COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

institutions that are massively inferior to those of the wider society. Lower-income
residents must survive on a lack of quality resources in their community. The majority of
the poor are social service dependents who rely on physical and mental health programs,
vocational rehabilitation, day care, and other forms of social guidance. They need to be
in close proximity to receive those services. The dependence of the poor on social
services such as healthcare, nutritional supplements, and emergency services reveals that
the decisions made by the poor to reside in certain communities may be linked to the
location of facilities which supply such services (Wolch 1980:340). And, as receivers of
non-profit services and community groups, it is likely that the poor will develop their
own perspectives regarding their neighborhood and define it differently from the middle-
class. Their daily life is shaped by their underprivileged circumstances and they depend
on daily survival strategies, such as borrowing amenities and asking favors from
neighbors and keeping track of modest finances, to survive.
But in many instances, the poor have shown that they are resilient in the face of
gentrification. In response to revitalization projects—when the poor are negatively
affected by renewal strategies—they will create survival strategies to ensure their way of
life. Lower-income residents adapt to their changing neighborhood where they are able
to identify issues and challenges, make sense out of them, and formulate strategies to
address them (Swidler 1986:280). The lower-income residents have a shared “culture”
and via this culture, they are able to develop the tools necessary for survival. Put simply,
culture provides the materials from which individuals and groups construct strategies of
action (Swidler 1986:280). The poor will develop strategies to maintain their livelihood
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