During the 1970s, as redevelopment swept north along Chicago’s affluent lake shore, many lower income people were pushed out of Uptown, which was one of the few remaining pockets of affordable housing for the poor. Activists organized residents to fight developers. The result was an eclectic mix of the old and the new, as shown in this photo. Ironically, resistance to economic forces simply delayed gentrification and subjected people to risks. Abandoned apartment buildings, like this one, often became magnets for drug dealing, crime, graffiti, the homeless and, in some cases, even arson. Please note: I have no evidence that any of those things were taking place at this particular address. My notes say that I took this shot from Kenmore looking west toward the El, just south of Ainslie. The tall building in the background is still there, but everything in the foreground has been replaced.
