COMMUNITY ACTIVISM IN OAK PARK: COMPETING AGENDAS ...

organizations is part of a broader spectrum of efforts to help improve the quality of life
for residents. For example, the Neighborhood Association is the most powerful entity
that pushes to gain support of the revitalization of Oak Park. The Association has board
members that have local, academic, or government ties, and thus is able to make a variety
of powerful partnerships and networks. This makes it easier for them to gain the support
of local governments to fund projects. The Association’s ability to sustain their group
depends on their access to resources and the ability to find common interests among
residents and neighboring organizations. These efforts can be understood as are part of a
broader agenda of internal “colonialism” exhibited by city and state governments.
There is conflict over the definitions and uses of public space in the neighborhood
and there is dispute over how public space should be used. Residents are divided on
urban renewal projects. While many residents want to improve the quality of the
neighborhood, they are in disagreement about how it should be accomplished. Even
neighborhood leaders are at odds at how to accomplish social change. While many
government representatives and neighborhood leaders work to accomplish social change
in the neighborhood, they also acknowledge that there are dilemmas of activism
occurring in the neighborhood. That is to say, they recognize that gentrification and the
dislocation of the poor are furthered by revitalization projects and that this creates tension
among residents. But they feel the benefits of revitalization contradiction outweigh the
negative impact on poor residents.
For instance, some politicians and community activists state that they struggle
with one looming issue—gentrification. These neighborhood activists state that as people
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