COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

stratified, selective, and distanced structure. Economic forces are further restructuring
the city, as cities are being “sold” as places to visit for tourism or business. This
attraction is further drawing people to move to the city. But, the desire for space, in
cities, is coming more into conflict with the proposals of many urban planners, who are
beginning to plan for an increase in urban density (Newman and Hogan 1981:270).
For decades, urban enclaves and ethnic places have been perceived as undesirable
areas of congestion, crime, disease, and other social pathologies, and have been targets
for urban renewal. Lin (1995:629) explains that “ethnic places have reemerged as
districts of significance in a ‘postmodern’ developmental environment in which local
urban culture has a stronger potential for preservation and persistence.” Although ethnic
places have not become neighborhoods of great economic or social vitality, they have
become symbolic in other ways, as urban enclaves having sentimental and historical
significance (Lin 1995:629). Ethnic places in cities, such as Oak Park, are spaces where
struggles take place and social conflict occurs and where behavior is highlighted by the
public and the media. Ethnic places have become both ‘representations’ and ‘social
realities’ of the city.
Oak Park Today
While leaving Starbuck’s coffee shop I walked down the sidewalk and noticed a
large crowd shuffling into the 40 Acres Art Gallery. Everyone had smiles on their
faces and was dressed formally in dresses and suits. I stepped closer to the
gallery and saw people walking around. The gallery had a “Closed” sign on the
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