The Battle of Lincoln Park: Urban Renewal and Gentrification in Chicago

by Daniel Kay Hertz

“A brief, cogent analysis of gentrification in Chicago … an incisive and useful narrative on the puzzle of urban development.”— Kirkus Reviews In the years after World War II, a movement began to bring the middle class back from the Chicago suburbs to the Lincoln Park neighborhood on the city’s North Side. In place of the old, poorly maintained apartments and dense streetscapes of taverns and butchers, “rehabbers” imagined a new kind of neighborhood—a renovated, modern community that held on to the convenience, diversity, and character of a historic urban quarter, but also enjoyed the prosperity and privileges of a new subdivision. But as the old buildings came down, cheap studios were combined to create ever more spacious, luxurious homes. Property values swiftly rose, and the people who were being evicted to make room for progress began to assert their own ideas about the future of Lincoln Park. Over the course of the 1960s, divisions within the community deepened. Letters and picket lines gave way to increasingly violent strikes and counterstrikes as each camp tried to settle the same existential questions that beguile so many cities Who is a neighborhood for? And who gets to decide? A riveting historical look at gentrification and urban renewal projects that still resonates across every American city today.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Urbanism, Sociology, Urban Studies, Urban Planning, Race

176 pages, Paperback

Published October 16, 2018

Reviews

[Taylor Glascock · Rating 4 out of 5]

should be required reading for anyone who calls chicago home

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

History written like a thesis. Knowing so well the process of turning beautiful and thriving community neighborhoods (most of 50 years or more densely working identity and integrity) into ghettos of disrepair and ugly burn outs within just a decade or less- I wanted to hear about how the other side kept their very small and artificially barriered enclave so desirable. And also cozy.

It's very dry and dense to particulars reading. Fulled with 1st world problems solved with 1st world money, interest, and influence.

[Gabe Dulecki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really well done. As a housing organizer on the north side, this book is so important in the work I’m doing. It’s really helpful for me to understand the history, so I can see where it is being repeated in the present. Little of this book shocked me, but it did help me gain a more pointed understanding of why LP is the way it is now.

[Sterling Hardaway · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Displacement and disinvestment are not two separate processes—they are two sides of the same coin.”

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

banger

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, but a great piece of work about how Chicago became the city it is today. As a resident of Lincoln Park and someone with a professional interest in the city's history, I'd long known the broad strokes of the story. Getting the whole sweep, beginning with Edgar Miller's artist colony in the 1930s and following through to the collapse of urban renewal in recriminations and violence (the murder of an inclusive Methodist minister and his wife deeply haunts me) is really well done.

[Ryan Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I realized after reading this book that after living in Chicago for over 10 years, I have no idea what divides Gold Coast from Lincoln Park and Lincoln Park from Lakeview in terms of geography, history, or reputation, and that I’ve always just kind of mentally lumped them together as Rich White Part of Town. I should have taken the time to do a driving tour while reading this, but it’s a pretty short book. Is the slum demolition on North Ave the area by Halsted that now has Crate and Barrel, Banana Republic, Apple Store, etc? So unfortunate that there really is seemingly no trace of the diverse, divided neighborhood Lincoln Park used to be.

I tried to read this book as a cautionary tale of what could happen to my neighborhood (Rogers Park) as it gentrifies, but the lesson seems to be that marginalized people cannot overcome market forces and maintain racially and economically integrated neighborhoods. Civility didn’t work. Confrontation didn’t work. Public housing didn’t work. Good intentions didn’t work. Profoundly depressing.

[Kendra Geisbrecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mandatory read alert!!!!! I learned so much about my neighborhood, Chicago, and the process of gentrification throughout this read. It’s incredibly frustrating to see the committee/residents claim they want a “diverse” area, yet their actions completely rebuke that sentiment. I found a lot of parallels between this behavior and our current news cycle/daily politics. Gentrification is obviously a current pressing issue in many cities, but this type of unjust action is prevalent across every systemic issue of today.

[Anabel Nosek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know why I was surprised to see how RACIST the history of Chicago is, especially on the north side. There were several points when I became actually enraged at the quotes I was reading from the people involved in the gentrification efforts.

