A Story of Pilsen
Walking the streets of Pilsen, Francisco Miranda, 24, a pastry chef at the University Club of Chicago, felt familiar yet strange.
"It used to be an art center where I practiced painting after school, " pointing at an Italian restaurant, he said, "God, they changed so much."
Miranda came to Pilsen to support his niece's elementary-school summer event, and this was his first time visiting after moving from Pilsen to Gage Park two years ago.
"Pilsen is where I grew up, but as much as I love this neighborhood, my family couldn't afford the rent anymore," he said.
Miranda is not the only one facing the struggle. As Pilsen becoming a profitable location for developers and investors, many residents, mostly Latino families like Miranda's, have to move out of the neighborhood they strived to improve.
Miranda's family lived Pilsen's history. His grandmother first moved to Pilsen as an immigrant from Mexico in the ’70s.
"It was a difficult time for her to navigate a foreign, sometimes unwelcoming new land. This place used to be full of dead bodies on the streets because of the massive gang fights," Miranda said.
The residents struggled to make their streets safe and homes secure, even the graffiti on the walls kept the names and statements of activists and artists calling for peace in the neighborhood.
Painting vibrant and often confrontational murals later became a way for Mexican immigrants to mark their territory.
Feeling unsatisfied that the established institutions failed to meet the needs of the changing community, emerging Latino leaders began to build up their own organizations that offered affordable housing, a free clinic and a place for political radicals.
"I volunteered for one of the community organizations after I finished grammar school in Pilsen," said Teresa Miranda, Francisco's mother, "We were bonding by making our neighborhood better."
Other than fighting for peace, early settlers were also fighting for money.
"Pilsen used to be and still are home to a lot of blue-collar people. I remember my mum working multiple jobs so that I can go to school because back then bilingual education wasn't cheap," Miranda said.
It took years of effort for Pilsen neighbors to tackle the issues of poverty, gang violence and poor-quality education. As neighborhood's infrastructure and safety improved, Pilsen is quickly gentrifying.
Real estate developers and business people see the neighborhood’s potential and have started to invest big money in building new restaurants, galleries and clubs, which inevitably increases the rent and living costs and drives many long-term residents out of their homes.
What's more, they feel under assault by the newcomers and worry the preservation of the identity and character of Pilsen neighborhood.
"This neighborhood is washed-out now," Miranda sighed, "For Latinos, what we want is to have families together. I'm not sure if that's something we should sacrifice for galleries and trendy bars."