Has your favorite corner store turned into a Starbucks? Are apartments being replaced by condos? Are your friends being replaced by yuppies? Do you wonder why? It iss called gentrification and it's happening all across Chicago.
      Gentrification is “the renovation of an unprosperous neighborhood; the process of transforming an unprosperous neighborhood of buildings needing repair into a more prosperous one, for example, through investment in remodeling buildings or houses”
(Encarta World English Dictionary). Low-income neighborhoods like Cabrini Green and Humboldt Park are being affected by gentrification. I have lived in Humboldt Park for most of my life and now I see the affects of it.
      I have been living in Humboldt Park for a little over 13 years. I have seen how the neighborhood has changed in the past six years. Many of my friends have moved away because they were not able to pay the rent. The property values were increased and are still increasing. My friends were forced to move into neighborhoods that were less expensive, usually neighborhoods that have high crime rates and a great deal of gang activity.
      Throughout the 1960s and late 1970s, Puerto Ricans resided in Lincoln Park until the property values increased, which forced them to move to lower-income neighborhoods such as Humboldt Park. At that time, Humboldt Park had a very high crime rate, gang activity, and poor quality housing. Lincoln Park is now a very expensive neighborhood and few Puerto Ricans live there. This current gentrification of our generation will be the third time where the majority of Chicago’s Puerto Ricans will be forced to move out of their neighborhood and into neighborhoods that are economically deprived.
      There are realtors who are responsible for the gentrification that is going on in Humboldt Park. I did some research and I found that one realtor called Chase Manhattan tricked and were dishonest to the people of Humboldt Park. Chase Manhattan has been carelessly issuing Federal Housing Administration loans to families who are unprepared to make mortgage payments or maintain their properties. Another realtor that is responsible for this gentrification is Ace (formerly known as Easy Life). Ace has sold rundown homes, which burden homeowners with heavy repair costs in addition to paying for their mortgage.
It is important to be aware of gentrification and its affects and it is also important to stop gentrification in Humboldt Park. Puerto Ricans are being moved to low income neighborhoods but there is not enough low income housing for Puerto Ricans. It is getting very difficult to find economical housing. Humboldt Park is the largest Puerto Rican community in Chicago for over 30 years and if gentrification completely occurs in Humboldt Park then most likely the Puerto Rican culture will also disappear. Humboldt Park is a historical landmark for Puerto Ricans and Chicago.

1.)West Town Free Press –
West Town Tenants Union
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Easy Life and Chase Manhattan driving families out of Humboldt Park – Published March 1998
http://members.tripod.com/wttu/humboldtpark/easylife.html#Easy%20Life%20and%20Chase%20Manhattan%20driving%20f