Only lost a star for me bc it was the kind of read you really have to be LOCKED IN for. I’m not sure if it was the writing style or what but I could really only fully comprehend it in a completely distraction-free environment. Maybe that’s just me though lollll

[Barry Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anybody interested in how neighborhoods and communities were impacted by urban renewal projects in the 1960s? This is a fascinating book that outlines how the Old Town and Lincoln Park communities in Chicago were shaped by residents and government policies. It turns a spotlight on the means by which informal segregation policies were enforced in Chicago during this period, but the effects live on today. Chicagoans at a minimum should read this.

[Hugo Quintana · Rating 5 out of 5]

lincoln park will always be evil.....

im heartbroken for the thousands of lincoln park "what-ifs" that couldv'e happened if it weren't for classism and racism that plagues this beautiful city. if you live in chicago it should be a must read

ALSO ENTERING BACK INTO MY READING ERA

[Mari · Rating 4 out of 5]

learned so much! lots to think about

[Otto Anson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating! Highly recommend

[Stuart Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone interested in Chicago history or urban development in general will want to read this even-handed account of how a relatively shabby, working class Chicago neighborhood in the 1940s transformed into one of the wealthiest areas of the city by the 1970s. It's a complex tale of race, class, politics, good intentions and even murder. And history is repeating itself today as the neighborhoods of Pilsen and Logan Square face the same issues with the same lack of solutions. To be continued...

[Alan Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written history of the gentrification of Lincoln Park, ranging from the early post-WWII efforts by Bohemian artists, through the pitched battles between the Poor People's Campaign (spearheaded by the Young Lords Organization, lead by Cha Cha Jimenez), the do gooder rehabers (who wanted to keep Lincoln Park "diverse," but also wanted to drive out poor people), and well financed developers (who wanted to replace existing low density housing with high rises for the wealthy). For a relatively short (166 pages) history of a really complex series of events, Daniel Kay Hertz does a fine job of describing events at a level of detail which allows the reader to understand the sequence of events, without burying the narrative in details.

My only disagreement with Hertz (and the reason I didn't award fie stars), is that he gives too much credit to "market forces" and not enough to raw political power. He carefully draws a distinction between public redevelopment (classic urban renewal) and private actions, noting that one of the weaknesses of the resistance was underestimating the power of the private market forces. However, his own narrative establishes that those "private" market forces depended in large part on government activity: in the early days, the massive demolition of poor people's housing on the borders of Lincoln Park (Cabrini Green and Sandberg Village), followed by code enforcement by the City, designation of the area as a "conservation area." Even without any direct government acquisition or demolition of property in Lincoln Park, each of these actions assured private landowners (and speculators) comfort that the government was going to support them, and was not going to disinvest in Lincoln Park as it did (for example) in Englewood.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in Chicago history, and particularly for anyone fighting the forces of gentrification.

[Gabriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting book about how Lincoln Park a now well
to do neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side was shaped by Urban renewal and conservation practices. The author speaks at length about the loses the neighborhood felt in terms of the long term residents - but fails to ask the but for question. But for the involvement of the conservation efforts of these new middle class neighbors- which was at times heavy handed- would the neighborhood have seen the same type of growth.

Much of the City had already been redlined - as the development trend of the day thought that urban neighborhoods were dying and that all roads led to the suburbs.

The stance taken by the author is in conflict with one of my favorite books about Urban Renewal “At home in the Loop”. By Loise Willie. In that text she explains how a City in transition invested in the South loop to sure you the prospects of the downtown business community and spawned lots of new investments once they saw that the neighborhood of middle class people near the loop was possible.

White flight was very real in Chicago and gutted many middle class neighborhoods- and while many find fault with the well to do enclaves of Old town and Lincoln park - I think they spawned additional private development that continues in neighborhoods like Logan Square that without this initial suring up of- would not have been possible.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-written book that explores the history of Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood. Examined how gentrification occurred in this space in Chicago. The author nailed it. I didn’t give it full stars because there aren’t citations of any sort. As a historian-educator, archives-user, I really enjoy learning where an author located his facts and being able to see (if I choose to take that step and check out those primary sources) how they led to his/her opinion and argument. The annotation of key sources is nice and the online bibliography is also nice. I would just have liked to be able to connect these to specific examples in the book with ease. Others might not give this omission a second thought. Overall a worthy read!

