January 2001, 2 posts, 49 lines
Coop Housing for Artists to Deter Gentrification [http://www.newstips.org/12-20-00.htm#1]
In recent decades artists have been both unwitting agents and victims of gentrification: seeking low-rent quarters and the community of their fellows, they can make a neighborhood "trendy" and pave the way for developerswho then price artists and long-term low-income neighbors out. A group of Chicago artists is bucking the trend, hoping to create a model for artists and other low-income people to withstand the pressures of development.
Early this month the Acme Artists Community, a project of the Near Northwest Arts Council (NNAC), broke ground on a $3.2 million warehouse renovation at 2418 W. Bloomingdale in West Bucktown, which will be a limited equity condo providing low-cost housing and studio space for 25 artists and their families. The city's New Homes for Chicago program will subsidize qualified buyers. The 40,000 square foot warehouse is being rehabbed with energy efficient methodsÑa plus for affordabilityand will also house NNAC, Chicago Mutual Housing Network, and the Community TV Network.
For more: Laura Weathered, Near Northwest Arts Council, 773/278-7677
so, everyone can take part -- you can like carve your name into the table at wendy's or something...