Photos: Hundreds Blocked The 606 Trail To Protest Gentrification And Displacement

By Rachel Cromidas in News on May 18, 2016 3:44PM

Community activists march back to Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School walking past The 606 trail graffiti.

Safety marshals hold caution tape to separate the westbound and eastbound lanes on the 606 prior to the march, Tuesday, May 17, 2016 in Chicago.

Safety marshals hold caution tape to separate the westbound and eastbound lanes on The 606 prior to the march.

Safety marshals hold caution tape to separate the westbound and eastbound lanes on The 606 prior to the march.

Activists march eastbound on The 606 blocking the eastbound lane.

Activists march eastbound on The 606 blocking the eastbound lane.

Activists march eastbound on The 606 blocking the eastbound lane.

Activists march eastbound on The 606 blocking the eastbound lane.

After dropping a banner on The 606 for the traffic on Humboldt Drive, activists cheer and one shakes a tambourine every time a car drives by and honks its horn in support.

With the threat of displacement bearing down on longtime working-class residents of Chicago's gentrifying Northwest Side neighborhoods, hundreds of activists brought traffic on The 606 trail to a standstill Tuesday evening in protest.

The activists, lead by the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, used caution tape to block off a stretch of the elevated trail, re-routing eastbound joggers and cyclists. Our photographer Tyler LaRiviere watched the group, which included many parents and students from nearby Harriet Beecher Stowe Elementary School, drop banners calling for more affordable housing over North Kedzie Avenue and North Humboldt Drive. One woman carried a large sign that asked, "Now that the neighborhood is nice, why do I have to move?"

Affordable housing is becoming a more pressing issue for Logan Square, Humboldt Park and surrounding areas as rents, property values and property taxes soar—particularly around the tony Bloomingdale Trail, which was overhauled last year and re-opened as The 606.