOR TOMMIE HANNAH

I believe that, in order to revive and improve quality of life in Chicago, neighborhood livability MUST be prioritized. The We Will Chicago pillar of Economic Development comes first, but the pillar of Public Safety – or the lack thereof – determines success or failure.

The city can hold townhall meetings to ask communities what businesses they would like to see there. The city can give opportunities to a handyman who worked on cars for 30 years but who never had his own shop, for example.

Simultaneously, development and safety have to go hand in hand. How can you convince business owners to come to a neighborhood or expand there if you can’t convince them it’s safe to do so?

When people talk about public safety, they often mean “eliminating gangs,” but what they fail to acknowledge is what brought gangs into existence in the first place: a psychological sense of belonging.

For people who are descended from enslaved people, gangs give them an identity, a sense of purpose, a defi nite role.

The only way for gangs to be eliminated is for them to die off, to be unable to recruit the same numbers. We need to expand community-based youth projects and mentor ships, city-sponsored activities that promote families. Some kids feel they get more love, attention and recog nition from gangs than from their own families. We don’t have the nuclear families of the 1950s: mom, dad and kids. Instead, we have single moms and step-parents, which breeds resentment on both sides.

Just like a corporation does team-building exercises so they can work cohesively together, we need to do citysponsored activities in the neighborhoods to promote fellowship. –as told to Suzanne Hanney

Homelessness has recently decreased but still impacts more than 58,000

race, geography, education and more, were selected. In addition to these research teams, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) and more than two dozen artists conducted 80 virtual and in-person events with more than 1,400 people across the city.

In June, Civic Engagement was added as the 8th Pillar and DPD took We Will on the road. City workers clad in We Will T-shirts manned booths at festivals ranging from Taste of Polonia to the 79th Street Renaissance Festival, Pilsen Fest, Maxwell Street and Sundays on State. They connect ed with StreetWise at the latter, where we had a booth for GiveAShi*t.

DPD was eager to talk to StreetWise vendors, Jirasek said, because it was an opportunity to fill in the structure provid ed by the leaders. The plan is open for public response until November 1, after which DPD will refine it and introduce it to the Chicago Plan Commission early in 2023.

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Last week's Puzzle Answers

Crossword

Across 1 Taro root 5 Absorbs, with “up”

9 Iraqi city 14 Discomfit 15 Samoan cash 16 Ordinary 17 Chick warmer 19 Durable fabric 20 Rubicon crosser 21 Floppy 23 Drops on blades 25 Mark of perfection 26 Angler’s basket

30 Black ink item 33 Educ. group 36 Robust 37 Ranch, maybe 39 Pocketbook 40 Support person 41 Shamu, for one 42 Fabricated 44 Sag 45 Juicer 46 High point 47 Surrealist Max 48 Court do-over 49 Weep 51 Computer list 56 Mess up 61 Circumvent 62 Looking to get

67 Breezing through 68 List abbr. 69 Bohemian

Down 1 “Beowulf,” for one 2 Comedian Carvey 3 Backgammon equipment 4 Cross to bear 5 It may be fixed 6 Cheerios grain 7 Trudge

12 Diatribe 13 Lily family member 18 How Junior behaved 22 Have the helm 24 Maori “woman” 26 ___ salad 27 Sine or cosine 28 Expel 29 Modify 31 Bubbly drinks 32 Refines, as ore 33 Evita, for one 34 Fiesta fare 35 Show

43 Shipping hazard

44 Introduction 48 Weighed down

50 Bay window 51 God in Vedic mythology 52 With, in Paris 53 2004 Queen Latifah movie 54 Hotel convenience 55 Give off, as light 57 Isinglass 58 Decant

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StreetWise exists to elevate marginal ized voices and provide opportuni ties for individuals to earn an income and gain employ ment. Anyone who wants to work has the opportunity to move themselves out of crisis. StreetWise provides “a hand up, not a handout.”

All vendors go through an orientation focusing on their rights and responsibilities as a StreetWise Magazine Vendor. Authorized vendors have badges with their name, picture and current year.

Vendors purchase the magazine for $1.15 and sell it for $3 plus tips. The vendor keeps all of their earnings.

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When you buy the magazine, take the magazine, and read the magazine, you are supporting our microentrepreneurs earning an income with dignity.

New vendor orientation is every Tuesday and Thursday at 10:00 a.m. at 2009 S. State St. Find your nearest vendor at www.streetwise.org

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