Too late, I just did!

Albany Park's New Library Controversy! [Revised]

Albany Park is set to get a new library in two years time, despite lacking the funds to be fully operational. This irony is courtesy of Chicago's TIF funds reports Deanna Isaacs at the Chicago Reader. So think "hooray!" and then "booooo...."

(Don't worry, I am conflicted too.)

Besides the issue of funds, Isaacs points out the community wasn't consulted when it came time to constructing the new facility, as made evident by an initial 200 signature petition "demanding information and public input" and a secondary 700-person petition demanding full uninterrupted service.

The public library branch located on Foster and Kimball is in Laurino's ward. She's probably happy to have yet another new public project in her ward, but what's this about asking the constituents what they want?

Here is just one of a couple EveryBlock threads discussing the library closing. In it, Albany Park resident Jessland explicitly mentions a lack of communication:

"Since our aldermen are a little lacking in communicating anything..."
 

#AlbanyPark #Library #Chicago Will Close for 2 Years -> SEPTEMBER 1st <-Ald. Laurino Says "NO" To A Temporary Library!lockerz.com/s/234742146
— destinyizel (@DestinyIzel25) August 15, 2012

Save Albany Park Library demo 7/9/12 twitter.com/dougiepen/stat…
— Douglas Pensack (@dougiepen) July 9, 2012

Hot Cheetos and Takis...

...is making me want to eat some Takis. 

If you haven't seen it yet, check out this five-minute rap song by Y.N.RichKids, a mini hip hop collective inside Beats And Rhymes, that after-school program at a YMCA in Minneapolis. 

I can't help but think a similar initiative would do really well here in Albany Park, or Chicago in general. (What you say, APCC?)

"Porches" 

by Erica Elan Nelson

The Death of Windy Citizen (and, I am the "citizen journalist" success you've been looking for)

I know, I know, I am months late.

The Windy Citizen shut down in June 18, and it is now what... August?

 This post will be worthless to some of you, as "the Windy Citizen" means nothing. But to Chicagoland techies, newsies, journalists, bloggers, media-types and aspiring media-types? The Windy Citizen was one of the hottest places to be on the Web (well, from 2009 - 2011ish). The Windy Citizen was the center of Chicago's (small) tech start-up scene, too.

Maybe I am exaggerating about how cool the Windy Citizen was, because maybe my nostalgia glasses are rosier than I am aware of.  I owe a good portion of my current successful writing career to the Windy Citizen, though, that is a fact and no exaggeration.

Twitter, Tumblr, and Chicago's subreddit were no where near as active as they are now (as Flora noted in his closing post), and EveryBlock was just an automated data site back then. When ChicagoNow launched, editors and journalists sounded off on what this meant for Chicago news and the future of journalism.

Remember all of Geoff Dougherty's flops, from Chicago Current, to Chi-Town Daily News (which posted in April 2012)!? Chicago's media types mocked and scoffed in comment threads, with media kerfuffles drawing the liveliest debates on the social news sharing site.   

WBEZ tried out a lunch time talk show in part because of how popular Windy Citizen was around lunch time. (It didn't work out.)

Anna Tarkov made a name for herself with her Daily Daley blog (as CBS dutifully pointed out)... and so did I with my Albany Park Post blog.

At its height, the Albany Park Post blog on Windy Citizen had "guest reporters" from Medill, Northwestern's Graduate School of Journalism (you can read one of those posts here).

CBS once sent a reporter to this side of the river because of the posts I did on Bodyworxs, that gym which took 3 years to build... (The owner was charging people monthly gym fees despite no place to work out or any construction?! He stole the logo and name from a vitamin and health supplement web store!?)

Aldermen Mell once came up to me at a police event, to let me know he enjoyed my APP post about him. I would complain about street lamps or some other problem, and within days, it would be fixed. A blog commenter, responding to my astonishment, called it "the squeaky wheel" treatment.

An artist included my post about her exhibit on her resume! Urbanophile mentioned the APP in a blog post! Curbed Chicago cited, or linked to me occasionally! 

I still know some of my neighborhood leaders by name, and they still know me. I got to ask Rahm Emanuel a single question during his mayoral race in 2011. I used to talk about his looks on the WC with Samantha Abernethy, and the Huffington Post (and then Gawker, seperate story!) ran a photo of our experience under the title "Why Ladies Love Rahm."

My success at the Albany Park Post helped me in part get jobs at other web publications, and I even worked at various Patches in the north suburbs of Chicago. I've spoken at both University of Chicago and North Park about hyperlocal blogging and the Albany Park Post.

All these things I did without a degree in Journalism. I just went out there into the street, and reported on neighborhood issues. I tried to be a good neighbor, and attend clean-ups, community meetups, and festivals.  The whole thing was a learning experience, and I had a shit ton of fun doing it.

...

I didn't hear of the Windy Citizen closing announcement until weeks later, and by then it was too late. (I blame the AV Club announcement, stealing all the thunder, but in reality, I had abandoned the site once I got a salaried full-time job at a start-up.) My posts on the Albany Park Post, over a roughly two year period, are all gone.

