Two Chicagos

In this post, I seek to compare my experiences living in Chicago in a South Side neighborhood (Hyde Park) vs. a North Shore neighborhood (Gold Coast).

The perspective is first-person and observational, but I have tried to supplement my experience with data where possible.

I moved to Chicago in September 2021, as the seasons were changing and a stifling 80 degrees turned to a brisk 50s. I was living in Hyde Park, a neighborhood much further south than the Lakeview or Lincoln Park neighborhoods where you will find more twenty-somethings. I had signed a one-year lease, thinking I would soon be starting a two-year Master of Public Policy program at the University of Chicago, before ultimately deciding to defer for a year.

Instead of walking one mile each day to the Harris building at the south of campus, I was holed up in my apartment working remotely for a tech company. I lived off of 53rd St, considered to be downtown Hyde Park, on a more residential street.

Further down 53rd St is Harper Court, a block of shops and restaurants where every unit feels new compared to the area surrounding it. There you will find a Sweetgreen and CorePower Yoga adjacent to Valois, the famous no-frills cafeteria restaurant once frequented by President Obama.

As I later discovered, Harper Court is partially owned by UChicago. It is the highlight of a major financial investment by the University to build up downtown and make it a more attractive place for young people to live. The Lululemon pop-up shop nearby, though derided by this student newspaper as a stand-in for gentrification, is actually a sign of progress as for years businesses did not want to open franchises in an area they viewed as poor.

Some of the newer buildings—like this luxury high-rise—stick out against the much older limestone common to the area:

These changes are a little jarring, but what struck me most about the area was how separate the University felt from the rest of the community. I had never been to campus before, and I had envisioned a college town where the downtown shops, restaurants, and bars bled into student life. 

Instead, I found the University to be isolated, and in some sense, fortressed. It felt confined to the streets between 57th and 63rd.

As Nate Silver reflects from his time as a student, for decades, the relationship between the University and community has been chilly. University administrators would tell his classmates not to go south of 63rd street out of fear for their safety. I heard the same recommendation from a tour guide on a recent campus visit.

On walks from my apartment, I was struck by how little was happening between the small downtown of 53rd St and the start of campus on 57th St. A modest off-campus bar, a park in need of restoration, some old apartment buildings. As I was not a student and new to the area, I did not find it the most exciting place to live. 

I live now in Gold Coast, close to a mile-long stretch of shops, restaurants, bars, and historic attractions on Wells St. The downtown area gives Old Town life. I think about what kind of change it would mean for Hyde Park if its downtown grew to be something similar.

The lived experiences of North and South are obviously very different. The Gold Coast neighborhood I live in now is whiter and wealthier than Hyde Park. It is more connected to the rest of the city in terms of public transportation. Most of Chicago’s Lakeshore attractions—Museum Campus, lakefront beaches, the Navy Pier—are easier to get to from here. 

You simply don’t get a view like this in Hyde Park:

I share all this to say, I don’t think UChicago or other public officials are wrong for trying to make Hyde Park a more attractive place for young people to live.

The motivations are obviously self-serving, and residents’ concerns about potentially being priced out of the area are real. 

But attracting new retail businesses and having more housing options are not inherently bad things. Otherwise, the trend of disinvestment in certain communities continues. As Natalie Y. Moore points out in her book The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation, this disinvestment can have some pretty bleak consequences:

I understand the skepticism towards ritzy signs of gentrification, but the aim of a community should be to increase income and racial diversity. Otherwise, racial groups will continue to live separate, unequal lives in a uniquely segregated city.

Source: David Leonhardt, NYT

When new housing units are added to an area—even market-rate ones—they help to decrease rents and displacement by increasing the overall supply of homes. If affordable housing options are added to the mix, they alleviate gentrification concerns.

To quote the National Low Income Housing Coalition: “Development without displacement is the key. Fighting against displacement rather than fighting against development should be the focus.”

There are smart ways we can build up neighborhoods to make Chicago a more integrated, vibrant city. Advocating for policies that ensure low-income people can continue living in their neighborhoods—and access the benefits of urban revitalization projects—is a much more productive use of our efforts than finger-wagging at any new building on the block.