[Megan Augustiny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Turns out middle class white folks have been “renovating” buildings in working class neighborhoods as a means of covertly gentrifying these communities for longer than I’d thought! And Lincoln Park/Old Town was the mid-century epicenter for these kinds of shenanigans! What a fascinating and infuriating read.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is for readers who know more about Lincoln Park or have connection to it. This book is not for folks who are new to the neighborhood or don't know much about the neighborhood. The book reads like a historical thesis. It started strong but it was a little repetitive towards the end.

[Rj · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve followed Daniel on twitter for years, and thus I’ve been eagerly anticipating his book on Lincoln Park. It did not disappoint. Gentrification is an underlying source of conflict for many of us who have come to gentrified neighborhoods. Even if you aren’t consciously aware of it, there are likely forces beyond your control that have driven you to a certain neighborhood.

The story of Lincoln Park carries concepts that can help understand nationwide gentrification trends over the mid to late 20th century. It also extends to current day gentrification, and one can clearly see history rhyming when it comes to policy and racial divides.

Hertz does a great job of explaining the changes in Lincoln Park / Old Town in a concise but comprehensive style. The book is fairly balanced, acknowledging the complexity of the competing interest groups as well as the motivations behind their respective actions. One can also see how many of the great aspects of city living have been destroyed by the suburbanization of places like LP and general de-densifying throughout Chicago.

Hertz interestingly concludes that concentrated investment in gentrified areas leads to disinvestment elsewhere. This is hard to argue against. Unfortunately, current trends throughout Chicago suggest that there is a high probability that this dynamic will continue.

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Today, many commentators associate population decline with poverty, and population growth with gentrification. But this book suggests otherwise.
In particular, the author focuses on Lincoln Park, an affluent neighborhood on the north side of Chicago. In 1950, this was another of the city’s many white working-class neighborhoods. But in the 1950s and 1960s, middle-class people started renovating homes, and eventually made it one of the city’s richer areas. However, Lincoln Park’s gentrification actually reduced the neighborhood’s population, from 102,000 in 1950 to 67,000 today. These declines were driven partially by smaller household sizes, but Lincoln Park also lost housing stock; Lincoln Park had almost 3000 fewer houses in 2016 than 1950.
How did this happen? First, gentrifiers bought up small apartment buildings and turned them into single-family houses, thus reducing the number of occupants. Second, gentrifiers urged the city to strictly enforce building codes in order to wipe out small apartment buildings full of poor people. Third, gentrifiers endorsed the city’s use of eminent domain to wipe out low-income housing. Fourth, after taking over the neighborhood, the gentrifiers fought for restrictive zoning to keep out apartment buildings.

[Kaylee · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a non-native Chicagoan, I have been divided between to schools of guilt:
1) being "part of the problem" (I lived in Edgewater for 12 full years, plus portions of the preceding 3; now I live in Bridgeport. I am white.)
2) not being "native" enough for the longer-term people to see me as a Chicagoan vs an interloper.

Reading this book basically justified both feelings I've had, so great!

A lot of history crammed into a short bit of page real estate, but he did a fantastic job of laying out the time periods he looked at. Gentrification repeats itself, and what this book does especially well is showing that it's not black and white, or even black, white, and grey. It varies, and it's complex, and it can't be easily controlled. Lincoln Park's story itself is certainly unique (historical landmark status, being on the forefront of organizing for housing funding), and that made for an interesting read in and of itself. But even if you aren't familiar with Lincoln Park, the story of the neighborhood's evolution over the last decade shares the same bones as so many other areas, all over the world.

[Aidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Conversations I've had about gentrification often revolve around the incoming residents and their responsibilities, but rarely have I talked about (or heard conversations about) the decades' old work put in behind the scenes that set today's issues in motion. Displacement of this magnitude is impossible without the concerted effort of people who stand to make a profit.

