It's Almost Time to Vote Again! | |
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It is time to vote again Lincoln Central Association!!
On Tuesday, April 4, the Chicago Municipal Election runoff voting is happening! For the 43rd Ward, this includes runoff races for the Chicago Aldermanic Race and the Chicago Mayoral Race. Lincoln Central Association recently partnered with other local neighborhood associations to host a 43rd Ward Aldermanic debate! You can watch the full debate here.
Here is information about where and when you can vote.
Please make sure to get out and vote in this important election!
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LCA Zoning Committee: Update on 1633 N. Halstead | |
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As many of you know, local developers Draper & Kramer propose at 1633 N. Halsted a nine-story glass-front structure with 131 rental apartments — including 20 affordable units — and 34 parking spaces. Its ground floor would hold a restaurant. The developer’s plan is predicated on an up zoning to B 3- 5 from B 3 -2, which would double the amount of buildable space. The site is on a CTA bus route and steps from the CTA red line; the developer describes the project as a TOD; such a “transit oriented” distinction would allow building heights of 80 feet, which measures seven or eight stories.
On March 13, Alderman Hopkins hosted a community meeting regarding this proposal at Steppenwolf Theatre. It was the first in-person meeting with the community and the developers of the 1633 N. Halsted, a parcel that includes the former Royal George Theater. About 60 people attended, with another 60 joining the presentation via Zoom. The developer had made slight changes in height, apartment number and building materials in response to earlier community feedback.
LCA and RANCH Triangle object to this proposed project because of its height, density, glass facade, apartment mix, lack of sufficient parking and lack of green space. We ask that the developer build within the underlying B 3 -2 parameters. TOD rules do not apply to - 2 areas; they kick in at -3. As such, the proposed structure is too tall and too dense for the immediate area, which is zoned B 3 -2 and R - 4.5, designations which limit height and density and require green space.
Alderman Hopkins concluded the meeting by saying he would not approve the developer’s plan until community concerns— height, density, materials — had been addressed. Further, the Alderman asked the community for specific wants.
LCA is not opposed to density. We believe in “right-sized” development that doesn’t overwhelm neighboring properties. Below are three examples of approved developments that tick all or most of our boxes. They fit their environment, offer a pleasing mix of apartments and on-site affordable housing, provide parking and green space.
1549 N. Fremont St.
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LCA Business Feature: The Business Behind LCA's Recent Modernization | |
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Last year, in April 2022, Lincoln Central Association (LCA) launched a new website with some key features that make it easier for our members and the local community to learn about our work in the neighborhood, stay updated on neighborhood events and concerns and make it easier and faster to become a member. This project was an effort that was spearheaded by the LCA board of directors, but also supported by several businesses who are passionate about our work. Two of those companies are WPCrank and WPLegal.
LCA first became involved with WPCrank after hiring a website developer and designer. They came highly recommended and helped us with the technical details of the new website, including the new membership signup pages and our critical website security. After working with us and learning about the great work that LCA does, WPCrank became a sponsor.
Philip Light, the founder of WPCrank and WPLegal, has more than 18 years of experience specializing only in WordPress websites. His company has built and maintained 100's of websites for businesses across Chicagoland and the country. They have worked with dozens of law firms in the loop, Chambers of Commerce such as Lincoln Park, Uptown, and Downtown Oak Park, manufacturers, business associations, software and IT companies, museums, theaters and more all the way from large corporations to mom-and-pop shops.
“We love being involved with our clients and their businesses,” said Philip. “It's very rewarding to work with so many different people and to help them accomplish their goals and grow their businesses. We love constantly learning and keeping up with the rapidly changing industry and letting our clients focus on their business and leaving the website headaches to us.”
Recently, the company launched WPLegal, which is a website development and management company that focuses on law firms of all sizes. The company handles all the technical aspects of building and running a website, such as provide hosting or hosting management, security hardening, speed optimizations, robust back-up systems, WordPress and Server updates, general support whenever needed, and custom development services to build any customized functionality needed.
“We've built dozens and dozens of websites for law firms across the country. We discovered that the fundamentals of law firm websites are all basically the same, Lawyers, Practice Areas, Industries, Cases and how they all relate to each other. We built and revised the platform over many years to solve all the common requests to make it easier and faster to build great law firms websites,” Philip said. “Law Firm websites are very often poorly built making it very difficult or even impossible to make simple changes such as adding new lawyers, making biography changes, or associating a lawyer with a practice area. Our system makes it drop-dead easy to manage this data without having to know any HTML or follow complicated checklists of all the areas to make simple changes.”
Learn more about WPCrank and WPLegal at https://wpcrank.com/ and https://www.wplegal.com/
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LCA is dedicated to inspiring people to join together for the social, cultural, and physical enrichment of our neighborhood, and our local businesses are a critical part of that! LCA is honored to work with local businesses to improve our neighborhood and promote their business.
Thank You to Our Sponsors:
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Carnival Brings Back Popular Easter Egg Hunt | Our partners at Carnival Grocery are bringing back their Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday, April 9 at their location in Lincoln Park. This is a fun and festive event for the whole family, so we hope to see you there! | |
Upcoming CAPS and Beat Meetings | |
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Have you ever attended a Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy (CAPS) meeting in Chicago? These meetings are an opportunity for community members to engage with local police officers and other local stakeholders to exchange information, identify and prioritize problems, and begin developing solutions to those problems.
