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Historical May 1988 report or notice. Original dates, prices and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
I feel obliged to respond to Mr. Bob Dowgwillo’s letter concerning proposed public financial assistance for the redevelopment of the 57XX block of McPherson which appeared in the April issue of The Times.
While his remarks certainly reflect a limited knowledge and understanding of the City’s redevelopment problems and strategies, his choice of derogatory words also leads one to question his motives. Such phrases as “What these funds would be used for makes one wonder to what depths our public policy has descended;” and “That these are considered appropriate uses of public money suggests both an ethical insincerity and a distorted vision of what the government role in community development should be;” are hard for me to accept. I only wish he had shared his “sincere and clear vision” with us so that we could correct our ways.
If the City didn’t have problems, we would not have blocks and blocks of deteriorated and vacant buildings and lots.
If it were easy to redevelop this blight, our free market economy would have done so.
The fact is that for many areas it is economically impossible to do so without governmental assistance, whether from tax abatement, eminent domain, financial grants or low-interest loans. I firmly believe that if the City had not generously used these tools in the last twenty years, th’e Skinker-DeBaliviere neighborhood would today be a wasteland.
And we are not finished yet. Nor is this ancient history, two major developers have gone bankrupt recently in our area. Michael Beardon, who tried to rehab a sizable amount of apartments without tax abatement or other assistance, failed miserably and left several vacant and deteriorated buildings in the area in his wake, particularly on Mr. Dowgwillo’s 61XX block of Pershing.
These buildings were only saved after a massive infusion of public assistance, but are now in great shape with 100 percent occupancy and a benefit to the community. I do not seem to remember that Mr. Dowgwillo wrote a letter complaining about public financial help for his block’s redevelopment. Further, even with tax abatement and government backed low-interest financing, City Equity went bankrupt rehabbing the 12 buildings at Washington and Rosedale; and Nina Place has waited 15 years before we now see the beginning of its rebirth. Rebuilding our City is not easy, it is very expensive and sometimes painful. I wish Mr. Dowgwillo would have asked the property owners of the 57XX block of McPherson how they felt about the proposal.
These people have had the threat of eminent domain over their heads for 15 years. I believe that the current developer should be commended for devising a plan, and investing his dollars, which not only allows them to remain in their homes, but for the first time seeks to assist existing owners in a redevelopment area with funds to help them rehabilitate their buildings.
This not only helps the developer and these homeowners, but also the surrounding property owners and the neighborhood in general.
As these property values increase, so do all of ours, and we are not forced to relocate longtime residents. Yes, we do have problems with our schools, the police department, and capital improvement needs. That is exactly why we need to provide extra incentives for families to live and buy homes in certain parts of the City. Furthermore, the federal monies spent for housing redevelopment can not be used to solve these other problems.
While the vitality and viability of our City can not be assured until all of these problems have been corrected, it serves no worthwhile purpose not to take advantage of federal monies because all of them are not solved.
It is the old “chicken and egg” conundrum.
As difficult as physically restoring our neighborhoods is, we have had many successes, especially in the Central West End and Skinker-DeBaliviere. Rebuilding our schools and infrastructure while maintaining a first class police department is much more difficult.
But if our neighborhood’s continue to grow and prosper, we come closer to solving these problems as well. —Dan McGuire 28th Ward Alderman
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, May 1988.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1988_05.pdf, printed page(s) 2; PDF page(s) 2.