While it leaves big stories unexplored in favor of a broad-strokes overview, this presents a clear narrative connecting the dots on how the changes Lincoln Park underwent in the 50s set the stage for the broader trends of investment and disinvestment in the following decades that has continued into today. It's pretty disheartening to see that pleas, coalition-building, direct action, and internal reform all were unable to overcome the will of the folks with the money (and a few strategic murders), and it begs the question what is to be done to reverse these trends without falling prey to the idea that it's an inevitability.

Overall good but could go much deeper (and could use some maps for reference).

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a small book, but incredibly dense (maybe a little too dense at times). There were a lot of actors - both groups and individuals - and it would have been helpful to have a glossary and timeline of them. The maps at the beginning were very helpful. I've followed Hertz' writing for quite awhile and this doesn't disappoint, although it's a lot of information for roughly ~160 pages, and I think could have done with a little more editing to go from feature writing style to book style. That said, it was full of incredible data and insights about a midcentury gentrification debate in Chicago, and the parallels are substantial to today. Would certainly recommend to anyone interested in Chicago history, gentrification, and how policy and personal both affect outcomes.

[Ariel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I lived right by Lincoln Park while reading it so it felt especially relevant to me, and I really appreciated getting to learn about the ways my neighborhood was shaped by displacement, housing discrimination, and gentrification. Such a well-researched and fascinatingly written piece of scholarship. I especially loved learning more about movements like the Young Lords and local community efforts to organize against gentrification. Chicago has such a distressing history of redlining, condemnation, and displacement, and this book did a really good job of contextualizing the history of Lincoln Park within citywide, statewide, and federal mechanisms of perpetuating housing injustice.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

I keep using the term virtue signalling a lot lately (cough cough Pete Buttigieg cough), and man, if that was around in the 60s it would be applied to all these white, upper middle class libs are are entirely full of sh*t and were basically the inspiration for the term NIMBY.

But hey, they were the least of the problems when you consider how government policy at all levels managed to be insidious and outright criminal in its displacement of people and disinvestment and encouraged of this behavior privately too.

After finishing this book, my understanding of and support for the idea of reparations has crystallized.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important case study explaining the political pressures revolving around gentrification and housing in Chicago (and by extension, other American cities). As a Lakeview kid, this was a must read. Very well organized, but with the incredible number of factions and a very detailed timeline, more visual tools could have been helpful (the two maps provided were very useful, but were the only two aids). It's not a particularly hopeful message, as the point I came away with being that greater market forces dominate housing trends, especially post-urban renewal, and that community action is relatively ineffective, though the energy dedicated is inspiring.

[Ajk · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting and fairly quick look at some early gentrification in Chicago, and the relationship between social norms and the built environment. I definitely could have used some maps – and I'm pretty familiar with Chicago! – in order to get a better sense of what was where as time changed.

I deeply enjoyed this as a historical work and appreciated how it didn't get bogged in technicalisms. It is deeply Chicago, and may be of limited interest to people not from/in the city, but if you are of Chicago, this is a book for you.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

I jumped into the gentrification arena in Chicago in the late 1980s. Hertz' book is getting me caught up on the years before. And now more of what see now around Okd Town is making sense -- where the rows of 1970-era townhomes came from, how long Larabee was still considered a dividing line, why small concrete plaza/parks appear. Old Town and Lincoln Park as a whole is not a "middle class" neighborhood, but there are still enough clues left in the built environment to tell the story of how it got that way.

[UChicagoLaw]

My grandmother's family fled Austria after the German annexation and settled in the Lincoln Park neighborhood on Chicago's North Side. The 1940s neighborhood she described sounded nothing like the ritzy Lincoln Park of today. This excellent book explains how Lincoln Park went from being in the bottom quarter of Chicago neighborhoods by per capita income after World War II to being one of the wealthiest areas of the city by century's end—and what was sacrificed along the way. —Daniel Hemel, Assistant Professor of Law, Ronald H. Coase Research Scholar