Thank goodness for Google cache, saving at least a choice few (and my best) posts.

 While I can replicate the success of the Albany Park Post again, (I now work freelance and have more time for things I enjoy), what I cannot  recreate is that "virtual newsroom"...

Where do I go now to read Frank Sennett's pompous opinions or Mike Doyle's bitching about Chicago Now? Where can I read Chuck Sudo and Andrew Huff's online debate about whatever random topic? What does WBEZ hiring Marcus Gilmer as a blogger means for the radio station?

I miss hanging out with all those people, digitally.

There is no message board for Chicagoland journalists or media professionals any more. 

Apologies, and EveryBlock

(I had originally wanted to post this on the Windy Citizen, but like most things WC, it is broken. Or my posting rights have been revoked.)

Hello there whoever might be reading this...

Yeah. I know.

I haven't updated this blog in months.

I have two very good reasons for this. First, I got a full-time writing job. And second, I had my heart broken, by EveryBlock.

When I first moved this blog from blogspot to the Windy Citizen, I did it because I was excited by the potential of a group blogging project. I wanted people to become involved with their communities, and I saw the Internet as a great way to do that. The Windy Citizen seemed ideal at the time, as people from all over the city could post to the site.

I was excited by the potential of people sharing informative links, posting pictures of lost pets, or organizing community-oriented projects with concerned neighbors. Thus, the Albany Park Post, where any one who wanted to, could technically share stuff with their neighbors.

I even used to go to beat 1713 CAPS meetings and write up summaries for those unable to attend.

I used to have late night gchat sessions with Brad Flora about how it would be cool if Windy Citizen was in every city, just so community members could engage in hyperlocal blogging and conversation. Patch wasn't around yet either (and yes, I also wrote for Patch...)

EveryBlock at the time was an automated data site. I checked it occasionally, to see if someone had purchased or renewed a lease, but I didn't find it that useful for my purposes.

I met one of the EveryBlock founders at a hyperlocal blogging conference, and like any naïve girl overly enthusiastic about community service, I gushed about the possibilities of the Albany Park Post, and blogs like it.

The listening ear found it oh-so-fascinating, and admitted that was one of the problems with EveryBlock; there is more to communities than automated data – word of mouth, and neighborly conversations are equally important. This, I already knew.

A shortish time later, EveryBlock got a face-lift.

Actually, it was completely revamped. Now neighbors could connect with one another. They could post links to news. They could post about lost pets. About clean-ups. Crime. Garage sales. New businesses. CAPS meeting recaps.

It was everything I told the listening ear about what I wanted to do with the APP, that I was already doing with the APP. 

The color scheme of the site was even the same. 

I smiled a lot, but as I saw more and more of APP readers move over to EveryBlock, and post what they used to post on my site, I cried a little inside each time.

My heart grew heavy with jealousy and anger.

I would have been happy to have been hired. Even as a community manager. But no offer came.

And I get it. I am just some dumb young blonde hipster girl who doesn't know how to apply for funding, so fine, steal my idea. Take all the credit for building this beautiful platform that fosters neighborhood activism.

EveryBlock, with its MSNBC funding, is so pretty and intuitive and easy to use – all the things the Windy Citizen is not.

Ultimately, my rage has subsided, which is how I can write this blog post today, because, my goal with the APP was to get people more involved with their neighborhood through electronic means.

Everyone is always harping against technology digitally dividing us, but Obama proved in 2008 that it can also connect us. (Yeah, I once told Swedish Covenant's Well Magazine that he was my inspiration for the APP.)

So in the end, it doesn't really matter whose product got neighbors more involved with their community, just as long as it happened. Or so I tell myself, because that is the person I want to be.

I am still bitter over the whole thing... but my desire to be involved with my community, the oh-so-troubled neighborhood that is Albany Park, has returned.

I don't know if I will be using EveryBlock that much, as from what I've read over the past couple of months, people who use it are borderline racists and/or whiny complainers.

As for this blog, I will not be posting anything I used to post, because people can do that now on EveryBlock. I will instead be focusing on what the Tumblr “Fuck yeah Albany Park” called “thoughtful commentary” about the neighborhood.

And whatever else I see fit to print.

Moving on up?

The Albany Park Blog has officially moved over to the Windy Citizen. I will not be updating this blog any more. Hope to see you there!

The Albany Park blog has a new home!

(First off, I apologize for the lapse in posts, I have been away on vacation roaming through Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. )

This blog will be moving over to WindyCitizen.com in the next day or two. I am very excited, and hopefully I will get some help in covering this wonderfully diverse neighborhood!

swimming in Gompers Park

via like, totally

North River Commission meeting is tomorrow night

The NRC is having its bi-monthly meeting tomorrow night at the Harmony Healthcare and Rehab Center (3919 W Foster), starting at 7pm. The purpose of this meeting is to:

1)

Share your neighborhood’s top successes from the summer and hear updates on NRC’s 2009 Priorities and activities

2)

Come and help us identify and discuss trends and issues that are affecting our neighborhood as we begin setting priorities for 2010. What is your community’s biggest issue right now? We need your help to set strategic goals as we look toward next year!

