Chicagoist: Sampling Little Village, Chicagoist-Style

guest

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:41:25 -0600

I don't think Little Village will gentrify for a long time if ever. Pilsen due to its proximity to downtown probably will gentrify but with pressure to keep its Mexican population intact. I agree El Milagro does make good tortillas!

guest

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 04:17:39 -0600

If you ask the Mexican community, they will tell you El Nopal Bakery has the best bread and cakes in Little Village and Pilsen.

matty

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 21:54:57 -0600

artists are the whiniest asses ever. i will always take the side of a landlord or patron over an "artist" any day. persecution complexes and all that.

woodlawnchuck

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 19:28:15 -0600

Chuckles? Come on WTF! I'm very familiar with the neighborhood as I do have some friends in the area. I agree that the Pods did do a lot to rejuvenate the area, but for Christ's sake, you cannot say that the area is thriving at the hands of the tenants in the Pod buildings. The Pods, actually John III, jacked up the rents on the people who came down and helped the father - actually an okay guy - build a community. I am with you on the teardowns. The area has some of the best architecture in the city - and if the powers that be allow it to come down, shame on them. University Village is an abomination. I agree with you. Bridgeport is somewhere in between. A lot of the buildings that have come down were falling down. I don't think Pilsen will suffer the same fate (gasp) in part because of what John II did, which was to preserve. I agree with you there. But I am not too hot on making all of the buildings - I speak of the gray/black on the street level, along with the blue and orange addresses - look the same. It is my opinion that the son has undone a lot of the good that his father did. I stand by that. And no, I am not in any way affiliated with the Lumpens. I do go to some of their events - they're entertaining and they have some good ideas - but I'm not a card-carrying member. I also don't approve of the attitudes of a lot of the citizens who claimed the neighborhood in the 1960s. It's racism and it shouldn't be tolerated.

WTF

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 17:25:47 -0600

"WTF -- I am talking about the Lumpens - google prinipality of podmajersky as they won't let me post the link. They picked up and left after revealing what kind of slimeballs they are. That space on Halsted is live-work - you can use it for whatever you want. So you don't want to open a store? You can live there and its zoned as such. No matter what way you slice it, it's empty because of him. Of their 300 properties, 50 percent of it is vacant. That area is a ghost town because of all the vacancies. Do yourself a favor sometime and drive around the area both on and off the busy streets - look for all the little Denver Broncos address tags. Those are all Pods. And those fuckers are at least 50 % vacant. Go do it before I make your moniker W(hat) T(he) F(ool)!!! Instead of what the fuck you shipdit." Chuckles: I happen to live in that neighborhood, and have been hanging around in one manner or another since 1975, so stop acting like an a$$hole. I've been to the pod properties many times, as well as the galleries, and the place is nowhere near as dead as you make it out to be. That website you referred to is completely retarded, as are the immature idiots who put it together, and if those are your friends, you have my sympathy. You should also know that that stuff is pretty dated (obviously Lord of the Rings-inspired), so you may want to come down to the neighborhood sometime and check things out for yourself. In the meantime, you can take comfort in the fact that the Pods, as you call them, have been blamed for just about everything that has happended in Pilsen for the last thirty years. I don't necessarily agree with their business model, but they at least preserve the exteriors of those buildings in some semblance of historic accuracy, and at the end of the day, have done more than anyone else in that neighborhood to preserve its charm. All you have to do is drive south to Bridgeport to see a neighborhood raped by cheesy over-attention, or look at some historic pictures of Maxwell Street to see a neighborhood raped by sleazy neglect. Pilsen avoided both fates largely because of Podmajerskey's efforts. The true threat to Pilsen today is in the form of the teardown, and the Podmajerskeys have nothing to do with that.

Chuck

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 15:08:46 -0600

"... if Little Village gentrifies you can bet Chicagoist will be down there reviewing the new trendy restaurants, talking about how cool they are and what an authentic urban experience they provide." When that time comes, You Hate It Now ... but, I'd like you to be the first reader to link to this post and show that sometimes we can have it both ways here at Chicagoist. Capice?

navin

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 14:45:51 -0600

re: michelle, Yeah, a demolition crew working on a building next door managed to accidentaly destroy unique's back wall causing the roof to cave in (while people were inside!) and they decided not to re-open. I actually called unique to try to find out what the deal was because I got so lucky at that store every time I went. The bridgeport one is nice but that Kedzie location was the serious funk. I don't think you can post links in here anymore but if you google "unique thrift roof kedzie" you'll see some news articles and pictures even.

JAH

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 14:21:55 -0600

Ahhh. I was wondering when this thread was going to collapse into pointless debate that has nothing to do with the original post, spurred on by people who "hate" Chicagoist, yet are strangely compelled to comment on every post. Thanks You Hate it Now...but

michelle

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 14:18:48 -0600

re: navin Is that what happened to it? I go to the halsted one now (btw by an awesome asian version of The Egg Store), but I figured the kedzie one just shut down for other reasons.

