When MLK was shot in April 1968 the whole neighborhood went to hell and really never recovered. It is telling that here we are 54 years later as the city is about to reincarnate another Democratic National Convention in a scant few weeks and the 7th police district known as Auburn Gresham which encompasses a healthy chunk of the South Side is still getting it’s fair share of shooting stats, our old neighborhood that still has not fully recovered from the riots of half a century ago.
These days it is gang infested and reports of shootings emulate from there on an almost daily basis. Recently a brand new Aldis that opened on the corner of 76th and south Ashland closed abruptly after the owners determined the crime and security issues did not warrant it staying open much to the chagrin of the sitting 16th ward alderman Shirley Coleman.
The fact the South Side of Chicago is mostly a food desert is a lingering after effect of the lack of investment in that community. Farther to the East at 63rd and the Dan Ryan expressway a Whole Foods opened to much fanfare and city financial incentives only to close last year after neighborhood was too poor to support it and again security issues factored into decision with employees and customers alike. We have seen first hand in our own lives how Shitcago is doomed in certain areas FOREVER.