Isabel Velez-Diez
It looks very generic. The context and neighborhood seem to have been ignored. Does not look welcoming

How many real and legacy community members were consulted? Not including those affiliated and already working with the white non-profits in the area run by people not from here. What was your outreach like? The building itself is very bland, generic, and looks institutional...like white people flippantly designed it for what they think GP needs/what they think the residents deserve.

One Eleven was fighting to stay open but impending gentrification is forcing them to shut. They especially starting getting lots of complaints when the Hatchery opened up and as a black-owned business got blamed for any criminal activity near the Kedzie stop. They did everything they were supposed to do and in their power to keep their license. An article in Block Club stated that the Garfield Park Chamber has recently protested against the gentrification that is accelerated by business that aren't led and do not employee local residents. "The Hatchery’s pristine, new facility illustrates what happens when the city supports a business, while the struggling One Eleven is what happens when the city neglects Black businesses and communities."

I personally have witnessed Hatchery employees recording the people who would sit in the area behind One Eleven and I have no doubt their higher-ups and funders have city connections to shut down businesses they just don't like.Their facility is so pristine because they use labor from Cara to keep it that way. Cara is another nonprofit that essentially employs people of color to keep white areas of town (and evidently the facilities of white-owned businesses in Black neighborhoods) clean.

https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/08/14/west-side-neighbors-demand-city-reinstate-license-for-shuttered-grocery-store/

https://blockclubchicago.org/2020/08/04/west-side-grocery-store-closed-by-city-because-of-crime-leaving-neighbors-with-one-less-option-for-fresh-food/

The initiative could support the culture and history of the neighborhood by doing outreach and learning what that means to veteran community members. Developing community tours led by volunteer residents would be a good way to share the culture with outsiders who are unfamiliar with the area and have preconceived notions. More public art and direct action to protect murals and other historically significant areas of Garfield Park that aren't currently protected by the city

So many basic amenities are missing from GP that are taken for granted in other neighborhoods. Priorities should include grocery stores, a local pharmacy, green space, gathering areas, community centers, art centers, and helping local businesses and organizations that already exist expand to meet the wider needs of the neighborhood instead of shutting them down (1-11 Food and Liquor). It's paramount that the development house business that are owned by people in the neighborhood or at LEAST by Brown and Black business owners who are generally ignored in other areas. A West Side museum that includes local art and photography would be amazing.

I live in the neighborhood.

5-10 years