3)

Welcome Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer as she gives us an update on programs at the County level. Ms. Gainer replaced Mike Quigley when he was elected Congressman of the 5^th District. We will also hear State and Federal level updates from Leah Pouw, Chief of Staff for 40^th District Representative Deborah Mell, and Kimberly Walz, District Director for 5^th District Congressman Mike Quigley.

4)

Harmony Healthcare, our host for this meeting, offers a range of services for all ages and abilities. Learn more about this resource in our community. Tours of the facility are available before the meeting at 6:30pm.

Iron Cycles has moved!

by camerainmyhand.com

Their new location is 3136 Montrose, off Kedzie and across the street from Basa Roja.

According to the owners, they moved because their prior location (2860 Montrose) was broken into 3 times. Matt (pictured right) says their new store has "a safer layout". The new store also has a lot more room, which they needed.

And here are the Yelp reviews (all stellar!) for Iron Cycles.

NBC Chicago is lazy...

NBC Chicago included Albany Park in their "Food for Olympic Thought" article, and they say Albany Park has the best Korean food. Korean? That's old news. That is Albany Park 5 + years ago. How many great middle-eastern restaurants are there in this neighborhood? What about Dawali's falafel?

The Kimball Station Condo Building and more on gentrification

I am sure you noticed this 5 floor condo building go up a couple months ago, located right across the street from the Kimball brown line station. The space used to be a warehouse, and still has that "warehouse-y" look with its stainless steel accents. An estimated 14 million went into that building, and it has 59 units (full) of 1, 2 or 3 bedroom apartments and includes an elevator (really needed?) and a heated parking garage (again, really needed? It's freaking across the street from the train station). The building is still looking for a commercial tenant on the ground floor. Before you start booing, read this: the building is not all condos any more. Liz Griffiths, of the Albany Park Chamber of Commerce, informed me of the growing "luxury rental trend" where condo buildings now rent out their units. Such is the case with the Kimball Station building.

(random fact: the H&R Block guys off Kedzie are the realtors for the Kimball Station building)

According to Griffiths, the majority of new residents moving to Albany Park are people displaced by the high cost of living in Lincoln Park, Lakeview and Andersonville. Albany Park is a cheaper alternative. The APCC works with over 60 landlords and owners to keep rent affordable, but unfortunately, some buildings can't maintain their low rental prices in this economy. Griffiths related this story about the building on Spaulding and Lawrence: the owner tried to do everything in her power to prevent the apartment from being flipped to condos. This included laying off her cleaning lady and cleaning the apartment building herself. This went on for a while until the owner eventually and reluctantly (?) sold the apartment units to her residents for a "deal" before flipping the property. She sold 8 units to her former tenants.

My super explained to me the other day that my building is completely full, something that hasn't happened in years. "It's a little sad to see", as all the new people that moved in are victims of foreclosures or the economy. "Great time to be in the rental business", he adds.

empty Huddle House

via karbon69

Weekend Events

Friday

Art in my Backyard has a new exhibition opening today, in a newly renovated storefront at 4201 N Elston Ave. The opening reception is tonight from 6 - 9pm. The exhibition is titled "Buy Land" and

explores the American landscape through painting, drawing and video, and features ten artists who live and work on the northwest side of Chicago. The show title "Buy Land" draws attention to the current real estate crisis and borrows from a Mark Twain quote: "Buy land. They're not making it anymore."

Artists include Lorna Fillippini, Pamela Gibson, Liz Gresey, Fletcher Hayes, Jennifer Hines, Michael Kolasinski, Chris Novak, Garrett Reese, Neil Shapiro, and Cyd Smillie."

via 39th Ward newsletter

The space is only open on the weekends (check website for hours) and the show runs until October 30th. Admission is free.

Chicago Calling at Brown Rice.

The Chicago Phonography collective, which participated in the MCA's “Here/Not There” performance series this summer, plays recordings from the Ragdale artists' retreat in Lake Forest as part of the Chicago Calling Arts Festival. For more information, visit chicagocalling.org.

from TimeOut Chicago

Visit the Brown Rice website to find out who the second set will be (includes video projections from 3 artists) .

When: 10- 11:30pm

Where: 4432 Kedzie

Free (suggested $5 donation)

Saturday

North Park University's annual Homecoming Block Party. Look for music, games, BBQ food, and booths by local organizations.

Where: Off Kedzie and Carmen (if it rains, HBP will take place in Hamming Hall)

When: 10:30am- 1:30pm

Free

Gomp-tober Fest Party in the Park! Featuring food, drink, live music, with an entrance fee of $5. Only for 21+

Where: Gomper's Park

When: 7:30pm- 10:30pm.

The Swimming Pool Project Space new exhibition "Badgerland" opens. The exhibition features various media produced by students visiting Prague.

Only for 21+ (free Grolsch beer)

Where: 2858 W Montrose

When: 6pm- 9pm

Free

Sunday

Albany Park's first mural will be complete and hung by Our Lady of Mercy. Go check it out!

(more info about the mural, including interviews, to come soon)