StormX
Banned
[h=1]Watchdog: Store with ties to felon latest problem for blighted neighborhood[/h] [h=2]Poverty and profits: City gives felon six-figure grant to open liquor store[/h]With backing from the local alderwoman and money from City Hall, a new liquor store opened earlier this year in South Austin -- one more purveyor of alcohol, cigarettes and lottery tickets in a neighborhood desperate for something more.
Informing the original backer of the store that he would be getting $105,000 in city funds, a letter from the Department of Community Development exclaimed: "Thank you for reinvesting in the City of Chicago!"
Many residents weren't so enthusiastic. To them, the new business was an insult.
But what even they didn't know was that the store was bankrolled and launched by a convicted drug-dealer who has been tied to a street gang and is facing yet another narcotics charge.
A Tribune investigation unraveled the real origins of the controversial liquor store, pinpointing the lack of oversight that led to the business getting licensed and exposing the years of scattershot planning that undermines hope in one of Chicago's neediest neighborhoods.
"It's disturbing on so many levels," said South Austin resident Serethea Reid, who had implored city officials to reject the store's license application. "The concentration of liquor stores means more violence, more trash, more police activity. ... "Are liquor stores and pawnshops your idea of development?"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-promo-austin-liquor-store-20130927,0,2407751.story
The Chicago way of redevelopement....
Informing the original backer of the store that he would be getting $105,000 in city funds, a letter from the Department of Community Development exclaimed: "Thank you for reinvesting in the City of Chicago!"
Many residents weren't so enthusiastic. To them, the new business was an insult.
But what even they didn't know was that the store was bankrolled and launched by a convicted drug-dealer who has been tied to a street gang and is facing yet another narcotics charge.
A Tribune investigation unraveled the real origins of the controversial liquor store, pinpointing the lack of oversight that led to the business getting licensed and exposing the years of scattershot planning that undermines hope in one of Chicago's neediest neighborhoods.
"It's disturbing on so many levels," said South Austin resident Serethea Reid, who had implored city officials to reject the store's license application. "The concentration of liquor stores means more violence, more trash, more police activity. ... "Are liquor stores and pawnshops your idea of development?"
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-promo-austin-liquor-store-20130927,0,2407751.story
The Chicago way of redevelopement....
