COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

edevelopment projects elsewhere in the city, forced relocation, and white flight”
(Simpson 2004:8). Between 1960 and 1980, flight to the new suburbs and the loss of
working-class jobs in Oak Park devastated the business district in Oak Park and in turn
depressed property values (Historic Environment Consultants 2003). Crime increased as
vacant land and dilapidated buildings increased.
Oak Park has “evolved from an independent farming village, to a modern inner-
city ‘ghetto,’ and now to revitalized neighborhood” (Simpson 2004:7). Economic
development in the form of commercial business and the reinvestment and selling of
homes continues to transform the neighborhood. But despite the changes, the perception
of the neighborhood as an underclass ghetto 14
remains present, and this perception
continues to be reinforced through the media, which tends to highlight crime in the
neighborhood.
Church
6%
Public
7%
Existing Land Use in Oak Park
Other
22%
Retail/
Commercial
6%
(1,305 Acres)
Vacant
5%
Residential
54%
Figure 2. Existing Land Use in Oak Park
http://www.shra.org/Content/CommunityDevelopment/ImplPlanTOC.htm
Over time, the demographics of Oak Park changed dramatically, as immigrants
moved into the area and the neighborhood began to gentrify. Developers, urban planners,
and residents, with differing interests at the micro and macro-level, hope public space in
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