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I live in the Cedar Riverside/West Bank
neighborhood. I was quite surprised not to see our neighborhood listed as
one that is "impacted". Since the census information is not yet available
I checked the NRP web site which has some demographics, I am not sure of the
accuracy or year the information was gathered. 42% of Cedar Riverside
residents
live in poverty-compared to the
following:
Whittier: 25%
Sheridan:20%
Seward:20%
North Loop: 14%
Phillips: 39%
Near North/Willard Hay:32%
Harrison: 36%
Hawthorne: 34%
I wonder if the reason we were not involved in this
group is because the West Bank Community Development Corp. (WBCDC) and a group
of owners including Sherman and Associates own or manage nearly all of the
housing in my neighborhood. My neighborhood has the lowest % of
homeownership, as nearly all of the single family homes and duplexes
are owned by absentee investors represented by the WBCDC.
Supposedly some of the homes are to be sold to "owners" ,19 total buildings out
of 241 "cooperative units" that they own. The draconian terms and
conditions that the WBCDC has burdened these prospective buyers with has made
transfer of title impossible for all but 2 buyers. The WBCDC is in the
business of making money, and in the meantime, made my neighborhood a permanent
inner city ghetto.
Barbara Murray
Riverside Park Resident
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