Here is a list of upcoming meetings, and you can learn more about CAPS and Beat meetings here.
Beat 1811 (5 PM) & 1813 (6 PM): May 9, July 11, September 5, November 7
Beats 1811 and 1813 meet at St. James Lutheran Church located at 2050 N Fremont St. They are in the basement of the Church and you should enter through the northernmost door on Fremont St. There is residential parking on the street with applicable zone parking restrictions.
Beat 1812 (5 PM) & 1814 (6 PM): May 11, July 13, September 7, November 9
Beat 1812 and 1814 are hosted at Wintrust Bank located at 100 W. North Ave. There is very little parking on site but it is near the North and Clybourn Red Line stop and the Sedgwick Brown Line. It is also en route to the Clark St Bus. The meetings are hosted on the 2nd Floor of the bank. Elevators are on site.
Beat 1824 (6 PM): May 18, July 20, September 14, November 16
Beat 1824 meets at 1201 N Clark St in the Clark St Apartments. It is very close to the Clark and Division Red Line Stop.
Beat 1932 (6:30 PM): April 4th, June 6th, August 1st, October 3rd, December 5th
Beat 1932 is hosted in the sanctuary at New Life Church located at 1110 W Lill Ave. There is street parking with applicable zone parking restrictions. New Life Church is within walking distance of the Fullerton Red and Brown Line and the Diversey Brown Line.
Beat 1935 (6:30 PM): April 19, June 21, August 16, October 18, December 20
Beat 1935 location is TBD
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18th District SHRED Event! |
April 12, 1pm-5pm
Join the 18th District Police Station at the paper shredding and electronic recycling event on April 12th from 1pm-5pm. This event is for 18th district residents only and residents must live south of Fullerton Ave.
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Belmont Village "Self Care for Seniors" | |
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April 21, 3pm - 4pm
Belmont Village is hosting an event for Seniors on Self Care. Topics discussed will include how to maintain stress, exercise, and a healthy sleep cycle
RSVP to Jessica Roote jroote@belmontvillage.com
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What Chicago Needs to Do to Improve Public Safety Isn't an "Either-Or" Question | |
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More than ever during the heat of an election, we’re asked to think about, discuss, take sides on and even make decisions based on crucial public safety questions. For example, should we . . .
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Prioritize hiring more police or policing reform?
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Show more respect and gratitude to our officers for putting their lives at risk to keep us safe or hold officers more accountable when they use unnecessary and/or excessive force?
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Invest more in our disadvantaged communities to reduce poverty or bring our violence prevention street intervention capabilities to scale?
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Lock offenders up more quickly and for longer or more effectively base our jailing and sentencing decisions on science vs. political expediency and public sentiment?
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Reduce the flow of illegal guns into Chicago or take illegal guns off the street or legislate and enact commonsense gun laws?
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Improve how prisons and jails prepare people for returning home or ensure that returning citizens and others at risk of justice system involvement can easily access social services?
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Teach parents how to inspire, supervise and help their kids succeed in school, choose their friends carefully and know when and how to say “No” - or ignore that opportunity?
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Improve violent crime clearance rates by hiring more detectives or by improving our ability to keep witnesses safe from retaliation?
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Respond to sometimes valid concerns by improving the accuracy and use of law enforcement data and technology or by restricting or even eliminating their use?
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Improve the quality of public-school education in our disadvantaged communities or improve youth access to and use of safe after-school recreational spaces?
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Budget for projects and resources to produce the immediate public safety reforms and progress we need now or on longer-term goals that might take years to make a difference?
Some will say “all those ideas sound great, wish we could afford to do all of that” – but given the relationship between Chicago’s crime rates and our economy, quality of life and literally how the rest of the country and the world views Chicago, can we afford not to do all that and more? Here’s a suggestion – let’s use best practices research and ongoing community input managed, perhaps, by the new Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability to develop, fund, monitor, support and revise as necessary a comprehensive short-term, mid-range and long-term Chicago public safety plan based on key justice reform truths and principles, such as:
- Improving crime prevention is more important than improving our response to crime.
- To effectively deter crime, justice must be certain and swift - but sadly is neither.
- We can’t expect offenders to change if we don’t help them understand the harms they’ve caused to their victims, community and to themselves and importantly, if we don’t provide them with opportunities to repair those harms to the extent possible and to improve their ability and commitment to living responsibly.
- Just because pursuing some public safety goals will take years or even decades to produce results doesn’t mean we shouldn’t pursue them. Cases in point: identifying and eliminating remaining vestiges of structural racism and discrimination; improving the economy, social and educational and health care services in our disadvantaged communities; and it’s taken many years for illegal firearms to become so easy to obtain in Chicago – and it will take many years, even decades, of multifaceted and dedicated efforts to turn that around.
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If effective community-police partnership is truly important as concluded by President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, then improving community capabilities to be the public safety partners police need them to must be a law enforcement focus and not just a casually talked about goal. Recognizing and acting on this would demonstrate CPD concern and respect for our communities, and provide another source of proactive police-community interaction that will inevitably improve community trust in and support for CPD.
I’m not naïve and know that none of this is easy and that Chicago has had public safety plans before – but with a new Mayor, a refreshed City Council, a federally imposed and monitored CPD Consent Decree and the new Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability and Police District Councils in place, maybe this time . . .
Please stay safe, get to know your neighbors, and take good care of each other!
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From the Heart is an award-winning newsletter published by Lincoln Central Association.
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