You Hate it Now...but

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 14:05:58 -0600

Well, if Little Village gentrifies you can bet Chicagoist will be down there reviewing the new trendy restaurants, talking about how cool they are and what an authentic urban experience they provide. This of course will be after a few posts where the evils of condos being built are lamented, not realizing that these restaurants would not even be in existence if not for more people moving there. Maybe anti-gentrifiers just hate to see construction workers employed.

woodlawnchuck

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 13:36:43 -0600

WTF -- I am talking about the Lumpens - google prinipality of podmajersky as they won't let me post the link. They picked up and left after revealing what kind of slimeballs they are. That space on Halsted is live-work - you can use it for whatever you want. So you don't want to open a store? You can live there and its zoned as such. No matter what way you slice it, it's empty because of him. Of their 300 properties, 50 percent of it is vacant. That area is a ghost town because of all the vacancies. Do yourself a favor sometime and drive around the area both on and off the busy streets - look for all the little Denver Broncos address tags. Those are all Pods. And those fuckers are at least 50 % vacant. Go do it before I make your moniker W(hat) T(he) F(ool)!!! Instead of what the fuck you shipdit.

navin

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 12:52:06 -0600

as a youngster I would pass the Apollo on the way to Village City Discount and Unique That "Unique" was my favorite Chicago thrift store a little hidden gem until the roof fell in.

Sheesh

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 12:41:40 -0600

Does everything have to go back to gentrification??? Little Village is a good time....but you forgot to mention El Milagro for fresh tortillas and great burritos!

WTF

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 12:38:57 -0600

"I disagree with you on Pilsen. The Podmajersky's did start to gentrify that area. But since the artists had a revolt, it's about 60% vacant." What artist's revolt are you talking about? And 60% vacant? Get serious. Maybe you talking about the storefronts that used to be galeries? He stopped doing that when it became obvious that there was no demand for commercial space on Halsted. And as far as gentrifying the area, the only attempt I am aware of was his ill-fated attempt to convert the Schoenhoffen Brewery into an artist's market and studio space. This happened way back in the 80's and it didn't go forward because some of the locals thought it would bring too many white people into their neighborhood. It was a great idea then and it still is a great idea today, but since it is part of the Pilsen PMD, it won't be happening any time soon.

woodlawnchuck

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 12:07:31 -0600

Chuck, I disagree with you on Pilsen. The Podmajersky's did start to gentrify that area. But since the artists had a revolt, it's about 60% vacant. And, why is that area of Pilsen a surprise to you for gentrifying? It's next to the university, for all practical purposes. It would be more of a surprise if it were gentrifying to the west, I think. To the best of my knowledge, I haven't done anything wrong to anyone in Little Village. Then again, I'm one of those freckly people that everyone seems to think has money.

WTF

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 12:03:37 -0600

"woodlawnchuck: Pilsen is gentrifying, just not in the areas one would expect. Take a gander along Halsted, from 16th to 22nd, on 16th and 18th west of of Halsted to around Morgan, maybe. A lot of it has been spearheaded by the Podmajersky group, with their "we support artists" facade. There's been rampant condo development happening for years." Podmajerskey's "facade", (which is not a facade, by the way) has been going on since the mid-70's and has absolutely nothing to do with the current wave of condo development. He rents studio spaces to artists. He does not tear down buildings to build condominiums, and the "rampant condo development" that has been happening for years" has, in reality, been happening for a grand total of six, with most of it happening in the last three. As things stand today, Podmajerskey is probably the biggest impediment to gentrification along the Halsted corridor.

michelle

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 11:19:22 -0600

as a youngster I would pass the Apollo on the way to Village City Discount and Unique and thought it was the Apollo theater of Jackson 5/ Night at the Apollo fame.

Chuck

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 11:09:04 -0600

woodlawnchuck: Pilsen is gentrifying, just not in the areas one would expect. Take a gander along Halsted, from 16th to 22nd, on 16th and 18th west of of Halsted to around Morgan, maybe. A lot of it has been spearheaded by the Podmajersky group, with their "we support artists" facade. There's been rampant condo development happening for years. If you're getting sideways glances, you're probably doing something to garner them (and might not know it). The folks in La Villita are among some of the friendliest I've ever encountered, and I had no hassles taking pictures and asking questions the other day.

matty

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 10:56:50 -0600

Would you like an ID with your frijoles?

curmudgeon

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 10:55:38 -0600

You forgot to mention the ease with which you can obtain phony ID's.

woodlawnchuck

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 10:48:59 -0600

As I understand it, some people are afraid Little Village is going to gentrify. If Pilsen can't, how could Little Village? That's why I don't understand the sideways glances people get when they visit. There's a lot of neat little restaurants over there, but you really have to know where you're going beforehand. Those places come and go so quickly that it's easy to go into the wrong one and get a bad meal. Catedral is a neat little place and BonBom's reputation speaks for itself. That Apolo building is a sight to behold. Could it be the next Congress Theater?

Gary

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 09:50:30 -0600

Great Major League reference, Chuck.