Author: Naomi Ezquivel

Back of the Yards | Best of the South Side 2017

Best of Back of the Yards 2017

by 2 years ago

Grace Hauck

A community like this—there’s no condos here—most of the houses don’t have in-unit washers and dryers, so folks are forced to use laundromat facilities. We think that this laundromat focuses on a really underserved niche—low-income, working-class folks. Clean clothes [are] a right, in our opinion. You can go without a lot of things, but everyone is entitled to clean underwear. You shouldn’t have to go to a rat-infested hole in the wall to clean your clothes. This is thought of as a safe place in a very dangerous neighborhood.

Back of the Yards | Column | Politics | Violence

Speed Bumps on the Road to Progress

Alderman’s new plan to reduce crime in Back of the Yards misses the bigger picture

by 3 years ago

NaomiEzquivel_NatalieGonzálezAccording to recent reporting by DNAInfo, 15th Ward Alderman Raymond Lopez has proposed using around $400,000 from the ward’s infrastructure budget to install traffic circles and speed bumps in Back of the Yards (particularly in the area around Davis Square Park) in an effort to combat crime. The idea, according to Lopez, is that putting speed bumps and traffic circles on intersections around major parks will “restrict the amount of traffic coming into the [park] area,” “a definite deterrent to those gang members accustomed to driving in, shooting and speeding out.”