Residents of a mostly Latino neighborhood in Chicago, Hermosa, want white people to move in so the city takes better care of the neighborhood and a large park in the area, Kelvyn Park. Unfortunately, these residents feel this is the only way to get city officials to notice the area.
A Reddit user posted the above photo they found while visiting the park recently. From the looks of it, someone believes gentrification could be the answer to the upkeep problem.
“With the direction of gentrification toward that area, they’ll get their wish soon,” one person wrote in the comments section on the site.
Kelvyn Park sits on 8.5 acres and includes a field house, with a fitness center, auditorium, meeting rooms and a small kitchen. It also includes tennis courts, baseball and soccer fields but is currently in disarray. Kelvyn was among the original parks of the Northwest Park District, one of 22 park commissions consolidated into the Chicago Park District in 1934. Established in 1911, the Northwest Park District aimed to provide one park for each of the ten square miles within its growing middle class jurisdiction, but it seems to have lost a considerable amount of attention over the years.
Across the nation, even across the city of Chicago, it seems pretty obvious city government doesn’t make neighborhoods a priority until there’s an overwhelming number of white residents in pursuit. Is gentrification truly the answer to rebuilding tough areas? Or should community leaders have more of a responsibility in maintaining these areas?
