COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

problems, events, and initiatives. The Neighborhood Association had a variety of
members, ranging in ethnic, social, and economic background. But the majority of
members could be defined as middle-class, Caucasian, having a college degree and
white-collar job. Some attendees of Neighborhood Association meetings were actually
long-time residents, but regardless of length of residence, all felt the desire to help
improve the quality of the neighborhood through economic development and
beautification projects.
The Neighborhood Association was officially formed in 2003 and consists of
several board members who are residents in the neighborhood of Oak Park. Board
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are voted into position and help create the topics of discussion for monthly
meetings. They also network to gain prospective members and political and financial
supporters. Most importantly, these members are committed to renewing the community
through various revitalization programs, activities, and initiatives. Meetings are places
where board members can discuss news that will affect the community, such as urban
development, business closures, new community programs, community events, and crime
in the neighborhood. Meetings have quickly become places where middle-class residents
can voice their opinion about the condition of their community and how to improve it.
In general, members of the local Neighborhood Association perceived poor
residents as irresponsible and wanting an “easy way out,” and who at times partook in the
informal economy of petty theft and crime as their livelihood. This group offered non-
systemic reasons for why the poor could not break out of poverty and explained the social
problems of the poor as an effect of their lack of motivation to take responsibility for
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